How to peel and seed a tomato

Peeling and seeding a tomato is really not too tough, but why would you wan to? Without the seeds sauces are more velvety, that is more uniform in consistency. Seed are tough, and don't taste all that great after they're cooked for a long time.


In my opinion the bigger the tomato the easier this process is.


1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, enough to completely cover your tomatoes.
While you wait for the water to boil de-stem and wash your toms (this should go without saying but for instructional purposes I'll include).


2. With tongs or a slotted spoon drop about 7-10 medium sized tomatoes into the boiling water. And wait a little bit. Typically for me this takes about a minute for a medium sized tomato.


3. When you see the skin wrinkle or split open take the tomato out and put it in an ice bath (a cold water bath will do it if you make sure to replace the water when it gets warm). This is to make them cool enough to handle and to stop the cooking process.


4. When the toms are cool enough to handle just peel off the loose skin!


5. To cut the tom take the tomato, stem up, and with a knife cut the tom in half just to the right of the stem. Flip the tom half with the stem on its side and cut the top off so it's flat. Put the tom on its flat top(stem on the cutting board) and surgery that stem out. I make two cuts at an angle to form a little stem pyramid then I just yank it out.


6. Take the tom halves and use your fingers to scoop out the seeds. Now you are never going to get every single seed so don't obsess about it. And don't forget to wash your hands before you cook.


Yeah! Now you have tomatoes ready for canning or to make any number of tomato and tomato sauce dishes.

Lasagna

Lasagna with oyster mushroom and yellow pear tomato bruschetta.

SUPER NOM. Nearly perfect. Sauce is made with fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden. So is the bruschetta which has fresh mozz.

Mr. Finicky's cooking philosophy

I don’t use recipes. Well, I don’t use recipes line for line, measurement for measurement. Instead I like to peruse several recipes of the same dish and get a feel for it. Then I like to look at pictures and get a feel for how the dish looks. The I make up my own version. Why do I do this? Because I’m cooking from the gut.

Yes, I know it’s cliche, I don’t care. To be a great cook requires feeling. A hunch. A short leap into the future to bring those tastes to the present. It requires intuition. No two kitchens are alike as so no two recipes should be alike. And it requires mistakes. To be a great cook you need to be willing to make and learn from your mistakes. None of these thing are achievable with being a slave to a recipe. Neither is cooking prowess achievable with ego and undue bravado.

I am no great cook. At least not yet, for I intend to keep on practicing. And that practicing is what you’re seeing in this blog. I’m learning. I understand more about flavors and textures now than ever before. I am learning restraint and consistency. But most of all I’m tasting. Tasting all sorts of combinations of good food. Tasting the ingredients to the meal. Tasting the sauces and cheeses and everything that goes into a dish. By doing this I’m giving my brain memories of different cooking situations. I’m giving my body muscle/sense memory.

So with that said I want you to understand that my recipes that I’m going to post are formated more like a general discussion. They don’t contain exact measurements or cooking time. They have ball park temperatures instead of hard and fast degree settings. The recipes are jumping off points for your own culinary explorations. And I would love for you to comment and add your kno

wledge to the pot.

Cooking is a great source of peace for me and I am utterly grateful to be able to eat as well as I do. So maybe we can share those feelings. Let’s cook....

Fresh.

Who makes marinara from fresh tomatoes from his garden? This guy does.

More to come.

OK I promise to flesh out this blog more. Meanwhile look at my facebook page.