Growing and cooking garden tomatoes (yeah they are green KMT.....)

So this year we decided to grow tomatoes in the garden. Previously, we had grown them in pots with either a few or no tomatoes growing on them. This year it was decided that we would grow them outside in our garden.

Now these flipping tomatoes have lead to many arguments from planting the seeds, to actually knowing when to pick them before they start to go "off". It was suggested that we pick some of the bottom leaves which, did lead to some of the tomatoes ripening. But some (an understatement) of the tomatoes have started to spoil. Nonetheless we (it was I who did this really) have managed, with all the "drama", to successfully harvest a small amount of tomatoes: some red but mostly GREEN.

My Dad (yes he is going to be a constant in my blog as he is very opinionated when it comes to growing eating and buying food LOL but not always LOL) and I have decided to try ripening them using banana. Banana naturally releases ethene gas when they ripen. This gas is used in farming also (can't unfortunately escape being a science teacher).

So not to waste them, I decided to make a tomato sauce with the red tomatoes. With the green tomatoes I thought I would fry them and make a kind of salsa. I had some tortillas wraps in the fridge not being used so I turned them into tortilla chips which I served with the red tomato sauce and green tomato salsa. I will include ingredients and pictures of each thing, try them out and let me know how via Instagram or comment section below on how it went!!!!!

1. Red tomato warm salsa sauce with homemade tortilla chips

(serves 2)

Ingredients

4 tomatoes

1/2 red onion (or white)

1 clove garlic

Some Worchestershire sauce

Some ketchup

1 tsp of sugar

3 large tortilla /fajita wraps

Method

Dice onions, garlic and tomatoes and place everything into the frying pan. Allow the ingredient in pan to cooked down when tomatoes start to form a sauce add the sugar, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and cook down further.

While this is going on, preheat oven to 150-200 degrees and chop up tortilla wraps, halving each time to eventually form triangle shaped tortilla chips.

Drizzle some olive oil (or any other alternative) onto the tortilla chips and place in oven and cook until crispy but not burnt.

Once, the sauce is of a "sauce-like" consistency and chips are cooked you can assemble like below. I added grated mozzarella cheese to mine but you can add anything you want (I wanted guacamole but I didn't have avocado).

2. Green tomato salsa

(enough for 4)

Ingredients

5 green tomatoes

1 red onion

1 medium-sized dried chilli

1 Red pepper

1 clove garlic

Method

Pour boiling hot water onto dried chilli and leave for 5 minutes. Chop the rest of the ingredients roughly and place into container for blitzing. Add the rehydrated chilli and some of the juice (depending on the texture or thickness you want).

I used a nutriblender for only a few seconds as I wanted a rough texture but any food processor can be used and time depends on the texture you want.

You can either cook down the salsa made like the red tomato one or you could have it raw and serve also on tortilla chips or in a sandwich whichever!!!

I had mine with tortilla chips, mozzarella and sweetcorn (yeah, it was the time of the month....).

3. Fried green tomatoes

(snack size four 4, depends if your greedy like me!!)

Ingredients

4-5 green tomatoes

2 tbsp. plain flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp of salt

1 egg

2-3 tbsp. (depends again on how much you want) cornmeal (fine or coarse your preference)

Method

Place plain flour on small plate or bowl and mix in garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Place egg lightly whisked in separate bowl and place the cornmeal in another bowl. Then place tomatoes in the order: seasoned flour --> whisked egg --> cornmeal. Making sure you get rid of excess flour and whisked egg at the respective stages.

Slice the tomatoes thick to medium as shown below and in first image

Heat oil until it starts to smoke, place covered tomato slices.

Place cooked tomatoes onto kitchen tissue to remove any excess oil.

Then enjoy!!! I ate mine with some hot sauce which complemented the flavour of the fried green tomatoes.

Again, let me know in the newly added comment section or Instagram which recipes you tried and the modifications you made to the recipes. xx