It's a pretty big bowl, sure, but I didn't expect it to yield TWO QUARTS of homemade tomato juice.Just for perspective, the little gold tomatoes in the picture are cherry tomatoes.
The others are Purple Cherokee, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Dona. The Donas are eerily uniform in size, almost perfectly round, and a cornball shade of hot red. Ideal sellability factors, though it's not the tastiest tomato in the world. Still, I might grow it again next year.
I spent a happy hour or so on the patio, cutting and salting the tomatoes, then running them through the food mill.
All those crazy colors blended to make a fairly satisfying-looking juice. Deep red.
I popped it directly into the freezer.
Then, this morning, I was reading my trusty, tattered copy of Putting Food By. I learned that uncooked tomato juice has a tendency to separate. Something about enzyme action. Hm.
Well, no problem, say I. Once I thaw it, I'll just give it a hearty zap in the microwave.
I mean, come on. Right? Don't spoil my fantasy.
My Bloody Mary fantasy.
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8 comments:
Please tell us how that turns out! When I made tomato juice, I cooked it, then bottled. It would be wonderful if it works without cooking!
P.S. I love the reference to "South Pacific," one of my favorite musicals!
Isn't it funny how uniformity in backyard fruit is now an "eerie" phenomenon? Such have our sensibilities changed toward accepting the nonuniform as "good." (It's a good thing; I am just saying. My Amish Paste tomatoes are the exact. same. on. every. plant. SNORE.)
But save those celery stalks as stir sticks and you shouldn't care a whit about the juice separating!
Zoomie: I won't be thawing it for a month, but I'll let you know. The last time we made a small batch of uncooked juice, it made a fine cocktail.
And THANKS for getting the South Pacific reference!
El: It hadn't occurred to me until I read your remark... Yeah, I was thinking uniformity was eerie, as in genetically programmed. But why shouldn't a plant decide to make all its fruit the same size? It's probably a terribly convenient ripening strategy. My Roma does, and that doesn't weird me out as much for some reason.
My reaction when things separate? Just give them a good shake. Or a stir as El suggested.
I use to cook my tomato juice - 1 bushel of tomatoes with 2 onions, 4 stalks of celery, 2 green peppers and a handfull of garlic.
Put it, hot, into hot jars and it sealed itself. It always seperated - just shake and serve. It was soooo good. Damn, I miss tomatoes this year.
Did I mention what good Bloody Mary's it made?
Dagny: Thanks. I'm worrying less and less about the separating. This book, Putting Food By, is pretty didactic, in a guilt-inducing way.
Katie: Wow, you made V-5 juice! And cavalierly bottled it without processing. I've GOT to loosen up. I'm such a phobic.
nice looking collection of tomatoes
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