You know how to cook with tomatoes, right?
You sure?
What tomato-y transgressions are you guilty of committing?
Keep watching!
You won't believe what secret ingredient can take your marinara from bitter to breathtaking!
Perhaps the biggest tomato struggle comes down to what kind of knife you're using.
We all know how big of a mistake it is to use the wrong knife — it can make an absolute
mess and pretty much destroy your tomato in the process.
"Ooooh boy, you poke it, you stab it, you jab it, you give the UH my goodness gracious.
Poor tomato has a hemorrhage!"
Now, you may think that a sharp paring knife would easily cut through a tomato…
"wrong wrong wrong wrong…"
According to Allrecipes, this type of knife is unlikely to be sharp enough to complete
the task at hand.
Rather, you're going to be better off using a serrated knife that has little teeth along
the blade.
You'll be able to slice open the tomato skin with a simple back and forth sawing motion.
It also avoids the messy mistake of squishing out all of the seeds and juices without actually
cutting through the flesh.
A bread knife may not be ideal for this task — you want it to be a bit finer than that
— but it's possible to make it work if that's all you have.
Investing in a small serrated knife is your best bet in this case.
For anyone who loves eating tomatoes on the regular, it's definitely worth it.
The age-old question!
To peel, or not to peel?
In some cases, Epicurious tells us that peeling just isn't necessary.
For example, if you're going to be eating your tomatoes fresh, there's no compelling
reason to peel them.
It'll just be messy and give you way more work than you probably want to put into the
process.
However, when it comes to some recipes, peeling the skin off beforehand is of utmost importance.
Why?
It's mostly a texture thing.
If you're cooking your tomatoes or adding them to a puree or sauce, you're going to
notice that the skins don't break down as easily as the rest of the fruit.
Additionally, tomato skins contain compounds that can make them taste bitter, which probably
isn't what you're aiming for when you're making a marinara.
Of course, the police aren't going to show up in your kitchen if you decide not to peel
your tomatoes.
It's not really that big of a deal.
However, most people prefer their sauces and purees to be skin-free, so keep this in mind
when you're taking on your next tomato-based cooking project.
Unfortunately, many people have a prejudice against canned food.
They associate it with bland, mushy vegetables and unpleasant textures and flavors that can
never compare to the fresh version.
Look, we get it to some extent; canned green beans are never going to be as good as fresh
ones.
But in some cases, canned foods can actually be way easier — not to mention more delicious
— than the fresh stuff.
And tomatoes definitely fall into that category.
The Daily Meal explains that a lot of it comes down to seasonality.
During the warmest days of summer, it probably won't be too difficult to find amazing, fresh
tomatoes that you just can't wait to cut open.
But in the depths of winter in the Northeast, you're not going to have the same kind of
luck.
During those months, canned tomatoes are likely to be fresher.
Additionally, canned tomatoes can be a lot easier to work with.
Consider whether you would want to make your own tomato paste yourself or just scoop it
out of a can.
Not to mention, canned tomatoes often have a stronger concentrated flavor, which is certainly
a plus in many dishes.
So, you shouldn't ditch fresh tomatoes altogether, but don't forget about everything that high-quality
canned tomatoes have to offer.
If you're anything like us, tomato seeds can throw off your cooking process.
And if you don't handle them properly, it can become a real problem!
"Stop it!
Get some help."
Thankfully, depending on the recipe, you don't have to worry about removing the seeds at
all.
For example, if you're cooking your tomatoes down or making a puree or sauce, then you
can just leave them whole and get cooking.
However, in many other preparations, PureWow suggests removing tomato seeds.
According to the site, keeping those seeds — and the gunk that surrounds them — in
your finished dish results in an, quote, "extra gooey and watery" consistency.
And yes, that's just as unappealing as it sounds.
Generally, it's as easy as scooping the seeds out of the tomato after you've cut it.
That way, you don't have to worry about the extra moisture wilting your greens or subjecting
you to a glob of tomato juice when you're trying to enjoy your salad.
Perhaps one of the most important steps in prepping your tomatoes comes down to a single
ingredient: salt.
It's one of the simplest items in your kitchen, but it enhances flavors so that everything
tastes delicious — in moderation of course!
And while it's an important element in most dishes, tomatoes are one place where you really,
really don't want to forget it.
That's because, according to Serious Eats, adding salt to tomatoes starts the process
of osmosis, which basically just means that the salt draws liquid out from the tomatoes.
The resulting tomato is far less watery, and its flavors become more concentrated.
Not only are you getting that additional taste from the salt itself, but your tomato will
actually taste more, well, tomato-y.
Salt also reduces bitterness in food, which will, in turn, make your tomatoes taste sweeter.
And that's not all!
Since salt makes you salivate, it also means that those flavors are more widely distributed
in your mouth.
But you don't really need to know all the science behind it.
Just remember that salting your tomatoes is almost always a good idea.
Tomatoes are for more than just throwing!
You can eat them too!
However, if you really want to get as much out of your tomatoes as possible, then seasoning
them will have to be given serious consideration.
We've already discussed the importance of salting your tomatoes, but that doesn't mean
you should stop there.
Rather, plenty of amazing herbs can take whatever tomato dish you're making to the next level.
A lot of these pairings are classic!
For example, oregano and basil infuse a lovely burst of flavor to fresh or cooked tomatoes.
Plenty of other herbs like dill, thyme, tarragon, parsley, and chives can liven your tomatoes
up and make them into something special.
Meanwhile, black or white pepper can introduce some earthiness to the fruit.
It only takes a few extra minutes to chop up some herbs, so you definitely shouldn't
skip this step if you're trying to make your tomatoes as flavorful as possible.
Have you noticed that whenever you buy a tomato from the grocery store it just doesn't taste
that good, but when you enjoy a tomato fresh from a garden it seems like the best thing
you've ever eaten?
Well, there's a reason for that and it largely comes down to capitalism.
According to Live Science, most commercial tomato varieties are not chosen for their
flavor but rather for high yields.
After all, the more tomatoes a producer can grow, the more money they can make.
It might be good for the farmer's bottom line, but it certainly isn't great for taste-oriented
consumers.
Therefore, you might want to branch out and try getting your tomatoes elsewhere instead
of just picking them up at the grocery store.
Buying fresh produce from a farmer's market is always a smart idea.
However, you'll want to make sure that the tomatoes you're getting are actually grown
locally.
And if you want to be even closer to the source, consider growing your own tomatoes if you
have the space.
It's a fun project, and you'll be rewarded with an incredible summer bounty.
Sometimes, when you want tomato sauce for a dish, you just buy the canned or jarred
stuff and call it a day.
But when you have fresh tomatoes and a little extra time on hand, you may want to try making
your tomato sauce from scratch.
In theory, this should be super easy.
Just cook the tomatoes down, and they'll be good to go, right?
But it's not always that simple.
One issue that home cooks often run into is acidic-tasting tomato sauce.
This is more likely to be a problem if you're using tomatoes that aren't quite ripe enough.
According to The Spruce Eats, adding some baking soda to your sauce is a great way to
reduce acidity and make your sauce more pleasant.
The outlet recommends using a quarter teaspoon per gallon of sauce to fix the issue.
If you generally add sugar to your tomato sauce, it also helps make the acidity even
less perceptible.
This amount of baking soda seems so small that you might think you wouldn't even notice
the difference.
But just a sprinkle of the stuff can go a long way.
This is a trick that you probably wouldn't think of yourself, but once you give it a
try, you'll realize it works.
Food waste is a huge problem in the United States.
According to the USDA, 30% to 40% of the food produced in the U.S. ends up in a landfill.
Yes, this includes the bag of kale in the back of your fridge you always knew you weren't
going to finish.
But it also includes all the parts of our food we don't eat.
Just think about it, when you slice into a tomato and clean out its seeds, you're actually
trashing a significant portion of the fruit.
Instead, you might want to consider saving those scraps if you can.
For instance, storing them in a zip-top bag in the freezer is a good idea if you want
to make homemade veggie broth later.
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