Many times I find myself in the awkward position of having too many tomatoes to eat before they go bad, but not quite enough for a batch of canning. The answer? Dehydrate them!
I got the idea while thumbing through The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food: Easy Step-by-Step Instructions for Freezing, Drying, and Canning. (Which, incidentally, is an awesome book for people like myself who always seem to have too many projects going on).
The directions say to cut out cores and slice to 1/8″ thick. I didn’t core them (just removed the little cap) and don’t think I quite made them 1/8″ thin, but it still worked. Then, dry in a dehydrator at 120F for 8 to 10 hours, turn slices over and dry another 6-8 hours, or until crisp.
The Verdict: I almost think I made them too thin, because they were a bit difficult to get off the trays. No matter, because when they were done they were almost like little tomato chips, and the concentrated flavor was WONDERFUL. I think I liked the yellow heirlooms the best.
So, uh, what do I DO with dehydrated tomatoes?
I restrained myself from eating them raw, because quick internet search turned up the following ideas:
- The Seasonal Chef provides directions for salad dressing, tomato potatoes, and essence of dried tomatoes
- The Kitchn provides recipes for Creamy Braised Cauliflower with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Orzo Salad with Rosemary Almonds and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Double Corn Bread with Smoked Mozzarella and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- There’s a recipe on Allrecipes.com for sun-dried tomato pesto
- Family Fresh Cooking suggests Sun-Dried Tomato Humus
- you can even make tomato sauce (although that seems like much more work than just canning it in the first place)
Hi,
This post is so informative. I would love for you to come
share it at FAT TUESDAY. I hope you will
put FAT TUESDAY on your list of carnivals to visit
and link to each week!
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/09/fat-tuesday-september-20-2011/
I marinate them overnight in vinegar and slice them closer to 1/4 of an inch.
Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. Hope to see you next week!
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/09/fat-tuesday-september-20-2011/
I have tried this a couple times. I like to keep them in olive oil in the refrigerator. Mmmm. Nice to see you linking to our Frugal Tuesday Tip. Join again soon: http://juliecache.com/2011/09/18/frugal-tuesday-tip-meet-me-and-grab-some-coupons/.html
I love tips about dehydrating! RIght now I’ve got fruit leather, kale and apples in my dehydrator. I also love that you gave recipes for the dried tomatoes. I have a jar of dried peppers that I have absolutely no idea what to do with!
I wish I had a dehydrator, and a garden. Sigh.
I like to invite you to share easy, real food recipes at Ruth’s Real Food
I wish my garden produced more. Oh well, it’s a lifelong journey, eh?
I made the investment of an Excalibur dehydrator this summer and it has been operating almost 24/7 since I opened it. There are other, less expensive, ones out there and you can sometimes find a real bargain at a sale. I want to encourage people to get one and emphasize that a garden is not necessary at all! Frozen veggies, for example, are perfect to dry because they have already been blanched and 2# of on -sale peas or corn will dry to about a pint of dried foods than easily be stored in a glass jar (I seal mine) for a year. This saves lots of room in your freezer for other bargains. Today I bought 10# of zucchini at Kroger’s for $10, washed them, sliced them and as I write have 9 trays of zucchini chips drying (with several fresh zucchini left over for breads, etc. That’s an entire winter’s supply for us. I currently have peas, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, peaches, baby carrots (69 cents a pound) and bell peppers in jars. I am looking for a bargain on ground beef and will cook it and dry it, too.
Drying ground beef? I’ve never heard of that.
Can you share how you do it and then how you use it later in recipes? What is the benefit of drying vs freezing for the ground beef?
Thanks
I’ve not actually tried this yet…waiting for a really good price on beef! But, I know several people who have made “beef gravel.” The advantage: takes up far less space! . Basically, you get the leanest beef possible and saute it. Then (this is very important!) put it in a colander and pour boiling water over it to remove as much fat as possible. Once you have determined all the fat is removed, spread it on drying screens and dry. It will become “gravel-like” and like any other dried food can be rehydrated to use in cooking…chili, soups, etc. Campers and hikers use it a lot! I can tell you that I have 4# of dried peas, corn and items like that stored in ONE quart jar. Think of how much room that amount of food takes up in the freezer. I am guessing that I would get at least four pounds of dried beef in a quart jar, as well. BYW, I do use the Food Saver to seal my jars, but I also watch them for a few days afterwards to check for any signs of moisture. Haven’t found any yet, but if I did I would put the food back in the deydrator. Drying ground beef methods can be found by using Google.
I LOVE sun-dried tomato hummus! I like to add some tomatoes in while I’m processing the hummus, so that it has a beautiful color and tomato is evenly distributed throughout. Then I stir in some chopped pieces for texture (and delicious flavor!). So good . . . The tomatoes are great in soups. They never seem to totally rehydrate, and have a chewy texture, but it’s not at all unpleasant. I like that intensified tomato flavor too.