Unusual Tomato Dishes
By Vanessa Richins,
We’re familiar with so many different tomato dishes and products – BLT’s, ketchup, tomato sauces, and so much more.
I’ve always had an adventurous palate, so I love trying new foods.
Here’s three different tomato dishes that are a little off the beaten path.
I’m especially fascinated by the tomato eclairs, since I have only had a sweet version.
I took an advanced baking class in community college. One of the pastries I learned to make was eclairs. They’re not too hard to make. You just mix up flour, butter, eggs and salt in a saucepan, then bake them in the oven. I’ve always made a sweet cream or custard, as well as frosting with chocolate sometimes.
The recipe from the New York Times takes eclairs in a savory direction. Tomatoes are blended into the initial eclair batter before baking. Ricotta and basil are transformed into a delicious filling. I am going to have to try this recipe soon!
I suppose the idea of tomato jam isn’t that unusual, since it’s botanically a fruit. The general idea is along the lines of a tomato sauce, but carefully prepared to have that sticky sweet consistency that is familiar with jams. Some recipes also use green tomatoes, so here’s another use for the last of the season.
French Fried Tomato Sandwiches
One of my favorite sandwiches ever is the Monte Cristo. Basically, it’s ham and cheese on French toast bread, which is then sometimes deep fried. Sinful but scrumptious. This recipe seems like a twist on that to me, but replacing the ham with tomatoes.
What’s your favorite unusual tomato recipe?
October 28th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Those eclairs do sound like a must-try, Vanessa! What a clever idea! And tomato jams, preserves and butters are quite popular in this part of PA. An interesting alternative on a sandwich, don’t you think? I’ll bet a grilled cheese and sweet onion snadwich with tomato jam would be quite something!
November 4th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I tried tomato jam once, a very long time ago. I even liked it until I knew what it was. I was too young to appreciate new things that just seemed odd. The eclairs sound interesting, though.