Ripening tomatoes

jimbo_the_jetset

Farway wrote: »

Warmth is the main ripener

Think I'll have to take my tomato plants on holiday with me then!!

rosieben

karren wrote: »

hi does anyone have an easy receipie for green tom chutney? as not all of it on here, or can i add them to curries etc?

I think my recipe came from the back of a Sarsons vinegar jar label originally, I will hunt it out and post shortly

rosieben

Found it - it actually is in a free booklet I got from Sarsons, I sent off the vinegar label offer. Loads of good recipes in it - dont know if its worth contacting Premier Foods who now own Sarsons (along with loads of other brands!) to see if its still available. http://www.premierfoods.co.uk/premierfoodsmain/our-brands/$our-brands_home.cfm

Red/Green Tomato Chutney

Prep time 20 mins
Cooking time 60 mins
Makes aprox 1 ltr

450ml (1/4 pt) Sarsons pickling malt vinegar
675g (1.5 lbs) green or red tomatoes chopped
450g (1lb) cooking apples, peeled and chopped
225g (8 ozs) onions chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
7.5 ml (1.5 tsp) salt
100g (4 ozs) sultanas
2.5cm (1") piece fresh root ginger, grated
400g (14 ozs) demerara sugar

Method

Place all the ingredients except the sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to the boild and simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved then simmer, stirring occasionally,for about 1 hour until the chutney is a thick pulp consistency. Pour into warm, sterilised jars, seal, label and store for 2 weeks.

I've made this several times with green and red and a mix of tomatoes. Always turned out lovely. I dont add the ginger btw, just my personal taste

Loads of good recipes in the book, worth trying to see if its still available. :j

I've noticed there's a recipe for spiced plum chutney so I may well use up some of the ones I found loitering the bottom of my freezer!;)

karren

can i freeze the toms until I have enough? as they are falling off in dribs and drabs, and not enough to make a batch, cheers for the recipie x

rosieben

karren wrote: »

can i freeze the toms until I have enough? as they are falling off in dribs and drabs, and not enough to make a batch, cheers for the recipie x

yes they should be fine. just freezer them whole, they will 'fall' when you thaw them but just throw them in the pan! You could halve the recipe to make smaller batches?

my sister tells me her tomatoes have started to rot on the plant (they have brown patches showing, though the tomatoes are still green as green) so she is picking every day and ripening them indoors. Havent had that problem on mine but keeping an eye on them.

steady__eddie

My mates dad used to wrap his unripened tomatoes at the end of the season in socks and put them in the airing cupboard. It would apparently only work with woolen socks which were not new, (clean but not new).
The immersion heater was never switched on so how they ripened remained a mystery but they certainly did and didn't appear to lose too much of their hardness.

belfast_child

pretty please would you post the receipe for spiced plum chutney, myfriend has a plum tree with millions of plums and he says i can have some x

rosieben

belfast_child wrote: »

pretty please would you post the receipe for spiced plum chutney, myfriend has a plum tree with millions of plums and he says i can have some x

No probs.
_________________

Spiced plum Chutney

Prep Time 20 mins
Cooking time 45 mins
Makes approx 1ltr (1 3/4 pts)

300 ml (1/2 pt) Pickling malt vinegar
675g (1.5lbs) plums, stoned and qaurtered
2 large onions, chopped
225g (8ozs) Cooking apples, peeled cored and chopped
100g (4ozs) Sultanas
150g (6ozs) Soft brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 Star Anise (optional)

Place all the ingredients into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered for about 45 mins, stirring occasionally, until the chutney is a thick, pulpy consistency. Spoon into warm, sterilised jars, seal, label and store in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks befor using.

Red plums give a pretty colour to this chutney, but any type of plum can be used. It is an excellent accompaniment to smoked mackerel.
________________

They are all copyright Sarsons, but as the recipe book was a freeibe give away I wont feel guilty about posting it!:D

It has these recipes too if anyone is interested (I havent tried any of them except the tomato posted earlier) -

Sweet and Sour relish
Thai Banana and Coconut chutney
Sweet Mango Chutney
Chillle Lime Pickle
Cranberry and Orange Chutney
Processor Mint Relish
Henry Sarson's All Year Chutney
Pickled Garlic
Mixed Indian Pickles
Pickled Chillies
Pickles Limes or Lemons
Preserved Mixed Mushrooms
Grilled Italian Anti-Pasti Mix
Summer Vegetable Pickle
and various pickles - pears, eggs,cabbage, onions, beetroot
:beer:

Primrose

It's been a horrible year for outdoor tomatoes. Last summer in the heat I was already picking armfuls. This year I have miserable little green marbles on all my plants. We really do need a lot more sun to bring them on and ripen them.

divadee

i have only been toms for about 4 years so we are still trying to find the formula for us!!!

but, this year is terrible, i have had to strip off so many leaves, i have just lost 2 plamts to tomato blight and my good healthy plants are just rubbish this year.

i have loads of small green toms and only had 2 ripen so far. i thought it was something i had done wrong this year also thought it might be cos i have done cherry toms (not done those before) but it seems that everyone on here is having probs so feel a bit better!!!

my plants look truely awful, but i will still carry on trying.

hopefully next year will be better