It's summertime: Slice me a tomato

Tag : tomato slice

Some people are content to cut into them fresh off the vine,sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and devour.
Others need only two slices of bread spread with mayonnaise tosandwich a slice of tomato for a perfect meal or snack.
The tomato season is too short to let any juicy, red tomatoes go towaste.  Sara Maynard of Milan has a recipe that makes good use of summertomatoes, especially the ones she and her husband, Guy, grow everyyear in their large garden.
Southern vegetable skillet combination is her recipe for mixingtomatoes with corn and okra and cooking them all together in askillet with bacon, onion and green pepper.
 
Dale Rigsby of Dyersburg has a recipe for ripe tomato relish thatmakes use of tomatoes - two gallons. She got it from her mother,Virginia Styers of Dyersburg, who passed away last year at age 88. "I have been making this recipe or helping my mother make (it) foras long as I can remember," said Rigsby, though it's one she onlymakes about every other year, she said.
"We love tomatoes, and this is a way (to enjoy) them out ofseason," she said. "It is something to liven up basic food."
Rigsby's husband, for example, does not care for purple hull peas,she said, but will eat them with tomato relish.
"You use it like a salsa," Rigsby said. "Just the mixture of allthe vegetables and spices makes it good."
Other foods that taste good with ripe tomato relish, she said, arecrowder peas, pinto beans and Great Northern (white) beans.
After the array of ingredients thicken from cooking, Rigsby cansthe mixture in small glass jars no larger than a pint and thenwrites the year on the label.

"If you use small decorator jars, (they) make nice gifts," shesaid.
Another recipe that uses tomatoes but is simpler to prepare thanrelish is macaroni and tomatoes.
Carolyn Cunningham of Milan got the recipe from her friend SuePage, also of Milan.
"It's simple and different," said Cunningham, who recommends it asan ideal recipe for an add-a-dish function.
After cooked macaroni is added to one quart of tomatoes that havebeen cooked with onions, sugar and butter, the whole mixture issimmered for 30 to 40 minutes.

Southern vegetable skillet combination
Recipe from Sara Maynard, Milan 1 small package frozen cut corn, defrosted 1 package frozen sliced okra, defrosted 4 slices bacon, cubed 1 small onion, sliced 1 green pepper, chopped 3 tomatoes, peeled and diced 1/2 cup buttered bread crumbs, toasted Fry bacon in skillet until crisp. Then remove to absorbent paper.Cook onion and green pepper in bacon fat until lightly browned.

Add tomatoes and cook while stirring until blended. Add corn andokra; cook five minutes while stirring. Cover and cook about 10more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Turn onto warm servingdish and top with crumbs and bacon bits. Serves six.
Cook's note : Fresh corn and okra may be used in place of thefrozen. Macaroni and tomatoes
Recipe from Carolyn Cunningham, Milan 1 quart tomatoes 1 cup macaroni 3/4 stick butter 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup chopped onion
Cook tomatoes, onions, sugar and butter in saucepan. Add cookedmacaroni. Simmer 30 to 40 minutes.

Ripe tomato relish Recipe from Dale Rigsby, Dyersburg Cooking time : Three and a half to four hours. 2 gallons tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped 2 T. salt 1 t. dry mustard, optional 2 T. allspice 1 T. paprika, optional 1 T. black pepper 4 to 5 large onions 4 to 5 large green peppers 1 quart vinegar 1 to 2 hot peppers 4 cups sugar
Excluding sugar, combine all ingredients, including peppers totaste, into pot. Cook on medium heat until mixture begins tothicken.

Add sugar; cook on low heat until mixture thickens again. Stiroften to prevent sticking.
A salmonella outbreak linked to raw tomatoes serves as a reminderto take extra care with summer fruits and vegetables.
While there is no way for consumers to detect salmonella (you can'tsmell, taste or see it), there are some things you can do reducethe risk: