Tomato...tomato.

In my last blog I said I would write about canning tomatoes. Well, needless to say, it turned out great. I did can some tomatoes at my house, but I actually taught a canning class for members of Slow Food PGH, which I think is a little more exciting. Slow Food members envision a world in which all people can eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet. 



The class was at a farm called Blackberry Meadows in Natrona Heights. The farmers, Greg and Jen Boulos, set up a large tent to in front of their home that housed 50 Slow Food members who were eager to learn the art of canning. I taught the basics of the canning process, from sterilizing the jars to filling them with tomatoes, then to pressure-canning them for preservation. I also made a quick tomato sauce using yellow tomatoes.



Then we had Virginia Philips, a Slow Food PGH employee, show how to make an overnight sauce that is baked in a 250 degree oven throughout the night. She also made a tomato dessert sauce that was decadent. 



Amy Rosenfield From Mon Aimee Chocolat
Assisting With Making Yellow Tomato Sauce

The day couldn’t have been complete without my friend Nancy Hanst, who did a demonstration on how to pickle green tomatoes. Yes, I said pickled green tomatoes; don’t knock them until you've tried them! They were really quite interesting and very tasty. I’ve got a few green tomatoes left in my garden, so I just might make them.

 

Nancy Hanst Pickling Green Tomatoes

One of the highlights of the day was an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven. Canning takes a lot of energy, so pizza was the perfect food to make. The oven was 900 degrees, and it baked the pizzas in less than 90 seconds!



Greg Boulos Cookins Pizzas In
The Wood Fire Pizza Oven

During Nancy and Virginia’s presentation, I rolled out dough and a few other volunteers (Betsy, Alyce, Amy R. and Amy B.) helped top the pizzas with our homemade sauces, fresh mozzarella and some of Jen’s basil. They turned out awesome.

Pizza!

After the pizzas, we served ice cream that we topped with Virginia’s tomato dessert sauce. The ice cream really enhanced the flavors of the tomatoes. It was a great way to finish a long afternoon.

Until next time,
Jamie

P.S. Click here to view last year's blog post and video on how to can tomatoes.