Braker Flo - The good cooks book of tomatoes : a new world discovery and its old world impact, with more than 150 recipes

Other Books by Michele Anna Jordan

More Than Meatballs

Vinaigrettes & Other Dressings

The World Is a Kitchen

Lotsa Pasta

VegOut! A Guide Book to Vegetarian Friendly Restaurants in Northern California

The BLT Cookbook

San Francisco Seafood

The New Cooks Tour of Sonoma

Pasta Classics

California Home Cooking

Polenta

Pasta with Sauces

Ravioli & Lasagne

The Good Cooks Journal

The Good Cooks Book of Mustard

The Good Cooks Book of Oil & Vinegar

The Good Cooks Book of Salt & Pepper

A Cooks Tour of Sonoma

Copyright 1995 by Michele Anna Jordan

New material copyright 2015 by Michele Anna Jordan

Photographs copyright 2015 by Liza Gershman

First published in 1995 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Erin Seward-Hiatt

Cover photo credit Liza Gershman

Print ISBN: 978-1-63220-698-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-017-3

Printed in China

A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.
Laurie Colwin, Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen

for James Carroll and John Boland,

again and always

&

for the magnificent tomato farmers of Sonoma County, who make my work a delicious joy

and

In memory of Professor Charles M. Mr. Tomato Rick 19152002

Contents

Foreword

F or as long as I can remember, Ive had a passion for food. For me, cooking is one of lifes great pleasures, and I believe that most of us want to feel relaxed and knowledgeable in the kitchen. Many of us want to cook with inspiration as well.

Just as an artist experiences a sense of well-being and an edge of excitement when sitting down with brushes, paints, and palette to create a new work, a cook likes to feel both confident and full of ideas when he or she opens the pantry, reaches for an apron, and begins cooking.

My idea of a great cookbook is one that, on opening it, I want to take to a quiet corner to read and savor, because I know immediately that its going to give me lots of information, some new skills, and lasting inspiration.

Michele Jordan has written three such books: The Good Cooks Book of Oil & Vinegar , The Good Cooks Book of Mustard , and now The Good Cooks Book of Tomatoes. Her approach is to guide us to explore every facet of each essential ingredient in her grand collections of innovative recipes so that we can duplicate as well as experiment and to encourage us to use what weve learned. Today, all across America, consumers have an embarrassment of riches. So many new and unfamiliar vinegars, oils, mustards, and tomatoes are available that just shopping for a recipe can be a challenge. Michele gives us exactly the information we need to make intelligent choices so that we can work with these ingredients easily and skillfully and use them as a springboard for our own culinary creations.

Micheles three volumes are not just cookbooks to be quickly scanned in order to decide what to whip up for a meal. Instead, each book treats a particular ingredient so thoroughly that in the end you can almost taste the recipes as you read them, and then go on to create countless variations of your own.

This fine trilogy of companion books weaves the vibrant tastes, textures, and aromas of everyday essential ingredients into well-organized information that appeals to the novice as well as to the experienced home cook. Each book begins with some historical, botanical, and commercial background on the ingredient, and even addresses pertinent health issues. A section called The Annotated Pantry includes Micheles personal comments and notes. Her recipes follow, and they are easy-to-prepare contemporary dishes that guarantee delicious results for every course of a meal.

Micheles glossary, Tasting section, and sample forms for conducting your own tastings are invaluable resources. Her easy-to-follow instructions on how to conduct comparative tastings educate your palate and give you faith in your own judgment. After all, thats what good cooking is all abouttaste.

For me, though, perhaps the greatest pleasure in reading any one of The Good Cooks books is that Michele brings life to the ingredients that we tend to take for granted. After reading one of these books you will never again underestimate the power of a simple ingredient. Moreover, youll want the entire series close to you in the kitchen as handy references to use again and again. Micheles passion jumps off each page and entices you to taste, experiment, and cook. Three cheers for The Good Cooks books: Oil & Vinegar! Mustard! Tomatoes!

Flo Braker
Palo Alto, 1995

Acknowledgments

A very special thanks goes to Nicole Frail of Skyhorse Publishing for making a crazy deadline schedule actually doable. Nicole, you are a joy to work with! Thanks, as well, to the entire Skyhorse team.

I could not have written this book, neither the first edition nor this one, were it not for the talented and dedicated farmers and gardeners of Sonoma County, who nurture their tomato plants from tender little seedlings to huge productive vines, giving us, in a good year, delicious heirloom and hybrid tomatoes from sometime in June all the way to mid-November. Special thanks goes to Lazaro Calderon of The Patch in Sonoma; Nancy Skall of Middleton Farms in Healdsburg; Cliff Silva of Ma & Pas Garden in Sebastopol; Yael Bernier and her son Zureal of Bernier Farms in Geyserville; Susan and Lou Preston and their crew at Preston Farms and Winery in Healdsburg; Larry Tristano and his crew at Triple T Farms in Santa Rosa; and Adam Davidoff of New Family Farm in Sebastopol.

Thanks, as well, to Dominique Cortara of Dominiques Sweets, who made gorgeous tomato galettes for one of our photo sessions and has been a great friend through it all. Thanks for the bubbly, Dominique!

I am filled with gratitude for the talent and dedication of Paula Downing, who currently manages the Sebastopol Farmers Market and is responsible for transforming farmers markets in Sonoma County from good to extraordinary and extraordinarily successful. Ive never met anyone who understands and loves farmers as much as Paula and I am deeply thankful for the wisdom she continues to share with all of us.