Vine Ripe or not vine ripe tomatoes? Who cares?

I have to be totally honest and biased when I say that nothing beats a vine ripened tomato. I realize that they are not always in season so they might be hard to get (and they are expensive), but when they are available they are soooo worth it, that is if you use them correctly.

What do I mean when I say vine ripen? This means that the tomato is left on the plants vine and is picked when the fruit is at its "peak" before being picked. The result if a uniformly red, sweet, juicy, and wonderful tomato.

Typically tomatoes are not vine ripened and are picked early because of the cost effectiveness of it all. Because they are picked sooner that means less time on the farm and quicker to be sold. Unfortunately this leads to tomatoes that are bland and the color is usually that pinkish hey, rather than that deep, dark, delicious red.

It is important to note that while I do prefer vine ripen toms, they have to be used correctly in order to justify paying double the amount. Here are some helpful hints.

1. When you first get them, store them in a dry cool place, the fridge is fine if they are going to be eaten right away. Do not wash them until they are going to be used, because moisture on tomatoes will lead to mold.

2 If you leave them out on the counter to get over ripe, or if they naturally are over ripe, use them to make sauce. Over ripe, vine ripened tomatoes are the best for pizza, marinara, and soups.

3. Do not squeeze them or stack them on one another, this will cause them to bruise and will make them dwindle much faster. Be gentle and give them space.

4. Keep track of them- Watch for mold and too much condensation on them. If one tomato goes bad, they all can get moldy rather quickly.


Hope you enjoy your vine ripen tomatoes, but if you don't have them, or can't afford them, here is a cool recipe from a chef that I used to work for in Seattle.

Chef Daisley Gordon's Confit Tomato Technique

Happy Eating!

Storing vegetables and fruits.....what should go in the fridge?

While many of us, (including myself) have the urge to put every vegetable and fruit they buy in the fridge, sometimes doing so can actually hurt your produce. If fruits or vegetables are not ripe yet, leave them out in a cool place (away from the sunshine), to ripen. This could take 3 to 4 days till your fruits or vegetables are ripe. Remember, if you put them in the fridge this will stop the ripening process and it will just stay the way it was originally when you bought it. So if you want to stop the ripening process, put it in the fridge.  

How do I know when it is ripe? Well this depends on the fruit or vegetable itself, but typically the two most important things are color, smell and general touch. For example, avocados tend to need some time to ripen. If the avocado is hard like a rock, leave it out on the counter for a few days till it has a little "give." Then put it in the fridge. While I can't possibly cover all fruits and vegetables for the "okay" to put in fridge, I can say that some are better left out, in my opinion.

Leave out in cool place ( out of sun).

1. Potatoes
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Ginger

Items to immediately put in your fridge
1. Lettuce
2. Spinach
3. Basically any leafy green.

A good way to think about this to, is the next time you go shopping for groceries in the super market, notice which items are in the fridge and which ones aren't.

* I am not saying you shouldn't refrigerate fruits and vegetables, I just want to caution people for putting "everything" in the fridge, when some items could benefit, or tolerate being left out. 
:)