Tomatoes in winter?

It’s  Valentine’s Day and the French consider tomatoes the “apples of love” (pommes d’amour), so who are we to argue with them? Especially since due to the warm winter we have plenty of Florida tomatoes and the prices are oh-so-low.

So for Valentine’s Day let’s make this tiny exception and cook off-season. But how do we cook  tomatoes in winter?

First and foremost, you must cook them. The pleasure of raw tomatoes is reserved to summer.  ”Roasting is the single best method I can think of to cook winter tomatoes”,  says chef Chris Albrecht of Eno Terra ”since it intensifies the tomato’s natural flavor, and softens the texture without eliminating it.”

“We cut the tomatoes in halves, squeeze out the seeds and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper.   Then put them, cut side down, in the hottest oven you can find for 5 minutes or until the skin blisters.   Remove them and as soon as you can handle them peel off the skins.   Now set the oven to its lowest setting (we use a convection oven, at 200 degrees with the door slightly open).   Reset the peeled tomatoes on a baking sheet (that has sides) and drizzle with some olive oil (garlic infused if you want), a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary. No additioinal salt, remember the flavors are going to be intensified.   Put in the oven and let them oven dry for 1-3 hours depending on your oven.   Repackage and refrigerate.   we separate each layer with parchment paper in the container.

This also extends their shelf life.   But in the end they are tomatoes, and they will go sour if left too long.”

Serve your sweetheart a pan-roasted, deeply-colored wild salmon (another aphrodisiac) topped with those lovely roasted tomatoes on a bed of sauteed greens. Drizzle it all with a good quality balsamic.