Planting Tomatoes

Before we get to the tomatoes, I’d like to assure you that although I haven’t posted a recipe here in months, I have been eating as well as ever. This is what I mean by living with a cook better that oneself: wild turkey twice in one month, the breasts stuffed on one occasion with Serrano ham and membrillo, on the other with Serrano ham and dried figs stuffed with roasted almonds; frog’s legs coated in panko, fried, and served with fresh horseradish (from the garden) sauce; seared sea scallops in a butter sauce topped with shavings of truffle chocolate; pitch-perfect cucumber, tomato, cilantro salad; Greek sausage and lobster frittata; fiddlehead and ramp soup; venison (from our woods)…you get the idea. Don’t worry, I will start documenting these meals and sharing them with you.

Now on to the tomatoes. The expression “as above, so below” applies to, well, almost everything, but to tomatoes also and that’s what we’re talking about. For a tomato plant to be healthy and happy above ground it needs to be healthy and happy below ground. That means it needs a robust root system and the teeny, tiny ball of roots that come out of a start pack just isn’t enough.

So what to do? The solution is to plant the tomato start so that it is parallel to the ground, burying the lower portion of the plant. The portion of stalk below ground will root, giving the tomato plant the support it needs to grow and produce to its full potential. Then it can spend its energy on making delicious tomatoes for your salad bowl or sauce pot not on struggling to survive. We’re so used to plants growing perpendicular to the ground that it seems strange, even wrong, to plant one lying down. It really is for the best, though, and within a few hours or a day the tomato plant will point itself up toward the sky, appreciative of the extra care you gave it.

Tomatoes

When I arrive at the farmers' market, I usually like to do one round to see what all the vendors have and then go back and buy the best from each farmer. This morning, however, I was seduced by the tomatoes at the very first stand I came to. She had these gorgeous little yellow ones and, beside the flats of perfect heirloom tomatoes, a flat of equally perfect, as far as I could tell, seconds for half the price. Local tomatoes. Cheap. How can you go wrong?

After briefly considering using them with the baby zucchini and summer squash I got from the same woman in some pasta thing, I decided to make a quick tomato salad.

Quick tomato salad

• a few tomatoes, large or small
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• large handful flat-leaf parsley, minced
• 1 Tbs. good olive oil
• 1 tsp. vinegar or your choice
• generous pinch salt
• good grind of pepper

• Chop tomatoes, removing the seeds if you so desire, and place in bowl. Mince garlic and parsley and add to tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and vinegar. Mix together. Set aside while you do something else, allowing flavors to marry.

Try substituting basil for the parsley.

Toast came instantly to mind once the salad had been made. I don't have a toaster, so when I say toast you can think of this instead: I take a nice thick slice of good bread, spread butter on one side, and put it butter side down on a hot dry pan. I put something heavy on top of the bread and when the buttered side is golden-brown it's done. One side is crispy and buttery and the other side its perfect complement: warm and soft. And I do love a poached egg on toast. So lunch became quick tomato salad with poached egg on toast.