Drying your own tomatoes

I had a go at drying some tomatoes in my oven. It worked extremely well and I now have a container in the freezer with 'sundried' tomatoes in.

I used small tomatoes and I cut them in half. Laid them on a pizza baking tray (you could use foil with holes in it to allow the air to circulate. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt (this helps to dry them out) I put my oven on 50C and opened the door every now and again to let out the steam. It did take most of the day so you need to be doing plenty to make it worthwhile. The tiny cherry tomatoes would probably dry in a few hours. I then decided to freeze them just to make sure they stay fresh. Apparently if you leave moisture in them they can go mouldy so best be safe and freeze.

Pork steaks with Tomatoes and Rosemary

I have a lovely Rosemary bush in the garden so thought I would do something in my slow cooker with the pork steaks I had in the freezer and the Rosemary.

4 pork steaks
6 tomatoes quartered
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of chopped Rosemary
4 tablespoons of single cream
A dash of water

Fry the pork steaks in a pan with a tiny bit of oil. When sealed put into the slow cooker pot. Chop onion and garlic and add to the frying pan. Fry for a few mins until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and Rosemary. Cook for a couple more minutes and then add to the slow cooker pot. Put a dash of water into the pot and then close the lid. Leave for at least 3 hours (depends on your slow cooker) or until pork is tender. Season with salt and pepper and add the cream. Stir around and then leave for another half an hour. Serve with mashed potatoes and veg.

Tomato and mint salad

I have an abundance of mint in my garden along with many tomato plants. I came up with this salad recipe which tastes lovely.

5 or 6 small tomatoes
a bunch of mint leaves
Chopped cucumber
Chopped red onion
2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper

Quarter the tomatoes, put into a serving dish. Add the chopped cucumber and red onion.
Tear the mint leaves and add to the tomatoes. Stir around to mix up.
Whisk olive oil and vinegar and season to taste. Pour over the salad. It tastes even better if you leave it in the fridge for a few hours.

Tomato Bread

The children at school often get tomatoes for their snack and the vast majority hate them. To overcome this problem and to avoid throwing out loads of tomatoes I now take them home and make bread with them.



4 cups of strong white flour
half a cup of water
10-15 cherry tomatoes chopped
1 tablespoon of margarine or olive oil
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 sachet of easy blend yeast

Put everything into a bread maker and either make into dough and bake as individual buns or use the white loaf setting and make into a loaf. The children love eating this bread and are always eager for more.