Customer Reviews

The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read cookbooks like many people read magazines: cover to cover. The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook offers not only delicious, yet simple, recipes with a suggestion for a wine paring, but also a variety of other tomato topics that range from how to's of saving seeds, drying, and cultivating of favorite heirlooms. Your gardener, chef, and tomato lover will appreciate the beautiful illustrations as well.

Unlike most of the other reviewers of this book, I actually made some of the recipes. The tomato bisque was thin and bland, tasting mostly of onion and watery cream with just a hint of tomato flavor. I expect that ripe heirloom tomatoes of "any" variety (I used brandywine, pineapple, and black zebras) may be too soggy, and the soup really suffered. The same thing happened when I made the brandywine tomato sauce -- the tomatoes disintegrated into nothing, leaving me with a lot of specks of skin and a watery sauce. It would have been helpful if the recipes had suggested several varieties that would work best, something the author did only a few times.

The crab cakes were okay but would have been quite bland if I hadn't added more seasonings than the prescribed salt and pepper, and it's a good thing I did because the tomato-corn relish that accompanied it was quite unremarkable and would not have made up for the lack of seasoning in the crab cakes and the citrus aioli also didn't add much to the cakes other than a citrus-y bite.

Too many "recipes" merely involve cutting up tomatoes and other fruits/vegetables, seasoning them, and adding a commonplace dressing. Most people could figure that out on their own; why was recipe space wasted on it? And do you really need a cookbook to tell you how to make a BLT just because you're using heirlooms?

There are, however, informative sections on common heirloom varieties and their cultivation along with lots of pretty pictures, so I gave it two stars for that.

I found this book at Crate and Barrel while on vacation and bought it, since I grow alot of different kinds of tomatoes. I love this book so much that I'm here shopping for it for friends as gifts. What I esp. like is that many of the recipes are good as vegetarian entrees. Also, I like to collect cookbooks on one topic, so it was a good addition to my collection. And I did follow the procedures for saving heirloom seeds. So, I'm all set for next summer's growing season, and I can't wait!

Joyful and lovely color photos, especially the cover! Enticing to say the least and sure makes you want to cook with tomatos, especially heirlooms. Well-written and full of good information. The other bonus is that it pairs wines with tomatos which is not always an easy job -enjoy!

This is a fantastic book if you love tomatoes, especially heirloom tomatoes. It has so much information inside of it. Wines to go with them, salads to make out of them, chutneys & how to make preserves, soups, salsas, bruschettas to make out of them the list goes on. They also have a chapter on "growing and cultivating". I've only had one salad out of this book since I just received it and it was delicious. If you're a tomato lover you probably would like this book of recipes too. Enjoy it!

This book provides a great introduction to heirloom tomatoes including both growing and eating them. There are beautiful photos throughout the book, and most, but not all, of the recipes feature a photo of the finished dish.

The recipes also include wine pairing suggestions (of a type of wine, such as Chardonnay, not a specific brand of wine and/or vintage) which I thought was a wonderful addition.

The first chapter is an Introduction which includes the growing popularity of heirloom tomatoes, a description of the Heirloom Tomato Festival at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center, and an overview of 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes which includes physical characteristic, flavor and a photo.

The next chapter is on Tomatoes + Wine. It describes the characteristics of Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Zinfandel as well as the specific heirloom tomatoes for which they each pair best. The author provides a helpful tip: "Simply match the color of the wines to the color of the tomatoes." and goes on to explain that lighter color tomatoes have less acid and more sugar. "White wines match the flavors of light-colored tomatoes, with lower acid balance, while red, pink, and black tomatoes have deeper flavors with more acid to balance their sugars, resulting in richer, bolder tastes."

The third chapter, Cooking with Heirloom Tomatoes, describes how to choose and store tomatoes, tools of the trade, basic techniques (stemming and coring, peeling, slicing, and seeding), basic tomato recipes (Tomato Concasse, Tomato Coulis, Tomato Water, Roasted Tomato Puree, Oven-Dried Tomatoes) and how to freeze your tomato harvest.

The next chapter, Salsas + Bruschettas, includes recipes for:
-Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary Shrimp Salsa
-Black Brandywine Tomato Jam and Blue Cheese Bruschetta
-Aunt Ruby's Green German Tomato Relish and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
-Eva's Purple Ball Tomato and Watermelon Bruschetta
-Hawaiian Pineapple Tomato Bruschetta
-Indian-Spiced Orange Tomato, Chili, and Coconut Bruschetta
-Roasted Pepper, Mushroom, and Sun-Dried Tomato Compote
-Five-Minute Brandywine Tomato Sauce

The fifth chapter, Soups + Beverages, includes recipes for:
-Hoosier Tomato Juice
-Roasted Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary
-Roasted Tomato Bloody Mary Mix
-Tomato-Watermelon Agua Fresca
-Cold Golden Tomato Soup with Sharlyn Melon and Basil Essence
-Chilled Creole Tomato Soup with Tapenade
-Spicy Heirloom Tomato Soup
-Tomato Bisque
-Country Tomato Soup with Parmesan-Caper Crostini

The sixth chapter, Salads + Side Dishes, includes recipes for:
-Heirloom Tomato and Melon Salad
-Fried Green Tomato Caprese Salad with Marjoram Vinaigrette
-Southwestern Heirloom Tomato Salad
-BLT Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
-Grilled Heirloom Tomato Salad with Roasted Garlic Puree
-Tomato-Avocado Salad with Garlic Toasts and Chevre Cream
-Tomato Sformatino
-Fried Green Tomatoes with Arugula Pesto and Cherry Tomato Relish
-Sweet and Sour Green Tomato Tatin with Goat Cheese Fondant
-Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Spinach, Artichokes, and Cheese
-Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes with White Beans and Fried Okra
-Savory Heirloom Tomato Bread Pudding

The seventh chapter, Main Courses, includes recipes for:
-Baked Stuffed Heirloom Tomatoes with Lobster Sauce
-Ricotta Gnocchi with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil
-Pacific Bay Shrimp and Heirloom Tomato Tartine with Saffron Aioli
-Seafood Pasta with Heirloom Tomato Fra Diavolo Sauce
-Heirloom Tomato Lasagna with Herbed Ricotta, Basil Pesto, and Walnut-Ricotta Sauce
-Soft Polenta with Mushrooms, Oven-Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes, Chard, and Sausage
-Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Cheesecake
-Cherokee Purple Tomato BLT with Apple Wood-Smoked Bacon
-Crab Cakes with Tomato-Corn Relish and Citrus Aioli

The eighth chapter, Preserves + Sweets, includes recipes for:
-Tomato-Ginger Chutney
-Black Plum Tomato Marmalade
-Smoked Heirloom Tomato Ketchup
-Heirloom Tomato Sorbet
-Roasted Cherry Tomato and Cinnamon-Basil Ice Cream
-Tomato, Goat Cheese, and Lemon-Basil Custard with a Black Pepper Crust
-Tomato Shortcakes with Star Anise Syrup and Creme Fraiche

The final chapter is on Growing + Cultivating and covers soil, fertilizers, growing season, seed starting, mulch, diseases, pests and other tomato growing topics. The resources page provides the names, addresses, phone numbers and websites of 13 vendors who sell heirloom tomato seeds.

As a vegetarian, I was very pleased to see so many recipes that are vegetarian. And while I look forward to trying some of the heirloom varieties discussed in this book, I'll probably have to occasionally use regular garden tomatoes in a pinch for some of the recipes.

At the current Bargain Book price of under $7, The Heirloom Tomato Cookbook is a real bargain! I am really pleased with it.

Beautiful photographs and good general information about heirloom tomatoes. Those of us who grow tomatoes, heirloom and otherwise, are always looking for interesting, inventive recipes for what is often an overly bountiful harvest. This collection provides both. It's a nice mix of variety-specific and "generic" heirloom dishes. Really helpful info on pairing wine and tomatoes. I particularly liked the section on preserves - who doesn't want a reminder of summer in the middle of February? A must-have for the tomato lover.

We just planted heirloom tomatoes in our garden this year and I wanted a cookbook just for them. The cookbook has so many interesting recipes....I am anxious to try them! The cookbook also has many beautiful pictures which I like. When I ordered the cookbook I thought it was going to be a small paperback but it is actually a large paperbook which is very nice. I was very happy with my purchase of the heirloom tomato cookbook.

This is a wonderful cook book for Heirloom Tomatoes. My husband and I are Heirloom Tomato growers, new this year, and with the large quantities of tomatoes available, these recipes fit the bill. The colorful photos are great.

I bought this book as I am growing a large varieties of heirloom tomatoes this year. What a treat! Fabulous and delicious recipes are throughout this book and will be fun to experiment with all the 93 varieties of heirloom this summer.

A must buy for the heirloom gourmet.