Fried Green Tomatoes

On October 6, 2022October 6, 2022 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Ingredient, Using2 Comments

If you grow a garden, especially in a climate with a short growing season, you know that one of your last harvest decisions is what to do with green tomatoes. If you harvest them before they are damaged by frost, many green tomatoes will ripened indoors. You can also preserve tomatoes while they are still green. Some can be eaten fresh too.

I share one of my favorite ways to eat fresh tomatoes this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon: dredged in cornmeal and fried in a pan. Successfully making fried green tomatoes, with a just-soft, sweet interior and crisp outer shell that stays attached to each tomato slice, depends on the tomatoes you choose and the way you prepare them before you add them to the pan.
Learn to make Fried Green Tomatoes

Winding Down the Season

On September 30, 2022September 30, 2022 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Dehydrating, Dry storage, Freezing, Topic1 Comment

This September, we’ve been lucky to have fairly warm days and nights in Montana, with just a couple of hints at a killing frost that we were able to protect against temporarily. But the garden is still winding down. In the main garden, I’m finding fewer cucumbers and snap beans, with vines starting to dry and lose leaves. In the greenhouse, tomatoes and tomatillos are putting all of their energy into ripening existing fruit. It’s time to grab the last of the garden’s treats and stash it all away for winter.

This week, in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I share some of my favorite storage techniques for a range of vegetables. The article focuses on easy ways to save individual vegetables without needing to can or ferment them or changing their base flavor into a pickle or sauce. The techniques rely on freezing, dry storing, and dehydrating and can be done quickly with minimal prep.
Learn about winding down the season

Late Tomatoes

On November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Ingredient3 Comments

Late tomatoes never match midsummer fruit, but I treasure them as the season’s final flush. Get tomato recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Tomatoes are the last true summer crop that I grab from the garden. The shift comes as swiftly as the fall back to standard time: one deep temperature swing makes every green fruit still on the vine inedible. Each fall, I follow weather forecasts, gamble on their accuracy, and try to pluck every fully formed tomato before the first killing frost.

Even if I succeed, the reward isn’t the perfectly red, juicy treats I’ve been feasting on all summer. It’s boxes of hard, underripe tomatoes. Some I’ll eat or preserve while green, but most sit for weeks beside my desk, where I watch them gradually ripen.

These tomatoes never match the bright, sweet bite of sun-kissed midsummer fruit, but I treasure them as the season’s final flush. Rather than eating them out of hand, I’ve found that letting them cook slowly, like in this savory pie, maximizes their maturing flavor.
Learn to make Late-Season Tomato Pie and Herb and Cheese Pie Crust

Last Bites

On October 7, 2021October 7, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, Using2 Comments

A portion of my end-of-season harvest lands in my favorite fresh meals. Get the recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
It’s that time: Time to savor the last fresh bites from the garden. With the first new moon of October, I begin closely watching the forecasted nighttime temperatures. One clear night is all it takes to zap the remaining outdoor vegetables and threaten even the greenhouse goodies. Even though local weather stations recorded 79°F on Tuesday, I could be frantically harvesting before a potential freeze tomorrow night.

Fall’s weather swings are always unexpected, and every year I try—and fail—to time each plant’s final harvest just right. Instead of bemoaning the last round of beans that froze on the vine, I look instead to the boxes of produce all over my little cabin, ripening and waiting to be eaten and preserved.
Read more about enjoying the garden’s last bites