homemade Sundried Tomatoes

Wednesday, December 8, 2010




Last night i was surfing the net and stumble upon this blog where the writer phrase the glory of sun dried tomatoes, how sweet, flavorful and nutritious it is. It is good on its own, great binging snack and surprise! kids loves it too...and true enough my vege hater son likes this unlikely snack. Sun dried tomatoes have the same nutritional value as the fresh tomatoes they are made from: they are high in Lycopene, antioxidants, vitamin C and low in sodium, fat, and calories. anyway seeing all those pictures of yummy tomatoes *ahem* dried up tomatoes....*shrugs* mmm to be honest i hate raw tomatoes and i can't imagine those people able to just bite into the red plump and juicy tomatoes...yes tomatoes are sweet and sour at the same time i give you that but there's this certain 'raw' taste that i can't seem to swallow...you know what i mean? but when it is cooked correctly i love it to bits...

unfortunately ready made sun dried tomatoes are not easy to find in Malaysia. but lucky for us it is easy enough to make yourself and be proud of it hehehehe~ the method is i presume the same with dried fruits...it make sense huh? ok what i did was...oh wait the ingredients...what you need

* 1kg of bright red ripe tomatoes
* 2clove of garlic chopped

* some dried herbs i use parsley and thyme

* kosher salt or sea salt

* olive oil to brush and some to preserve.

wash tomatoes and then slice them. i divide a tomato (mine was a large tomato) into 4 nice thick slices. slice all tomatoes.
*you wouldn't want to slice it too thinly coz it will shrink A LOT!

then pat it dry and brush them with olive oil and sun dry it for 2-3 days in a row, take it in during the night.
2nd day, you brush the tomatoes again and sprinkle garlic, herb mixture and salt then let it dry again.


We Malaysian are lucky coz the tomatoes can dry up in just 2 days or sometimes 1 1/2day (coz its really hot here) then you can have your snack or preserve it...
i was sun drying my tomatoes today until it start raining late afternoon so i have to go for plan B. that is Oven dry tomatoes.

to Oven dry it you need a low low low heat, and let it dry for 1-1.5hrs if you have fan in the oven but if like me my oven don't have that feature so it took me slightly more than 2 hrs.
but today i cheated a bit instead of using 100c i crank it up just abit ooo about mmm 120c then towards the end i crank it up abit more to 135c coz i can't wait to eat coz after sprinkling the herbs and garlic, i can hear my tummy rumbles coz its soooooooooo fragrant!

but if you were to follow my step becareful coz you might burn them instead so set your timer and check on them once in a while and see how they are doing.

PRESERVING SUN/OVEN DRIED TOMATOES

to preserve your homemade sun/oven dried tomatoes, just prepare a glass jar, sterilize it 1st
though then fill those yummie tomatoes up then fill in olive oil until it fully cover the tomatoes.
TIPS
* you can use the olive oil from the preserved to saute whatever coz it'll be infused with flavors (tomatoes, garlic and herbs) or just toss it with pasta or salad with some vinaigrette.

* when you used up your tomatoes refill your olive oil making sure covering the remaining tomatoes

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