Erik has been posting recipes for Tomato Grappatini, and my curiosity was piqued. Between the garden and the CSA, I have an abundance of tomatoes, and these are more for eating than canning. I plan to can the Roma tomatoes, but the beefsteaks and similar just don't can well.
So I decided to try to make a similar aperitif.
Erik's recipe says to juice the tomatoes and then strain and filter. OK. How do I juice a tomato, anyhow? Well, I chopped the cored tomatoes on the block on which I had just chopped garlic (for a little extra zing) and then threw them into the blender on liquify. I then put this into a strainer over a glass jar and let it sit. He put some herbs into the basic juice to steep - since I don't have grappa I was planning to use gin so I decided to stick with plain juice. After chilling, it says to filter through a coffee filter - whoops, none to be found. I tried to use my metal mesh filter but it didn't work, ditto my tea press. So I decided to just try to work with the juice as is (I will bring home a coffee filter from work tomorrow!).
I put a few ice cubes in my cocktail shaker, and then added in a jigger of the juice, a jigger of Tanqueray, 1/8 tsp of balsamic vinegar and a jigger of Dubonnet Blanc. I shook and strained it into a chilled glass with 3 olives in the glass. It was an interesting burgundy color, and tasted wonderful.
Dinner was mesclun salad with tomatoes, chicken marsala with a fresh cream reduction, garlic mashed potatoes, ratatouille, and baked kambocha squash. For dessert, fresh peach pie with ice cream.
I do love Sunday dinners, even when there are only three of us at table.
Alicia,
That sounds like a great modification! I will have to get some Dubonnet Blanc this week. For juicing the tomatoes, I generally do just like when I seed them, but I do it into a strainer (I cut them in half and squeeze them over a bowl), so that the seeds do not get into the juice. The lighter the squeeze, the clearer the juice, but it is always flavorful (the idea of using clear tomato juice is not original - I encountered a soup recipe that called for this once. I just decided to make a cocktail out of if). What you describe would certainly have a nice color and probably quite a bit more body.
Thanks for postig the results fo your experiment!