Blight and green tomatoe glut, recipe request

[chillithyme]

Hi all

I haven't been able to visit my plot for about 2 weeks. Nearly all of my tomatoe plants have blight. I salvaged about 10kg + of unripe green tomatoes. But I don't know what to do with them. I could make a green tomatoe chutney, I've not made it before.
Any ideas please?

[veggiechicken]

Some threads for you!
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...pes_21898.html

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...tney_2551.html

[chillithyme]

thank you vc

[muckdiva]

So sorry to hear that you have blight, it’s so frustrating but on the plus side you get to experience the wonder of green tomato chutney - my all time fave. I can’t find my recipe book right now but this recipe by Nigel Slater is very similar (I’d use all green toms) so do give it a whirl. Brill with sandwiches, burgers, curry etc.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.t...tomato-recipes

He also writes about how to fry them for another option...

[veggiechicken]

One word of warning. The only time I cooked green toms from a blighted plant they tasted foul. The toms looked OK when picked but they soon turned into something inedible.
I'd hate you to put lots of time and effort into making something when the toms might ruin it.

[Scarlet]

Yes, I agree with VC - they need to be used super quick. So taste first.

[chillithyme]

I'm looking forward to some green chutney and fried tomatoes if they are edible that is

I will have a small taste of some tomatoes, and do something with a small batch first to see if its worth it. I don't want to do a big batch, as I have to admit some of the tomatoes came from very badly blighted plants. It hadn't occurred to me that the taste might be vile.

[veggiechicken]

IIRC the blighted toms had a funny smell and taste - bit like disinfectant. Since then I've thrown toms from blighted plants away immediately.

[ameno]

Once you know what you are looking for, you can tell blighted fruit immediately by sight.
Infection on the fruit starts of as patches of slightly uneven skin with and very slight yellowish discoloration. Basically, if the skin is anything less than perfectly smooth, chuck it to be on the safe side. Also, the stalks usually develop blight before the fruit itself, so if the stalk is perfectly green, the fruit is probably fine. If, on the other hand, the stalk is blighted right up to where it joins the fruit, the fruit is probably no good.
And always check just before using them, as new infections can spring up quickly, and a fruit that was fine yesteday may not be fine today.

As for recipes, when this happened to be the year before last, I had some fried, an the rest I pickled, half in spiced vinegar, and the other half lacto-fermented in brine. Two level tablespoons of salt per litre of water. Chop the tomatoes to whatever size you like, pack into a sterilized jar with some seasoning (garlic is good, or dill and mustard seed), pour the brine over (make sure it's no warmer than room temperature), knock out any bubbles of air, and lid it loosely. Leave at room temperature for a week or so, then transfer somewhere cool. They should keep for a couple months, especially in the fridge.

[Babru]

Some threads for you!
https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...pes_21898.html

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...tney_2551.html

Thanks for the links VC, I foresee a time, fast approaching, when these recipes will be invaluable!

[RedRuth]

Hi all

I haven't been able to visit my plot for about 2 weeks. Nearly all of my tomatoe plants have blight. I salvaged about 10kg + of unripe green tomatoes. But I don't know what to do with them. I could make a green tomatoe chutney, I've not made it before.
Any ideas please?

My Mum uses Delia Smith's green tomato chutney for our unripe tomatoes. Although since we got a greenhouse we don't have too many green tomatoes!

2 1/2 lb green tomatoes
2 lb onions
2 1/2 lb cooking apples
1 lb raisins
6 large crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp salt
2 leve desertspoons of ground ginger
1lb 6oz soft brown sugar
1 oz pickling spice
3 pints genuine malt vinegar.

A small preserving pan, eight 1lb preserving jars, a mincer, string and some gauze.

Wash the tomatpoes and cut them into quarters, peel theonions and quarter them, quarter and core the apples, lewaving the peels on and keeping them in water to prevent browning.

Using the medium blade of a mincer, mince the tomatoes and place them in the pan, next mince the onions, then the raisins followed by the apples (don't worry if they have now turned brown), adding them all to the pan. Now add the garlic, cayenne, salt ginger and sugar, blend everything thoroughly. Next tie the pickling spice in a small piece of double thickness gauze and attach it to the handle so that it hangs down into the other ingredients.
Now pour in the vinegar, bring to simmering point, remove any scum from the surface, then let it simmer very gently for approx. 3 1/2 hours with out covering. Sit occasionally esp. towards the end to prevent sticking. It's ready when the vinegar has almost been absorbed, the chutney has thickened to a nice soft consistency and the spoon leaves a trail. Do be careful not to overcook. We use a food processor instead of a mincer

[chillithyme]

The recipes look fab. I have previously bitten into a blight ridden tomatoe and its the worst thing that i've ever tasted, just the though of it makes me shudder.
I might end up chucking away my green tomatoes from the blight infected plants.

I have some tomatoe plants at home which are fine so far, but very slow in ripening, lots of green tomatoes here.

I was a bit worried about bringing the blight home with me from the plot I had a wash and changed my clothes, and shoved my boots in the shed.