As the weather warms up and the days grow longer, I begin to anticipate tomato season. I'll revel in the first good tomatoes, sweet and flavorful, drizzled with a good olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. But as the season progresses, we'll all be challenged to be more inventive.
Some tomato recipes call for peeling and seeding the tomatoes. Tomato skin can have a plastic mouthfeel so it's luxurious to eat it when the skin is removed and all you get is the juicy flesh. Seeding rids the tomato of the pesky seeds and when you take out the seed sacs, you also eliminate the extra moisture, ensuring that your tomato dish will not be watery.
In today's Video Friday demo, I'll show you how to peel and seed a tomato. Tomatoes don't give up their skins easily but a quick dunk in simmering water provides the motivation. Cut a shallow "X" on the bottom of the tomato before you immerse in the hot water to give you a head start when peeling. Leave the tomato in the water just until the skin begins to separate from the flesh. It takes seconds. Plunge in a bowl of ice water to cool down immediately.
To seed a tomato, cut in half along the equator and gently squeeze out the seeds. Use a spoon to scoop out any stubborn seeds that are left.
You can also use the peeling technique for stone fruits such as peaches, plums and nectarines.
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