End-of-season remainders

How many times have I mentioned tomatoes in my blogposts during my first two months of blogging??? I make no apology for this. Tomatoes are amongst my favourite vegetables, and (in a blight-free year) are some of the most rewarding to grow, if only because the results are so visible. It's not like growing spuds, where you have to wait to the last moment to see what the crop is going to be like -- with tomatoes you can watch them develop day by day.

We have been making a conscious effort this week to reduce the "Tomato Mountain" in our house (not that I'm complaining, you understand). Jane made a tomato tarte tatin (a sort of upside-down tomato flan), using a mass of the little yellow Ildi toms. The recipe for this is from Tesco. You can pick up one of their leaflets about it in their shops, or you can get it online at http://www.tescorealfood.com/Recipes/Sugardrop-Tomato-Tarte-Tatin.html

Tomato tarte tatin

I have done my bit by making another batch of semi-dried toms -- again mostly Ildi ones this time, with a few Black Cherry and Sungella. I'm going to keep most of these in a jar of olive oil, so that they will last longer -- that's if we can resist eating them....

The tomatoes going into the oven for drying

We have also had another batch of beetroot. There are only a few little tiny ones left in the bed now. I had half expected the current batch to be a bit woody, since they have been in the ground for a long while, and have not really grown much for some weeks now, but not as bit of it -- they were as tender as any of the others, which is saying something. We ate them at lunchtime with some corned beef and sweetcorn (alas, not home-grown). Both of us really enjoy the beetroot / corned beef combination. There is something about the saltiness of the beef and the earthiness of the beetroot that makes them a great match.

Today's batch of beetroot

I have also been having another close look at the celeriac. It's not exactly impressive in the size department, but at least it HAS swollen a bit. At the current rate of progress it will need about another 6 months before it gets to be as big as I had hoped! 

Celeriac No.1

Celeriac No.2

I suppose even now, these tiny bulbs would be enough to give a decent amount of flavour to a stew or some potato mash, because this is a very pungently-flavoured veg. I'm going to leave them a bit longer though...