Boiled Tomatoes
For this, select medium-sized, smooth tomatoes. Drop them into a small saucepan of salted boiling water and boil until they are easily pierced with a fork-from four to five minutes. Take out with a skimmer, lay on a hot dish, make a deep gash in the top of each one with a sharp knife; drop in a bit of butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper and send at once to the table.
A plain, fast vegetable dish that depends entirely on the tomatoes themselves and on not overcooking them.
- The hinge: four to five minutes, no moreTomatoes held past the point where a fork slides in will collapse into skin and water in the pan. Test the first one at three minutes and pull them the moment they yield.
- Choose firm and underripeChoose firm and smooth -- the recipe asks only for medium-sized, smooth tomatoes; a firm one will hold together in boiling water better than a very soft or overripe fruit, which is liable to split and shed its skin.
- Skins stay onNothing here is peeled, even though the tomatoes go into boiling water. The skin is what keeps each tomato intact; expect it to be a little tough on the plate.
- "Send at once to the table"These go slack and weep juice within a few minutes. Have the hot dish, butter, salt and pepper ready before the tomatoes come out of the water.
- SkimmerA flat perforated skimmer or a spider. A slotted spoon works; tongs will crush them.
- Salting the waterThe recipe says only "salted boiling water" and gives no quantity. Whole unpeeled tomatoes take up very little of it, so they still need the salt and pepper at the table.
- YieldThe original gives none. Figure one or two tomatoes per person as a side dish, with a teaspoon of butter dropped into each gash.