1966 WDEC - Nevada - Hot Spiced Whole Tomatoes

Decided to make this vegetable side as a main dish. The vine-ripe tomatoes at the grocery were just at the firm/ripe stage, so I was in luck.

Hot Spiced Whole Tomatoes
(Serves 6 as a side)
6 firm ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, minced
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cider vinegar

Peel tomatoes, but do not remove stem end. Picture shows Kitchen God Alex supervising this process.

Melt butter in skillet; add onion and saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar, spices and salt; mix well. Arrange tomatoes, stem end down, in the sugar mixture. Cover and simmer 5 minutes over low heat. Uncover and add vinegar. Cook, covered, over very low heat for 45 minutes, basting occasionally with sauce. Do not stir. Carefully remove to serve. First post picture shows it served on a bed of rice and garnished with parsley leaves.

Cooking Notes: I used only four tomatoes, but kept the sauce volume the same. I cut the sugar in half and doubled the spices (kept the salt the same). All else to spec. I ladled additional sauce over at the end, and still had some left over which I will use to season rice for Phil's bento.

Eating Notes: Serving it on rice was a good idea - in addition to the sauce, the tomatoes themselves gush juice and seeds when they're cut into. For us, it was not too spicy and was plenty sweet. The flavorings were kind of fun and reminded me a bit of middle eastern food, probably because of the tomato/cinnamon combination, plus the hint of sweetness. It was fine as a vegetarian main dish and would have been great as a side with lamb or goat.

Update: Cross-listed on Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays; linked to "Tomato" on Foodista