A Happy Accident

 

I've always hated peeling tomatoes the traditional way. It takes time to bring the water to a boil. It's messy. And water drips all over everything.

 

Recently I discovered, quite by accident, that you can use dry heat, just as you do with charring peppers. You just don't want to go overboard.

 

Mostly, for this technique, I use a torch and just lightly let the flame kiss the tomato. You can see it react, and control the process that way. Once you've flamed the entire skin it just peels right off.

 

You can do this on the grill as well. Control is a little more ticklish. What I do is work on a hot fire, and turn the tomato frequently, so that all parts are exposed to the heat, but none too long. Literally a few seconds is all it takes.

 

I've been using this technique for about six months, now, and find it to be both faster and neater than the traditional blanching method.

 

 

 

 

Margi.