Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of stew/lentils/soup
that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.

I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
reconstituted.

thanks,
Dee

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 11:09:23 -0500, "Dee Randall"
> wrote:

>Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of stew/lentils/soup
>that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
>ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
>
> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
>reconstituted.

Haven't. But logic and experience tell me a dried tomato cannot be
substituted 1:1 in any recipe, since fresh (or canned) are mostly
water and dried is a sort of concentrate.

I'm thinking that you want to toss in a little dried tomato rather
than dealing with fresh or opening a whole can. Go for it. I would
chop up the dried a bit to encourage the process of rehydration.
Should be quite flavorful for a soup or stew.

In article >,
"Dee Randall" > wrote:

> Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of stew/lentils/soup
> that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
> ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
>
> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
> reconstituted.
>
> thanks,
> Dee
>
>
>

AFAIK there is no flavor comparison between canned or fresh vs. sun
dried tomatoes. Different effect.

Dried tomato is richer, sweeter, more flavor dense.

It'd add wonderful flavor to the soup, but I'd chop it up.

YMMV

K.

--
>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby >,,<
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

Dee Randall wrote:
> Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of stew/lentils/soup
> that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
> ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
>
> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
> reconstituted.

I smoke/dry my own tomatos and they've beocme a kitchen staple.
They're not used in any way like you would a fresh tomato though.
Use them the way you would dried chiles.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

> Katra wrote:
>
> "Dee Randall" wrote:
>
>> Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of stew/lentils/soup
>> that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
>> ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
>>
>> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
>> reconstituted.
>>
>
>AFAIK there is no flavor comparison between canned or fresh vs. sun
>dried tomatoes. Different effect.
>Dried tomato is richer, sweeter, more flavor dense.

Sundried tomato is simply dehydrated fruit same as any other, its flavor is
simply concentrated same as any other fruit with it's water evaporated. When
dehydrated its flavor is more intense but once *fully* rehydrated the flavor
imparted is no more intense than from its fresh counterpart. Essentially the
intensity of the flavor imparted depends on how much time the sundried tomato
spends cooking in the stew, and how much water is available for rehydration...
but stews by their very nature have intense flavor because their flavors are
concentrated by reduction. Btw, it's stupid economy to fully rehydrate sundried
tomatoes (the OP paid a premium price for water removal and then by stewing the
water is being replaced... really dumb). For a small amout of tomato use
paste.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

Dee Randall wrote:
>
> Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of stew/lentils/soup
> that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
> ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
>
> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
> reconstituted.
>
> thanks,
> Dee

Yes, we do it all the time with our home-grown sun-dried tomatoes. We
don't use much in the way of tinned tomatoes, so we rarely have them
around. Tomato quantities are hardly stoichiometric in a soup or stew
recipe anyway.

Thanks for all your opinions about using a dried tomato or two --

But
Btw, it's stupid economy to fully rehydrate sundried
> tomatoes (the OP paid a premium price for water removal and then by
stewing the
> water is being replaced... really dumb). For a small amout of tomato use
> paste.

I wasn't thinking of the economy because I buy sundried tomatoes at a
mid-eastern store; they are super-super cheap. They are not sulphited and
make great Italian reconstituted tomatoes using extra-virgin olive oil,
etc. Actually I don't care for tomato paste "taste," it reminds me of my
beef stew eating days of yore.

Thanks again. I appreciate your opinions.
Dee





Re using

"PENMART01" > wrote in message
...
> > Katra wrote:
> >
> > "Dee Randall" wrote:
> >
> >> Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of
stew/lentils/soup
> >> that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes
for
> >> ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
> >>
> >> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
> >> reconstituted.
> >>
> >
> >AFAIK there is no flavor comparison between canned or fresh vs. sun
> >dried tomatoes. Different effect.
> >Dried tomato is richer, sweeter, more flavor dense.
>
> Sundried tomato is simply dehydrated fruit same as any other, its flavor
is
> simply concentrated same as any other fruit with it's water evaporated.
When
> dehydrated its flavor is more intense but once *fully* rehydrated the
flavor
> imparted is no more intense than from its fresh counterpart. Essentially
the
> intensity of the flavor imparted depends on how much time the sundried
tomato
> spends cooking in the stew, and how much water is available for
rehydration...
> but stews by their very nature have intense flavor because their flavors
are
> concentrated by reduction. Btw, it's stupid economy to fully rehydrate
sundried
> tomatoes (the OP paid a premium price for water removal and then by
stewing the
> water is being replaced... really dumb). For a small amout of tomato use
> paste.
>
>
> ---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
> ---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
> Sheldon
> ````````````
> "Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
>

"Dee Randall" > wrote in message
...
> Has anyone ever just thrown in a dried tomato in a pot of
stew/lentils/soup
> that is going to cook for an hour or so, vs. opening a can of tomatoes for
> ONE plum tomato? or when you don't have a fresh tomato.
>
> I'm talking about a completely dried tomato, vs. one that has been
> reconstituted.
>
> thanks,
> Dee

Yes, I use them in cooking all the time. Normally I slice or cut them into
small pieces before adding them into the soup/sauce.

Is there a question.

Dimitri