PEELING TOMATOES

Ok, so you have a cool recipe that you would like to try, but it asks for peeled tomatoes. You look at the tomato and remember what it was like to cut it up for the salad the other day and you wonder, How in the heck am I going to peel that thing??

This is going to be easier than you thought! Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, fill up your sink with 2-3 inches of water and add several trays of ice cubes.

Now that your water is to a rolling boil, drop in the desired tomatoes 3-4 at a time. Once the first 3-4 have been in the water for about a minute, remove them with a slotted spoon and drop immediately into the sink of cold water. This will stop the cooking process. Repeat this with the next 3-4 tomatoes until all that you need for your recipe have been cooked, then cooled. This process is called Blanching.

Next, remove the tomatoes one at a time from the ice water bath and using a knife the gently peel the skins from the tomato.