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Tackling tomato questions put us in a summer state of mind, so we began by lazily searching on the phrase "sun-dried tomatoes." Lucky for us, we turned up detailed sun-drying instructions from a ripe crop of Net sources. First, pick your tomato. Roma or other plum tomatoes are good choices, since they are the meatiest, least watery varieties. VictorySeeds.com offers Principe Borghese, a traditional southern Italian drying tomato. Now you'll need several days of hot sunshine, low humidity, and good air circulation. Begin by halving the fruits and placing them skin-side down on a clean plastic or nylon framed screen. Shepherd's
suggests dipping the tomatoes in a solution of half water and half vinegar, and emphasizes leaving room for airflow between the pieces. Don't use metal screens as they may react with the tomato acid. Cover the trays with cheesecloth to keep off bugs and dust, bring the trays in each night, and return them outdoors after the dew has dried and the sun is bright. An electric food dryer/dehydrator set at 120F (48.8C) for 24 hours yields similar results. Valley Sun, a California producer of sun-dried tomatoes, offers a host of recipes and serving suggestions. The marinated mozzarella salad seriously whetted our appetites, and many other mouth-watering recipes turned up when we searched the Recipe File at Epicurious. Happy harvest...and bon appetit.
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