Don't Lose Them to the Frost: Ripening Green Tomatoes in the Willamette Valley
By Treva Gambs
The Season Turns Early Out Here
Out on Cascade Highway the cold arrives before the calendar admits it. The nights go first. Then one morning there is frost on the windshield and the garden is finished for the year.
At The Markum Inn we build a lot of what we serve around what the Willamette Valley is actually growing, so I pay close attention to the end of tomato season. And every single year the same thing happens at home: the plants are still hanging with green tomatoes that are never going to ripen outside.
Most people pull the plants and write them off. Please do not.
Bring Them In Before the Freeze
Start watching the forecast now, and when the first freeze is coming, pick every tomato on the plant. All of them, even the small ones.
Lay them out so that no two are touching. A paper bag works, so does one of the cardboard flats from the produce department. This is the part people skip and it is the part that matters, because one tomato that turns will take the ones around it with it.
Put them somewhere dark and dry. A corner of the garage is ideal.
Look in on them every three days or so and pull whatever has come ripe.
They keep ripening in the dark with no sun at all, because they already took in everything they needed over the summer. Big ones and small ones come along at different speeds, so it arrives in waves rather than all at once. Done properly this carries me into November.
My husband calls them grumpy tomatoes. I think they are the best ones we get all year.
Why a Steak and Wood-Fired Pizza Place Cares About This
Because it is the same instinct that runs the Markum kitchen. Use what is good, use it while it is good, and waste as little of it as you can.
It is why the marionberry shows up where it does, why the wings go in the oak smoker, why the pizza dough gets stretched by hand rather than pressed. None of that is complicated cooking. It is just paying attention to the ingredient in front of you and not cutting the corner.
A tray of green tomatoes ripening quietly in a dark garage is exactly the same idea, scaled down to a home kitchen.
Three Kitchens, One Family
The Markum Inn is part of G Hospitality, along with Gamberetti's Italian Restaurant in downtown Salem and G3 Pizzas & Burgers in Aumsville. Different towns, different menus, one family running all three, and the same standard in every kitchen.
That also means when you need to feed a crowd, we can help. Between the three houses we handle group dining and catering, from a private table here at the Markum to a full spread put together in Salem. If you have something coming up, get in touch and we will work out what fits.
The Full Recipe Lives in Salem
What I actually do with these tomatoes is a pomodoro with chorizo and pine nuts, and rather than repeat the whole thing here, I wrote it out properly over on the Gamberetti's side.
Read the full recipe, start to finish, including how much of everything and the tips I only ever say out loud.
One thing worth knowing before you cook it: the pasta makes a real difference. We make ours fresh, and you can pick up fresh pasta from Gamberetti's rather than reaching for a dried box. Gemelli is what I used. It takes the sauce beautifully.
Come see us in Mt. Angel when the weather turns. That is our season.
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