One of the few things producing heavily in our drought stressed garden are the cherry tomatoes. I dried some yesterday, and then preserved them in olive oil. The method is very simple. *Cut washed and stemmed cherry tomatoes in half and place them on a foil lined cookie sheet. *Heat oven to 200, place cookie sheet on a rack in the middle of the oven. *Dry the tomatoes for 3-4 hours, until they are the consistency of raisins. *Let cool and pack in a small canning jar. *Heat extra-virgin olive oil and pour over the dried tomatoes. *Immediately put lid and ring on jar and let seal. These will be great in artisan breads, as a topping for pizza, or mixed with hot pasta or in a pasta salad. The oil is great for making salad dressings, since it is infused with the tomato flavor.
Thanks for these instructions, sounds delicious. I am going to try making some for my oldest daughter and me...and maybe some for gifts too.
Be very careful when preserving food in oils or when adding spices to flavor oils. Because oil and water do not mix, any bacteria that can grow without oxygen (anaerobic, such as the botulism bacteria)can survive in small water droplets. The food does need to be sterilized by the heat first, and well-dried is best. I would make sure that the jars are boiled prior, and use sterile tongs to put the fruit in the jar. The oil should be hot enough to kill bacteria, but not so hot as to start smoking, (too high of heat changes the good cis-bonds to not-good trans-bonds). It should cover the fruit completely. If you want to just flavor some oils without all the drying and sterilization, they will be ok if kept in the fridge for about 1 month, but would not keep them longer than that.
