Evening Edge

They were slow to ripen, pocked with weird spots, cracked at the stem end and bizarrely shaped. But, finally, the homegrown tomatoes are coming in.

We haven't yet had enough tomato salad, but soon we'll be figuring out ways to use up the surplus. Here are a few:

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1. Grated gazpacho: Cut the tomatoes in half through the equator. Poke out the seeds with your fingers and grate the flesh using the large holes in a box grater poised over a bowl until you have only the skin left. Grate some cucumber, bell pepper and a bit of sweet onion into the bowl. Season with salt and a splash of vinegar.

2. Blender gazpacho: Coarsely chop tomatoes (4 parts), cucumber (1 part), bell pepper (1 part) and onion (scant 1 part). Blend with a glug of olive oil, a shot of vinegar, salt and a spoonful of dry bread crumbs. Strain through a wire mesh if you don't like the skins.

3. Hot tomato soup: Sweat onions and garlic in butter until translucent. Add chicken stock and grate in as many tomatoes as you have. Add fresh thyme and dried bay leaf and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Tomato, corn and basil soup: Cut the kernels off an ear or two of fresh corn into the soup before simmering. Add a handful of torn basil at the end.

5. Tomato tabbouleh: Cover a cup of bulgur with boiling water. Slice tomatoes and cucumbers. Chop fresh mint and hot pepper. Drain the bulgur and place in the bottom of a bowl. Cover with sliced tomatoes and salt them well. Cover with mint and hot pepper. Cover with cucumbers. Salt and pepper well, and drizzle with green olive oil. Let rest at least one hour.

6. Tomato and raw corn salad: Halve cherry tomatoes. Cut the kernels from the sweetest raw corn you can find. Toss with chopped basil, slivered shallots, olive oil, salt and two drops of soy sauce.

7. Green-dressed tomatoes: Slice beefsteak tomatoes thickly. Grind fresh basil leaves with a pinch of coarse salt in a mortar and pestle. Drizzle olive oil into the basil until you get a loose paste. Frost the tomatoes ever so lightly with the paste.

8. Tomato and watermelon salad: Toss cubed red and yellow tomatoes with cubed red and yellow watermelon in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Arrange on plates and dot with crumbles of fresh goat cheese. Season generously with coarsely ground black pepper.

9. Tomato and lost bread: Make too much of a delicious sliced tomato salad with salt, olive oil, basil and garlic. Arrange the leftover tomatoes in a pie plate with slices of a stale baguette. Drizzle the leftover juices on top with another shot of oil. Cook, uncovered, at 300 degrees until crusty and bubbly. Grate fresh Parmesan on top and let cool slightly.

10. Tomato bagels: Toast an Atlanta Bread Co. Asiago cheese bagel. Smear very lightly with cream cheese and sandwich a thick slice of beefsteak tomato and some basil leaves.

11. Pan catalan: Brush sliced rustic bread with oil and grill until firm and crusty. Rub with a cut garlic clove, then rub with a cut tomato, ripping off as much of the flesh as you can. Season with salt and pepper.

12. Tomatoes Provençale: Cut oblong tomatoes lengthwise. Chop fresh parsley and garlic, and mix salt and bread crumbs together until uniform. Spread over the cut side of the tomatoes and broil just until crumbs brown. Make a rack of lamb as garnish.

13. Tomato and mozzarella penne: Cube tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Toss in a large mixing bowl with torn basil, olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Boil penne pasta and drain. Add to bowl and toss just until cheese starts to melt.

14. Oven-baked tomatoes: Cut thick slices of tomatoes and arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 200 degrees for about 6 hours. Use as you would reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes.

15. Tomato water: Cut tomatoes and toss with coarse salt. Place in a strainer triple-lined with cheesecloth and let juices drip into a bowl for 4 to 5 hours. Do not press. Chill the clear juices for use as a cold sauce or dressing.

A fond farewell: A couple of weeks ago we had a nice dinner in a bar where we were surprised to see a note on the menu that the chef tries to source local and organic ingredients. Awww. Given that, we were even more surprised on the way out when we peeked in the kitchen and saw a cook dump a freezer bag of onion rings into the deep-fat fryer. Doesn't that say it all?

Before it was trendy, chef Michael Tuohy of Woodfire Grill looked for meat, seafood and vegetables raised by people he met on farms he had visited and not mucked up with a lot of chemicals or hormones. Cooking this way is second nature for Tuohy. Raised in Northern California, he grew up eating lots of garden vegetables, grilled steaks and Dungeness crabs for special occasions. The food chain, done right, is an easy business in his estimation — as long as it remains an unbroken linkage of grower, chef and customer.

This month, Tuohy will move back to California to take the job of chef at Grange restaurant in the new Citizen Hotel in Sacramento. I had to swing by for one of his homey and delicious antipasto plates, have a glass of wine and toast him in his new endeavor. He's a nice man whose hard work and idealism has done a lot for the Atlanta restaurant community. We'll all miss him.

Woodfire Grill is for sale and may continue under a new chef.

Your turn: What is your favorite use for homegrown tomatoes?