Dominique Crenn’s Tomatoes Enhanced Recipe
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 12, 2022 • 5 min read
Chef Dominique Crenn’s Tomato Enhanced dish features an unusual technique: she first blanches then peels the tomatoes before drying the flesh and peel separately. Next, Chef Crenn grinds the tomato peels into an ultra-flavorful tomato powder that garnishes the “petals” of dehydrated tomatoes. Learn how to make this elegant dish, or simply use the chef’s oven-drying technique as an easy way to preserve tomatoes at home.
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Meet Dominique Crenn
Dominique Crenn is an award-winning chef and advocate for sustainability and equity in the culinary world. Though she is now among the world’s most celebrated chefs, her path to culinary greatness was not without its challenges. After being turned away from many French culinary schools due to antiquated opinions about female chefs, Chef Crenn set out for California, where she forged her own culinary identity rooted in personhood, memories, and mindfulness.
In San Francisco, Chef Crenn opened Atelier Crenn, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant where diners receive a poem instead of a menu, with each dish represented by a line of poetry. Chef Crenn describes her food philosophy as “poetic culinaria.”
What Are Dehydrated Tomatoes?
Dehydrated tomatoes are fresh tomatoes that have had most of their water content removed. Dehydrating extends tomatoes’ shelf life and concentrates their umami-rich tomato flavor for use in everything from a simple pasta salad to Chef Dominique Crenn’s Tomato Enhanced dish of dried tomato pieces garnished with fresh herbs and edible flowers.
“Tomato is not just a singular taste.” — Chef Dominique Crenn
3 Tips for Making Dehydrated Tomatoes
Drying tomatoes is a great way to preserve their flavor, and the process requires less work (and space) than other DIY preservation methods, like canning tomato sauce. Here’s what you need to know.
- 1. Selecting the right tomatoes: To make dehydrating tomatoes easier, choose firm varieties with less water content, like Early Girl tomatoes or Italian Roma tomatoes (also known as plum tomatoes or paste tomatoes). However, any ripe tomatoes will work; select small varieties, like cherry tomatoes, if you don’t want to cut up the tomatoes.
- 2. Choosing the drying method: A dedicated food dehydrator makes it easy to dehydrate tomatoes. Still, you can achieve the same effect by oven-drying at a low temperature, keeping in mind that the drying time will vary depending on your chosen drying method. If you know how to dehydrate fruit, the process is similar. For a low-tech alternative, make sun-dried tomatoes.
- 3. Storing the tomatoes: When your dry tomatoes are crispy, remove them from their dehydrator trays or cookie sheets and transfer them to a canning jar or other airtight container. Store the dehydrated tomatoes at room temperature in a dark place.
How to Make Dominique Crenn’s Tomato Enhanced Recipe
Make an incision at the bottom of each tomato, then blanch and peel the tomatoes.
Place the tomato skins and slices of blanched tomatoes on two separate trays.
Season both trays with garlic, shallots, thyme, olive oil, and kosher salt, then dehydrate both the peels and flesh in a 200-degree oven.
Grind the dehydrated tomato skins in a coffee grinder to create a fine powder.
Arrange the dehydrated tomato petals on a plate. Garnish each tomato slice with fresh herbs and edible flowers, and sprinkle one or two tablespoons of the tomato powder over the dehydrated tomato slices, making sure each one is seasoned generously.
Dominique Crenn’s Tomatoes Enhanced Recipe
makes
prep time
30 mintotal time
3 hr 30 mincook time
3 hrIngredients
- 1
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot set over high heat.
- 2
If using an oven, preheat it to 200 degrees Fahrenheit (or turn it to the “warm” setting). If using a dehydrator, set it to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 3
Meanwhile, use a paring knife to make an X-shaped incision, roughly 1 inch long, at the bottom of each tomato.
- 4
After scoring the tomatoes, blanch them: Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl, leaving several inches of space for displacement.
- 5
Use a slotted spoon to transfer 3–4 tomatoes at a time to the boiling water, encouraging them to stay submerged with the spoon until the peels start to separate from the flesh at the incision, about 15 seconds.
- 6
Use a spider skimmer or slotted spoon to remove the tomatoes from the boiling water, then transfer them immediately to the ice bath. Keep them submerged in the bath until they’re cool enough to handle, about 1 minute. After 1 minute, transfer the blanched tomatoes to a paper towel or clean kitchen towel to remove the excess water.
- 7
Working above a medium bowl to catch any juices, carefully peel each tomato in sections from the incision point toward the stem, keeping the individual peels intact as much as possible, and set them aside on a clean surface. Try not to squeeze the tomato juice out of the flesh. Set aside the whole peeled tomatoes on a clean cutting board.
- 8
Working on the cutting board, slice the whole peeled tomatoes into quarters. Carve away the seeds and interiors with the paring knife.
- 9
Line two small baking sheets with raised sides with parchment paper.
- 10
On one baking sheet, arrange the tomato skins so that they do not touch one another.
- 11
On the other sheet, arrange the cleaned slices of tomato in a single layer.
- 12
Add half of the shallot, garlic, and thyme to each tray, then splash both trays with olive oil and sprinkle with fleur de sel or kosher salt.
- 13
Transfer both trays to the warm oven or dehydrator until the skins are crisp to the touch and the petals look leathery and dark red, and most of the excess moisture has been removed, about 1 hour and 30 minutes if using an oven or 3 hours if using a dehydrator. The petals should still be plump and not dry, similar to a sun-dried tomato.
- 14
To serve, lay three slices of the dehydrated tomato petals on a small plate in three parallel lines.
- 15
Place a handful of dehydrated tomato skins into a coffee grinder, and grind them until they have turned into a fine powder.
- 16
Sprinkle 1–2 tablespoons of the tomato powder over the dehydrated tomato petals, making sure to season each petal generously.
- 17
Garnish each tomato slice with fresh herbs and edible flowers.
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