Ingredients:
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, sliced to allow more flavor exposure
1 sprig or 2 of fresh basil
Cherry tomatoes
Brine made of 3.5% solution of non-iodized salt in non-chlorinated water
Procedure
1. Place garlic and basil in the bottom of your jar. (I like to put the basil sprig somewhere along the side because it’s pretty.)
2. Fill jar with tomatoes to near the top allowing space for a weight. You may use a pint or quart jar. For a quart you may want more garlic and basil.
3. Set weight on top of tomatoes making sure that the top does not protrude above the top of your jar.
4. Pour your brine over the weight and tomatoes to fill jar allowing between a ½” and 1” of head space above the liquid to the top of the jar.
5. Seal jar with an air lock or any lid actually. If not using an air lock you will probably need to “burp” it once a day to release gases.
6. Ferment at room temperature for approximately 1 week out of direct sunlight, then refrigerate. The flavors will continue to develop in the fridge.
The cherry tomato bombs we ate at our workshop were approximately 3 weeks old. I have some that are 4 months old in my fridge. They still explode in your mouth, but they are more wrinkled and there is a lot of yeast in the jar, but they are flavorful. If you’re serving them to other people, I would recommend finishing a jar of cherry tomato bombs within about 2 months of starting them just for presentation’s sake.
As for myself, I still find my 4 month old bombs to be da bomb!
