Hi EB,
I dehydrate more things from my garden than I freeze...they shrink, and there's more room in my pantry! lol I tried eggplant for the first time this season, as well as tomatillos. I haven't tried the eggplant yet, but the tomatillos did great! The EP I dunked in a solution of ascorbic acid, to prevent discoloration - a good thing to do with some fruits, as well, and easier to do than fuming with sulfur! Tomatoes and tomatillos I just cut in halves or quarters, and dry as is, and most peppers I dry as is.
One thing I do when drying some of these things, esp. for the first time, is weigh them, before and after. This way I can tell what is the equivalent to a given amount of fresh veggie or fruit. 1 lb of tomatillos, tomatoes, and eggplant this year reduced to about 1.3 oz, on average.
All of these dried foods I store in glass jars.
I tried a method to make salsa with the tomatillos that I used with success with dried tomatoes, which is to pan toast them, as I do chiles, using Bayless' method of pressing them against the pan for several seconds, flipping, and pressing again. Then I cover with enough water to equal a little less than the original weight, and soak for 30 or more min. They take a little longer to rehydrate than peppers, but when making a smooth salsa, this doesn't matter much. I soak them separate from the peppers, as that water can be bitter.
Right now I have the end of my tomatillo harvest in the dehydrator, along with 8 trays of peppers. And many more peppers out there, but that's it for this year.
Dave
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