It’s difficult to find a tomato at the grocery store that tastes the way I remember them. Sure, a few hybrid varieties have been developed for great flavor. However, commercial tomato breeders focus on hybridizing tomatoes to make them symmetrical and red, durable enough to survive the automated harvesting and long-distance shipping, picked green, with no chance to ripen on the vine, and a long shelf life. Unfortunately, something had to go and sadly, for us tomato lovers, it was flavor.

That’s why I love to go to the farmer’s markets in search of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. But what they all have in common is they have been sown from seeds passed down from generation to generation, because of valued characteristics.

There is simply no comparison to the grainy, dry, flavorless things you find at the supermarket. Homegrown heirloom tomatoes are juicy, delicious, sweet and tangy. They have a marvelous mouth-watering, warm-from-the-sun, old-fashioned tomato taste you may remember.

Celebrate the end of summer with some beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Below are two great recipes from my kitchen to yours.

INGREDIENTS
6 slices firm white sandwich bread
1/4 lb sliced bacon (about 5 slices)
6 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
3 Tbsp Sherry vinegar
4 assorted medium heirloom tomatoes (2 lb total), cut into 1/4- to 1/3-inch-thick slices
30 small fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 oz blue cheese (preferably Maytag Blue), crumbled, at room temperature
Special equipment: a 3-inch round cookie cutter
Garnish: very small heirloom cherry or currant tomatoes

METHOD
Cut 1 round from each bread slice with cookie cutter.

Cook bacon in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until crisp, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off bacon fat from skillet and reserve fat (do not clean skillet).

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then toast 3 bread rounds, turning over once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes total. Transfer toasts to a rack to cool and season with salt and pepper. Toast remaining 3 bread rounds in 1 1/2 tablespoons more oil in same manner.

Cook shallot in 2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat and remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar and simmer, whisking, until emulsified, about 1 minute. Season dressing with salt and pepper and keep warm, covered.

Crumble bacon. Arrange bread rounds on 6 plates and divide tomato slices among them, stacking slices and sprinkling some basil and bacon between slices. Sprinkle cheese and remaining basil and bacon over and around tomatoes.