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Tomato Jam
Feb. 5th, 2023 10:35 amA friend of mine gave me a jar of this stuff a few years ago and I was obsessed with it. It didn't taste of tomatoes at all. It tasted like Christmas. It was so good.
Last summer I got the recipe from her and tried to make it myself. The jam didn't gel, and I'm not sure why. I ended up with a... spread, I guess? It was the consistency of thick ketchup, but didn't taste anything like ketchup. I still loved it, even though it wasn't jam. It was great on a piece of buttered toast, or added to a cream cheese bagel. I might have drizzled some over cooked noodles, too. I just finished off the last of it with toast and goat cheese. It's spicy without being too hot, sweet but not too sweet, and has all the warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
The recipe is from Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round by Marisa McClellan
https://books.google.com/books?id=OZhfyegz9dgC&pg=PA43&lpg=PA43&dq=%22amy%27s+tomato+jam%22+%22the+first+time+i+made+it,+I+thought+I+could+improve+on+things%22&source=bl&ots=qVWHax_M7m&sig=ACfU3U17jWow_DVB3a0_VGWT_Lv2RQr4EA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7tor4hv_8AhXNFTQIHXGoCtcQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=%22amy's%20tomato%20jam%22%20%22the%20first%20time%20i%20made%20it%2C%20I%20thought%20I%20could%20improve%20on%20things%22&f=false
Makes 4 one-pint jars
Ingredients
5 pounds tomatoes, cored and finely chopped
3.5 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice (I used the stuff in a bottle)
2 teaspoons grated and peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Combine all of the ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot. (I had to look up "non-reactive pot" to assure myself that my stainless steel pot was an OK choice.) Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low. Simmer the jam, stirring regularly, until it reduces to a sticky, jammy mess. This will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.
**The rest of the recipe is just instructions on how to properly can the jam in glass jars in a hot water bath. I didn't do this. Instead, I decided to press the jam through a sieve to remove the seeds and red pepper flakes, as I didn't think I would appreciate the texture. This was probably a bad idea, and may have been why I ended up with ketchup rather than jam. I still loved it, and would probably make it this way again, but if you really want jam, don't do what I did. I gave away 2 jars, kept one in the fridge, and froze the remainder of the stuff.**
Here is the rest of the recipe as written:
When the jam is nearly done, prepare a boiling water bath and 4 regular-mouth pint jars according to the process on page 10. Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and simmer over very low heat.
When the jam has cooked down sufficiently, remove the pot from the heat and ladle the jam into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes (see page 11).
Edited to add: I haven't yet tried the stuff that I froze, so I don't know if freezing it will affect the texture.
Edited to add: freezing did not change the texture at all.
KEEWERD
Last summer I got the recipe from her and tried to make it myself. The jam didn't gel, and I'm not sure why. I ended up with a... spread, I guess? It was the consistency of thick ketchup, but didn't taste anything like ketchup. I still loved it, even though it wasn't jam. It was great on a piece of buttered toast, or added to a cream cheese bagel. I might have drizzled some over cooked noodles, too. I just finished off the last of it with toast and goat cheese. It's spicy without being too hot, sweet but not too sweet, and has all the warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
The recipe is from Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round by Marisa McClellan
https://books.google.com/books?id=OZhfyegz9dgC&pg=PA43&lpg=PA43&dq=%22amy%27s+tomato+jam%22+%22the+first+time+i+made+it,+I+thought+I+could+improve+on+things%22&source=bl&ots=qVWHax_M7m&sig=ACfU3U17jWow_DVB3a0_VGWT_Lv2RQr4EA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7tor4hv_8AhXNFTQIHXGoCtcQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=%22amy's%20tomato%20jam%22%20%22the%20first%20time%20i%20made%20it%2C%20I%20thought%20I%20could%20improve%20on%20things%22&f=false
Makes 4 one-pint jars
Ingredients
5 pounds tomatoes, cored and finely chopped
3.5 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice (I used the stuff in a bottle)
2 teaspoons grated and peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Combine all of the ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot. (I had to look up "non-reactive pot" to assure myself that my stainless steel pot was an OK choice.) Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low. Simmer the jam, stirring regularly, until it reduces to a sticky, jammy mess. This will take between 1.5 and 2 hours.
**The rest of the recipe is just instructions on how to properly can the jam in glass jars in a hot water bath. I didn't do this. Instead, I decided to press the jam through a sieve to remove the seeds and red pepper flakes, as I didn't think I would appreciate the texture. This was probably a bad idea, and may have been why I ended up with ketchup rather than jam. I still loved it, and would probably make it this way again, but if you really want jam, don't do what I did. I gave away 2 jars, kept one in the fridge, and froze the remainder of the stuff.**
Here is the rest of the recipe as written:
When the jam is nearly done, prepare a boiling water bath and 4 regular-mouth pint jars according to the process on page 10. Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and simmer over very low heat.
When the jam has cooked down sufficiently, remove the pot from the heat and ladle the jam into the prepared jars. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes (see page 11).
Edited to add: I haven't yet tried the stuff that I froze, so I don't know if freezing it will affect the texture.
Edited to add: freezing did not change the texture at all.
KEEWERD
