One such recipe is my tomato jam. We stayed at a lovely B&B last year in Connecticut and they served a tomato jam with breakfast. Intrigued by the sweet tomato-ey stuff I set out to make it myself. I found a recipe in my trusty The New Basics Cookbook by the lovely ladies of The Silver Palate. As usual I used the recipe as a suggestion and this is what I came up with:
Anytime Tomato Jam
you'll need as many super ripe tomatoes as you can stand to cook up- plums and/or beefsteaks (at least 10, I made 3 Ball jars full with 25)
honey
thyme
salt
balsamic vinegar
black peppercorns
cinnamon
allspice
sauce pot, large pot, spice infuser
Prepare the tomatoes
Fill large pot with water, put to boil. Once at rolling boil carefully drop tomatoes in. Remove tomatoes after 1 minute or the skin is split and starting to peel off.
Place hot tomatoes in colander in sink and run cold water over them. I also put a handful of ice cubes.
Once tomatoes are cooled to the point where your fingerprints won't burn off, peel skin off and cut in half. Place off the the side and might I suggest using a cutting board with a reservoir.
While tomatoes are cooling a bit more ready your sauce pot.
Prepare a spice infuser
Fill generously with sticks of thyme- remove most of the leaves and set aside, and roughly 8-10 black peppercorns. You can also put cloves in but I am not fond of the taste of cloves but if you like them feel free to add to the infuser!
Place the infuser in the pot and hook to the outer edge of your sauce pot. For my sauce pot I use my 3 1/2 quart Le Creuset but any ol'pot will do.
Make the Jam
At this point you should be able to handle the tomatoes. DO THIS OVER A SINK : squeeze the tomato halves to remove moisture (watch out they splatter!) Then place the squashed tomato in the sauce pot. Once you have squeezed enough tomatoes to cover the bottom of the pot turn the burner on low ( mine was at a 3)
Continue to squeeze the tomatoes and place in the pot.
Once all your fruits are in the pot sprinkle with the reserve thyme leaves, stir and raise the heat a tad ( mine went to 4)
Stir and mash tomatoes with your wooden spoon occasionally in the next 20 minutes. A little bubbling is fine.
I then add about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, stirring and mashing it in.
Now turn the heat back down (mine went back down to 3)
Add in the honey-I used 3 heaping tablespoons in my big batch, but really you should make it to your liking. Taste a bit of it and if you want it sweeter you can add more honey or even a bit of sugar.
Give the jam a dash of cinnamon, allspice, salt and a sprinkle of thyme leaves then stir.
Turn the burner off and let the jam cool a bit. If you want your jam smoother than your wooden spoon could get it ( I liked mine in that chunky strawberry jam kind of way) you can take a potato masher to it. Remove the spice infuser and add another pinch of salt.
If you made a big batch like I did you could can according to your canning guide. I used 1/2 inch of head space. But, remember to leave yourself a little to have right now!
Serving suggestions:
fresh mozzarella on a cracker with Tomato Jam
fresh buttermilk biscuits
croissant
buttered bagel
whole wheat toast
chicken
flank steak
crackers and any soft cheese
roasted eggplant
ANYTHING!
Well, I am hungry after writing all this! Hope you enjoy experimenting with Tomato Jam!!!
Forever Seeking Aloha,
Britt
