A Southern Grace: enough is enough!

November 6, 2015

enough is enough!

Yum

I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but if I don't see another tomato for 6-12 months, that would be fine with me.


On one hand, I'm happy our plants were so fruitful, but I'm also pretty tired of having to a)work them up, and b)eat them.*

*There could easily be a third thing on that list--collecting them--but I have a dreamboat of a fiance who does most of the picking for me.

So far, I've made several batches of spaghetti sauce, salsa, and chutney, plus lots of pasta and grain salads, so it was time for something different. I wanted to make use of the remainder of our larger Black Krim tomatoes, and I thought their color and sweetness would make a fantastic jam.


The resulting spread was quite lovely and very unique. It wasn't as sweet as a traditional fruit jam, but complex and satisfying, especially on a simple grilled cheese sandwich. I guess having to do something with all these tomatoes has its perks...

Toe(mato) Jam
(printable recipe)
Makes 1 pint
Ingredients:
  • 1 lb tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally and gently. Cook about two hours or until the mixture thickens to a jam-like consistency. This all depends on how juicy your tomatoes are and the amounts of liquids added.
Spoon the tomato jam into a sterilized pint jar (or two half-pint jars). For longer storage, can in a water bath (cover with water about 1″ above jars and simmer for about 15 minutes) or just store in the fridge a couple of weeks.


15 comments:

Amy (Savory Moments) said...

I love this, Grace! We can a tomato jam most years (it's more sweet/smoky) and love it. Sometimes it gets so overwhelming when your plants produce like crazy. If you have any green tomatoes left, they make fantastic pickles ;-)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A great jam! I've had my fair share of tomatoes for this year and I'm looking forward to eating winter vegetables again...

Cheers,

Rosa

Kate @ Framed Cooks said...

I will happily take All The Tomatoes! And in the meantime, this jam looks perfect - as usual!

Angie's Recipes said...

Send all the tomatoes to me, Grace! Your jam looks super!

Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies said...

I've never made, or even tasted, a tomato jam! Guess I am a little sheltered. It does sound really good, especially on your grilled cheese.

I Wilkerson said...

I sooo laughed. But really I could see this coming--and I have come to believe it is actually one of the joys of seasonal eating. Gorge yourself (and preserve like crazy) for a (relatively) brief period, get sick of the food, don't eat it for months and when it comes back in season it looks like manna from heaven. After buying a few extra cases of strawberries in June/July every year, I even get sick of them (incomprehensible as it sounds now...) But I sure wouldn't mind some of that tomato jam!

Barbara said...

I remember feeling the same way about zucchini. But never tried tomatoes....how odd of me. Love tomato jam; my mother used to make it, don't have her recipe, keeping a copy of yours. Those sweet tomato jams are fabulous with grilled cheese!

Marcelle said...

I love to make jams and jellies, but tomato jam is one I haven't tried! It looks delicious!! Thank you for the recipe, I'm bookmarking it to try soon! Yum!

Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl said...

Girl, I feel you. We had hundreds of pounds of tomatoes this year and I'm ripening all the green ones in the closet now. I am loving this jam!

Pam said...

I haven't had tomato jam in a few years - thanks for the reminder! What a great way to use up your abundance of tomatoes. The jam looks and sounds tasty.

Mary Cressler said...

Ohh this looks delicious. I could LIVE off tomatoes. I'm quite jealous that you had such an abundance of tomatoes this year. Mine failed miserably :(
I'm hoping next year is kinder to me!
I'm totally bookmarking this to make soon (even with store-bought tomatoes!).
Cheers, Mary

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I think tomato and zucchini growers have a similar problem. You could always do a passata day? That's what some people do and then they have red sauce for the year ahead.

Elsa |the whinery said...

I loove tomatoes... I wish I had your problem, my tomato plants didn't quite yield as much fruit (vegetable?) as I would have liked. This jam looks lovely and delicious and soo unique, I guess I can always try for next season:-)

Katerina said...

I don't love overly sweet sweets so this jam is right up my alley!

Adina said...

This looks amazing, I have never had tomato jam before. I envy you for your tomatoes, I had four quite large plants but I don't think they had more than 15 tomatoes put together. Quite depressing, but we just don't have the right weather for it, I suppose.