… make tomato jam!
I have a plethora of tomatoes still from my yard. Not sure how many more I’ll get after the scorching heat over the past two days and then thunderstorms and rain today, but that’s OK. I’ve already made tomato puree and salsa and wing sauce, so, acting on my Mom’s suggestion of a few weeks ago, I made tomato jam.
I followed the recipe over here on The Cosmic Cowgirl, pretty much exactly, although I accidentally used 4 Tbsp. of lemon juice instead of 3. Not to worry … there’s nothing wrong with extra acid in the pot when it comes to canning with tomatoes. Also, I didn’t bother to strip the fresh thyme off its stems, just chopped the stems into small pieces and added those directly to the spice bag. Worked fine. Although it doesn’t note it at her site, nor at the site she links to, this recipe makes about 4 half-cup jars, or about one pint of jam.
This stuff, let me tell you people, is amazing. I had a little leftover that didn’t get canned, so I smeared it on my grilled-cheese sandwich for lunch. To die for! I know what I’ll be making if I end up with more tomatoes … and I’ll definitely be checking out the other tomato jam recipes over at White on Rice.
What do you do with tomato jam, you ask? It pairs beautifully with bread and cheese — sweet and savory and spicy all at once. You could spoon a dollop over cream cheese and serve with crackers, put it in your grilled cheese sandwiches, or even use it on your burgers — it makes a great substitute for ketchup when you’re looking for an intense tomatoey flavor. It also makes a great sauce for pork and chicken — you can melt a little down with some mustard and onion and maybe a little stock and brush it on … mmm.
LOVE the tomato jam and I didn’t make any this year. So good on ice cream! Thanks so much for sharing with Simple Lives Thursday!