Monday, November 17, 2008

Green Tomato Jam

Aunt Debbi over at Aunt Debbi's Garden has sent out a call for help, asking for suggestions of what to do with all her green tomatoes. Well Aunt Debbi, if life gives you green tomatoes, make green tomato jam!

This year we ended up with 6+ quarts of green Sungolds. So we did some research and asked around. One of Wing Nut's co-workers came across a recipe for green tomato jam in one of her Italian cookbooks. It was very easy to make and we use it just like we would any other jam.

SOFT GREEN TOMATO JAM

  • 2 lbs green tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces--reserve juice and seeds
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar (10 ounces)
  • 2 medium lemons, preferably organic
  • pinch of salt
  • generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1  three inch cinnamon stick broken

1.  In a glass bowl, toss together the tomatoes, their juices and seeds, and the sugar. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature 24 hours.

2.  Turn the tomatoes into a 4-quart saucepan. Scrub the lemons if they are not organic. With a zester shred the zest of both lemons into the tomatoes. Cut away and discard the white pith. Cut the lemon's flesh into small pieces, removing the seeds. Stir into the tomatoes, along with the salt, pepper, and cinnamon stick.

3.  Bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat. Reduce the heat so the jam cooks at a moderate simmer. Simmer, uncovered, about 40 minutes or until a candy thermometer set into the jam reads 210 F. Or, test by spooning a little jam onto a chilled plate--it should not run. Do not over cook. Turn the jam into a bowl to cool. Refrigerate or freeze. For fullest flavor eat at room temperature.

Note: Because the jam is low in sugar it may spoil if canned, but it freezes well for 6 months or keeps in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

--Curmudgeon

10 comments:

Shibaguyz said...

Sounds like a great recipe... funny thing is, all of our green tomatoes ripened in the box while we were waiting to make green tomato chutney and green tomato salsa... go fig! LOL

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Thanks Y'all. This sound really good and I have green tomatoes runny out my ears.

garden girl said...

sounds yummy! I might try this next year. My favorite use so far for green tomatoes is to pickle them. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Okay, Curmudgeon, tell all, please: Just what DOES this taste like? I can see pickled green tomatoes or green tomato salsa (or, say, ketchup or chutney). But jam? Does it just taste like slightly sweetened lemon and cinnamon? Or do the tomatoes contribute their own flavor, and if so, what's it like? I profess total ignorance, since if we have any green tomatoes at season's end, we give 'em to the ever-appreciative chickens!

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Just had to add another comment. I started my batch tonight. When I told my husband I needed him to weigh out two pounds of tomatoes so I could make jam. He wanted to know if we were turning into the Swiss Family Robinson. Thanks again for the recipe. I definitely will have something to bring to Thanksgiving dinner that no one else will have.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to pass this along to my mom, she makes all kinds of jam but not that one, and I know she always has a bunch of green tomatoes left over that end up in the compost pile.

Libbys Blog said...

Always good to have a recipe to use up green tomatoes. But what does it taste like???

Curmudgeon said...

Okay, y'all, it tastes like green tomatoes but sweet with just a hint of citrus and cinnamon! It's really a very unique flavor. Subtle yes, but definitely tastes like more than just sugar and lemon and cinnamon. Think of rhubarb--it's not very strong but it does have a distinct taste that is very difficult to describe too.

Shibaguyz did you post a tomato chutney recipe? I'll be over soon to check out if you did.

Hope you like it Aunt Debbi. I've only met two other people --both from WI--who had ever even heard of tomato jam. We just had some with pork chops a few nights ago. And I love it on toast with cream cheese. BTW, we didn't have any lemons when we made the recipe so we used oranges instead. I can't really taste the oranges though. I wonder if it's more about the acid they contribute than the flavor?

I'm just beginning to discover the wonderful world of pickling gardengirl! I'm not much for pickled anything--it's cultural I think--but WN just made a batch of her nana's pickles and I loved them. Now I want to try pickling other things. Green tomatoes sounds like a great possibility.

Maybe you shouldn't try this recipe OFB. What if you like it? Then what will your poor chickens do without their green tomatoes? LOL!

Karen if your mom has heard of this jam let me know. I'm always curious as to why this isn't more popular. I've only found recipes for it in Italian and Portuguese cookbooks.

The flavor is very subtle Libby. You can make this with red tomatoes and then the tomato flavor is a bit stronger.

A Cuban In London said...

Wasn't there a movie called 'Green Fried Tomatoes'? Well, there you have it, another recipe.

Greetings from London.

Philip Bewley said...

Ooh, this sounds so good!
I am looking forward to trying it!
Best,
Philip