(Sunday scheduling fail by FYWP!) From commentor Satby: I grow only heirloom tomatoes in my garden, along with the other stuff. It was a predominately cooler summer than normal here in SW MI, so the tomatoes were a bit slow to come in, but when they did, whammo! For the past week I’ve been canning, …
<del>Sunday</del> Monday Garden Chat: Tomato Bounty (with Bonus Recipe!)Post + Comments (53)
Tomato Basil Jam
Makes about 4 ½ pint jars· 4 cups ripe tomatoes, peeled (I use a cherry tomato mix, so I don’t peel them)
· ¼ cup lemon juice (I use ¼ cup mixed cider/balsamic vinegar)
· 3 tablespoons snipped fresh basil
· 3 cups sugar (OK, ick, I hate recipes that call for more sugar than fruit, so I use 1 rounded cup sugar)
· ¼ pat butter to reduce foaming
· 11 3/4ounce package powdered fruit pectin for lower-sugar recipes or 3 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin for low- or no-sugar recipes (I can get away with such low sugar because I use Pomona Pectin, which uses citrus calcium instead of sugar to make it jell. The result is sweet and savory and delish!)1. Finely chop tomatoes (you can seed and core if using large ones, I only core them). Measure 4 cups chopped tomatoes; place in a 6- to 8-quart stainless-steel, enamel, or nonstick heavy pot. Bring to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes (up to 10 if you want the tomatoes to break down more, I like the jam a bit chunky). Stir in lemon juice and basil.
2. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and the pectin; stir into tomato mixture. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the remaining 2 3/4 cups sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.
3.Ladle hot jam into hot sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids and screw bands.
4. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks. Makes 5 half-pints. (And if you don’t want to hot process them, they make a fine refrigerator jelly).
I have to confess, I’ve only made this in my Fresh Tech Jelly maker. For the Fresh Tech with Pomona pectin: do not follow the normal directions of putting the pectin in first, instead put in the tomatoes, basil and vinegar or lemon juice, and 4 teaspoons of calcium water in and set Fresh Tech to “jam” (I add 2 extra minutes to the total). Mix 3 teaspoons of pectin into the sugar really well, and at the 4 minute mark when the machine beeps, add the sugar. I may give it a quick stir with a spatula at that point just to get the sugar mixed better. Put the lid on and get your jars ready because the jam will be done in about 18 minutes.