Рецепт Tomato Jam
Every autumn, some primal instinct
arises and I feel compelled to ‘put up’ my farm stand finds so that, as they
shutter for the season, I’ll have a winter pantry of homemade tomato sauces and
chunky tomatoes to put into pasta sauces or, at their simplest, just use them
for a pasta sauce all by themselves. A
couple of weeks ago, I showed you the collection of Heirloom tomatoes plucked
from The Bridgehampton Florist’s Hampton Classic table. I thought I’d outdone myself. But darned if I wasn’t at the farm stand
where I was confronted by a big basket of ‘culls’ – tomatoes not pretty enough
for Caprese but irresistibly priced at $5.00 for at least a dozen of them. I also had an added incentive: My latest houseguests, Jill and Steven had
most thoughtfully given us an enormous Stock Pot –just perfect for
canning. I took my cull tomatoes home
and pulled out my trusty Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Lo and behold, there was a recipe for Tomato
Preserves. Not only did its combination
of sweet and spicy appeal to me, it conjured up all kinds of memories.
Readers of this blog will have no
trouble remembering that my late Mother had little use for anything she could
just as easily buy as make. So it may
astonish you to know that even she could not resist the lure of the canning
kettle. One of her great passions was
Marmalade, Scotland’s gift to preserves. Marmalade got its name because it was
originally prepared for a sick Princess Mary by her French chef. The name is derived from Marie Malade. Whether we can
ascribe Mary’s recovery to this orange concoction is uncertain. However
Princess Mary survived to become Mary, Queen of Scots. I in awe of my mother’s making preserves until I dug up her recipe which consisted of using a Crock Pot and
cooking the oranges in it overnight.
Mother had finally found a way to cook in her sleep! Still, this was not as easy as
running down the supermarket and corralling a jar of Dundee, it had the
distinct charm of costing a great deal less. That alone would have sent my
mother to the Ball Jars.
Cull Tomatoes...not as pretty
but every bit as flavorful.Making
this recipe for Tomato jam isn’t completely effortless. But it’s awfully
easy. You score an X on the bottom of
each tomato, plunge them individually into boiling water for just 30 to 60
seconds, then plunge them into an ice water bath. The skins slip off and with them most of the
bruising that made them culls in the first place. Any excess can be peeled off
with a paring knife. Then I slit the
tomatoes in half and, using my fingers, I pulled out as many seeds as I could.
Meanwhile, on the stove a brew of sugar, water, lemons and a spice bag of
ginger and pickling spice was boiling away on the stove. Into this went the tomatoes where the mixture
gently boiled for what seemed like a very long time—several hours. But the cooking wasn’t over. The preserves rest for 12 to 18 hours before
one final boil and into they jars they go to be preserved. They make a thoughtful and different gift.
And they make a deliciously different spread on a toasted English muffin. Here is the recipe:
Recipe for Tomato Preserves from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
(Robert Rose 2006)
Makes 8-8 oz jars of
Preserves.
- 1 Tbsp. Pickling Spice
- 1 1/2-inch piece peeled gingerroot
- 4 medium lemons (unpeeled), seeded and
- thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup water
- 12 cups peeled, seeded coarsely chopped
- yellow or red tomatoes
- 8 8 Oz. Ball Jars with lids and bands
- 1. Tie pickling spice
- and ginger-root in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag.
- 2. Combine sugar, lemon
- slices, water and spice bag in a large, deep stainless steel saucepan. Bring to
- a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and boil gently,
stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and
boil gently, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are transparent. Remove from
heat, cover and let stand in a cool place (70 to 75°F) for 12 to 18 hours.
4. Prepare boiling
water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil.
Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
5. Transfer tomatoes
and lemon slices to a glass or stainless steel bowl and set aside using a
slotted spoon. Discard spice bag. Bring syrup to a boil over high heat, stirring
constantly. Boil hard, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 3
minutes. Add reserved
tomatoes and lemons. Bring back to a boil and boil hard, stirring constantly,
for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
6. Ladle hot preserves
into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply
band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
7. Process filled jars
in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars
and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down
when center is pressed.
8. Label jars so you can identify the contents in the dead of winter.