Monday, April 22, 2013

Sweet and Spicy Tomato Jam

Our tomato plants have been on a tear recently, ripening up almost faster than I can keep up with them. This is not a problem I mind having.

But after making batches of pasta sauce, oven roasted tomatoes, and lots of salsa, I was in the mood to do something different. On some cooking show I saw over the weekend, one of the chefs made bacon jam. And yes, I will be giving that a go in the not-to-distant future because, well, it's bacon. But it got me wondering if you could make a savory type of jam from tomatoes. And the answer is: absolutely.

I spent some time looking at a bunch of different recipes and came up with my own concoction, which I made this morning. Let me introduce you to the cast of characters:



From the left we have:
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. red chili flakes
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of one lemon or lime
1 small onion, chopped
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped

All of these ingredients, plus about 1/2 tsp. of grated fresh ginger went into a Dutch oven. I gave it a stir to combine everything, brought it up to a boil, then reduced it to a simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours. Every so often, I would give it a stir.

 
 
 

Here's what it looked like after an hour:



After two hours, I decided I wanted to make the jam a tad bit smoother. So, I whipped out my immersion blender and whizzed away until the tomatoes got to the consistency I was looking for.

The final result:




The final verdict: There's a tang that pops on your tongue, immediately followed by bursts of goodness from the spices and just the hint of vinegar. Hmmmm, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. This would be divine slathered on any type of burger, drizzled over fish, dabbed on the top of an omelet, stirred into a frittata, schmered on a sandwich, or gently spread over a piece of lovely bread that has some soft cheese on top. I'm sure I'll come up with some more ideas, but for now, this is my new favorite way to work with tomatoes.

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