Monday, January 26, 2009

Straight forward Tomato Jam


After requesting a recipe for Tomato Jam on the Aussies Living Simply website, and with many thanks to Kirsty for her recipe, I set about making my first batch of Tomato jam.

I've been eating this stuff ever since I can remember, between two Grannies a Mother and the local markets I've never had to go without, but I had to have a go myself.






Tomato Jam Recipe

3kg ripe tomatoes
500gm green apples
4 medium lemons
2.5 kg sugar

Peel and slice tomatoes. Peel, core and chop apples finely. Put all in a saucepan. Add grated rind of the lemons and cook 1 hour.

Add the juice of the lemons and the warmed sugar, stir until sugar has dissolved and then boil rapidly until it jells when tested.
Pour in to warmed sterilized jars and seal




I had about 10 Tomato Jam recipes to choose from and a few said to use a teaspoon of Cinnamon, which I did.



Apples about to get the chop


Just starting to cook.












A little bit longer

I cheated a little bit here, rather than wait for the apple to blend in with the Tomatoes I used a stick blender. It worked really well and even blended the Tomato skins into a smooth pulp.










In goes the sugar. Note the colour change.
















Ready











Ta Da.
I also had a recipe my Mum sent over which said basically the same thing with smaller portions, so between the two of them I managed to get the job done.

One and half kg tomatoes skinned and sliced. Skinning optional

500 gr apples, peeled and chopped.

Finely zested rind and juice of 2 lemons

One and quarter kg sugar


Put tomatoes,apples ,lemonjuice and rindin boiler or large saucepan

And simmer until the apples and tomatoes are tender and partially blended.

Add sugar, stirringuntil it dissolves. Boil until setting point is reached.

Bottle and seal.

The Verdict

Pretty bloody good if I do say so myself. I would have liked it a bit thicker but I'm not sure how to go about that, does anyone have any suggestions?





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21 comments:

Peggy said...

Hi Stewart,Tomato jam is a new one on me.What does it taste like and how do you use it? Like a jam on bread or a chutney?Sorry lots of questions looking forward to the answers!

My Veggie Garden said...

Hi Peggy, it's a straight up jam you have on toast or bread.
Tastes like, I don't know how to describe it, but like surgery sweet tomatoes.
I grew up on the stuff and just love it.
I'd send you a jar ,but I don't know if I can get it through customs.

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Hi Peggy, great recipe. I love tomato Jam so I'm certainly going to try it. / Tyra

Daphne Gould said...

I hadn't heard of tomato jam either. It sounds interesting though and a good thing to try when summer gets to our part of the world.

Dennis said...

Tomato Jam!? You Aussies do beat to a different drum! lol.

I'm gonna try it anyways.

Maggie said...

Hi Stewart, I have not made tomato jam but all jam needs pectin to set. Apples and lemons have pectin. In most recipes you soak the fruit in water for several hours, this helps draw out the pectin. You then simmer your fruit slowly until it is soft, this also draws out the pectin before you add the sugar. Or you can add some pectin in the form of jam set or jam pectin which should be available in supermarkets. The packet will give you quantities.

Anonymous said...

If my tomatoes ever ripen I will try this! Sound delicious. Stewart, when I make tomato puree, I drain the tomatoes overnight in a colander to remove excess water and get a thicker product. You might find that helps, it's amazing how much will drain out.

My Veggie Garden said...

Hi Tyra in Vaxholm, I thought Tom jam was only an aussie thing, but as we have only been here a couple a hundred years I suppose it had to come from some where. Glad you like though.

Hi Daphne, thanks for dropping by, it sure is worth a go.

Hi, Conservative Gardener. Conservative Gardener said, "You Aussies do beat to a different drum! lol".
Stewart says, "What and you Americans don't. Gees you call Tomato sauce Ketchup :-)".
Thanks for dropping by. It's an acquired taste(not in a bad way just different, but still jammy), but if you do acquire a taste for it you'll never look back.

Hi Maggie, Thanks for dropping by. Reading your suggestions I probably rushed the simmering softening up stage. Will be more patient next time.

Hi Cosmic, Thanks for the tip, I'll try that in conjunction with Maggies ideas.
Cheers

naturewitch said...

Hi Stewart
Well, tomatoes are a fruit, so why not tomato jam?!
Our tomatoes are just starting to ripen, so will have to try your recipe.
You could try Jamsetta, put out by Vacola, and to be found in many supermarkets to thicken up the jam. xx

Anonymous said...

Hi Stewart, mum says just boil a bit longer, and yes,more patience.l.o.l

My Veggie Garden said...

Hi mum, is that before the sugar goes in or after?

Olive and Popeye, the neighbour Gnomes said...

When I was a child, a very long time ago, (if you think this is sounding like a fairy tale, you're wrong, I'm 73) We had mock raspberry jam, made with tomatoes. I think at the end of the cooking period a small bottle of raspberry essence was added. We lived, at the time, in outback Sth. Australia where fresh raspberries were never heard of. One thing, it didn't taste like the delicious jam we make now, with fresh raspberries. Please don't tell anyone that I've told you how old I am. (LOL)

My Veggie Garden said...

Hi Olive and Popeye, your secret is safe with me ;-)

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