Colleen Vanderlinden
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The more I focus on growing as much of our own food as possible, the more I'm bothered by waste. The bread that stales before we can use it, the vegetable trimmings, that last bit of coffee in the decanter; I've found ways to use all of that. But what to do with the dozens of small, hard, green tomatoes that won't have a chance to ripen before a good frost kills the plants?
If they were farther along in the ripening process, I could work on ripening them indoors. But these are all green, without a single sign of the yellowish tinge that signals that the tomato is on its way to ripened perfection.
I'm trying to eat less fried food in general, so fried green tomatoes are out. The tomato plants, heavy with green fruit, were starting to weigh on my conscience when one of my Twitter pals remarked that she heard someone on the radio talking about green tomato jam.
Bingo!
I did a quick search, and was dismayed to find that most of the recipes for green tomato jam I found used raspberry Jello as one of the primary ingredients. Not exactly what I was looking for. Then, I found a recipe for green tomato jam that used nothing more than green tomatoes, sugar, and citrus.
Making Green Tomato Jam
The recipe really couldn't be simpler. You'll need the following equipment:
- Large mixing bowl
- Pint or half-pint jars, with lids and rings
- Canning equipment, including large pot, rack, and tongs (You need to process the jam in a hot water bath if you are planning on storing it for more than a few weeks. It will keep, without processing, in the refrigerator for up to four weeks.)
Ingredients:
- 4 ½ pounds of firm green tomatoes
- 6 cups of granulated sugar
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- Juice and zest of one orange
Slice the tomatoes into 1/8 to ¼ inch slices. Layer the tomato slices with heavy sprinklings of the sugar, repeating until all of the tomatoes and sugar have been used. Zest and juice the lemon and orange, and add to the mixing bowl. Cover the bowl and let it sit for eight hours or overnight.
After eight hours, there will be a lot of liquid in the bowl. This is exactly what you want. Add the contents of the bowl to a large pot, and bring it to a boil. Watch it carefully, and turn it down once it reaches a boil. You want to keep it at a very gentle boil for two to three hours, or until it reaches the desired thickness. Scoop any scum off of the top.
While the tomatoes are boiling, sterilize your jars. This amount of tomatoes makes two and one-half pints of jam. Once the jam has boiled down, add it to your prepared jars, keeping ¼ inch of head space. Place the lids and rings on the jars, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for ½ pint jars and 15 minutes for pint jars. Remove from the water and set the jars on a towel. Let the jars sit, undisturbed, for at least eight hours.
I slathered my green tomato jam on some toast, and it is divine. How to describe it? It's sweet, and citrusy, with just a little bit of background tomato flavor. It reminded me of a combination of orange marmalade some kind of berry jam. It was much fruitier than I would have expected.
So, if you're growing tomatoes this year, don't let those green tomatoes go to waste once frost hits. Pick as many as you can, and spend a little time making green tomato jam.
More About Cooking with Tomatoes:
A Fantastic Fall Appetizer: Savory Tomato Jam
Preserving the Harvest: Canning Tomatoes
Soup of the Week: Tomato Fennel
Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce (Video)
Find more great, green recipes. Watch Emeril Green on Planet Green!
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