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Last autumn’s harvest included a lot of green tomatoes… too many green tomatoes. We made a cake with them and lots of salsa, and yet there were still more green tomatoes. It all ended up with a mad rush to bag up the remaining tomatoes and get them in the freezer before we went away for a week at the end of October.
As this year’s tomato seedlings are starting to look more like sturdy little plants, the remains of last year’s frozen fruit need to be used up. The salsa was especially good, and I’m going to be picking some tomatoes before they ripen to make more this year. But I wasn’t convinced that the texture would be right from a frozen and defrosted tomato. Instead, one of the bags from the freezer is going to be turned into a sauce for pasta, and another has already made a couple of jars of green tomato jam.
Now, I know it might not sound like the most appetising preserve ever… but the sweet, sticky and tomatoey jam, given some extra flavour with a little preserved ginger, is just what you need to accompany a slice of good, mature Cheddar on an oatcake. It was nice and easy to make too. I used a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, adjusted the quantities to the amount of tomatoes I had, and added some chopped ginger as he suggested.
I have in the past, occassionally contributed to the Tea Time Treats challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and Jane from The Hedgecombers. April’s theme is Jams, Curds and Preserves – perfect timing for this recipe…
Green tomato jam
(makes enough to fill 2 old (washed and sterilised) jam jars)
2 unwaxed lemons
500g green tomatoes, defrosted if frozen
560g granulated sugar
2 knobs preserved stem ginger, fairly finely chopped
Peel the zest from the lemon, but avoid taking any pith off too. Roughly chop the zest to get pieces of a size you’d be happy to have in the jam… it’s a bit like marmalade, some like slightly chunkier chunks than others. Bring about 250ml of water to the boil in a small pan, add the zest and simmer it for round about 2 minutes. Drain, rinse the zest in cold water and put to one side.
Use a sharp knife to peel the white pith from the lemons. Chop the lemony flesh into small chunks and reserve the pips – wrap them in a small piece of muslin and tie it up with string.
Put the tomatoes, lemon zest and flesh, and sugar into a large pan and stir everything to mix well. Cover and leave overnight. In the morning, add the pips and 700ml of water to the pan and stir again. Heat over a low heat, still stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 25-30 minutes. Check for a set (I use the teaspoonful of jam on a chilled saucer method). When the setting point is reached, remove the jam from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Pour the slightly cooled jam into sterilized jars and cover with waxed paper circles while still warm.
CJ said:
Sounds delicious, I’m always looking for things to do with green tomatoes at the end of the season. The salsa is a great idea as well. I’m still using up things from the freezer from last year’s harvest too – excess strawberries, gooseberries and about ten thousand blackcurrants. Wonderful! I do love a glut.
thegardendeli said:
Sounds like you had a glut of gluts last year! All that frozen fruit must be great to have ready to use though.
selmazebra said:
Your green tomato jam looks and sounds lovely. I often end up with a glut of green tomatoes towards the end of the growing season, and now I know what I will be doing with them!
thegardendeli said:
Thanks Steve – last year was especially good for green tomatoes, let’s hope for a glut of red and green fruit this summer.
Anne @ Life in Mud Spattered Boots said:
This sounds a little like lemon & marrow marmalade, so I’m sure it’s delicious. Have you tried Green Tomato Mincemeat? I never make conventional mincemeat any longer but always use my green tomatoes. May have to cut back a little this year so I can make some Green Tomato Jam too.
thegardendeli said:
Lemon and marrow marmalade… is there a recipe on your blog?
Anne @ Life in Mud Spattered Boots said:
yes, you should find it here http://annewheaton.co.uk/2012/09/10/marrow-marmalade/
Southbourne Gardens said:
This looks fantastic. Am bookmarking it for later in the year.
thegardendeli said:
It’s good to have some recipes in hand… just in case we don’t get a scorching hot summer that ripens all the tomatoes!
laura_howtocook said:
This sounds like such a perfect way to enjoy surplus tomatoes. Love the addition of there ginger. A gorgeous partner to cheese!
thegardendeli said:
Thanks Laura! It is very good with cheese – I’ve been trying it with a range of cheeses… purely for the sake of the blog of course
Cathy said:
Sounds really delicious Sarah. I love chutney but do miss a chunk of Cheddar with it!
thegardendeli said:
Does Germany not do Cheddar? Sounds like there may be a need for food parcels being sent across to you there!
annjenny said:
Your chutney looks a lovely golden colour and I love anything with ginger in it!
thegardendeli said:
There’s nothing like some ginger to add a bit of zing!
reliablerecipe said:
Reblogged this on Reliable Recipe.
thegardendeli said:
Thank you… never had a reblog before!
reliablerecipe said:
You’re welcome – and thank you for the recipe! Please follow back 🙂
Karen Burns Booth said:
I LOVE green tomato jam Sarah and yours looks like a winning recipe! I also LOVE that last photo of the sun streaming through the jam and making it look golden and very inviting.
thegardendeli said:
Thanks Karen! The jam is a great colour – maybe it needs to be renamed as golden tomato jam!
Pingback: The Jammy Round-Up for Tea Time Treats, April! Jams, Curds and Preserves
Lauren Hairston said:
Sure, slightly weird, but in an amazing-sounding way. I love a fried green tomato but it’s nice to have other options!
thegardendeli said:
Hi Lauren. Fried green tomatoes are a great way to use up the unripe fruit… in fact it’s so good, I’m planning on harvesting some tomatoes before they ripen this summer just so I can cook some.