When you have oodles of tomatoes coming in every day, I had to do something with them besides sauce. There is only so much sauce I can use throughout the year. So, I tried 2 recipes, one for heirloom tomatoes, mostly red, and the other for yellow grape tomatoes which had a banner year in my garden.

Yes, yes, I know tomatoes and jam is an oxymoron, but when I spotted a  recipe for tomato jam that included chocolate, I was hooked. After all, I had tasted and enjoyed tomato sorbet which is another sweet treatment for my favorite garden edible, so I was willing to give jam a try.  To clinch the matter, the recipe called for 5 pounds of tomatoes which would put a dent in my accumulated stores on my kitchen counter.

The recipe that I found called for Black Brandywine tomatoes.  I did not grow that variety this year, so just used the various varieties that I had on hand.

An immersion blender is the easiest and fastest way to create a smooth consistency before you start to cook them in a Dutch oven on the stovetop.  And it saves considerably on cleanup.  If you don’t have one, you could easily use a blender or food processor, but put an immersion blender on your Christmas list as it will make your cooking life sooo much easier.

The Recipe for Red Tomato Jam

 

I used my jam on freshly fried corn fritters and it was delicious! I want to try a big dollop on a brie wheel for the ultimate appetizer.

The Recipe for Yellow Tomato and Basil Jam

I also had a bumper crop of Blue BumbleBee tomatoes this year.  Here is the description from Baker Creek Seeds: “Superior breeding efforts have resulted in one of the most delectable and color-saturated tomatoes we have seen! Plants produce bunches of 2-inch globes, round and brilliant blue, maturing to a golden yellow with blue shoulders. This newer variety was introduced by J and L Gardens and is a cross between the famously sugary Amy’s Sugar Gem and the antioxidant-rich OSU Blue tomato. It is perfect to snack on or for salads and should be a centerpiece for market displays!

A centerpiece indeed! This was quite a beautiful one and I could see placing a bowl of them freshly picked as decoration for your table.

I was literally picking baskets of Blue Bumblebees every few days. They are delicious raw in salads and other dishes, but I had too many to eat. So, I found this jam recipe and made 3 batches to last through the winter. They are incredibly easy to pick as an entire truss of the tomatoes would ripen at once, and I simply sliced off the entire bunch.

Tomato jam can be used in all kinds of recipes. My favorite is as a topping for fish such as baked salmon or tilapia.