Love Ed Lee
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Given the number of folks who favor the FIJ (food in jars) Tomato Jam, I decided to try it. It is fabulous. Thank you all for recommending it. I followed the recipe as written, using 5 pounds home-grown organic heirloom variety tomatoes and toasted and flaked Hatch New Mexico chilis from the ristra for the chili flakes…
This jam wins the summer jam award of 2025. Don’t skimp on the ginger.
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Hooray! Truly is a recipe for the ages.
Thank you for reporting back!
How many jars of what size did you end up with?
i got ten, 4 ounce jars using 5 lbs. tomatoes. i cooked it until sticky, and until the water no longer separated or pooled around the fibrous material when a small amount was placed on a plate and cooled. It took about 2 hours to reach that state.
i used 4 ounce jars to be sure they would be adequately covered in the boiling water bath, and so the heat would reach the middle of the jam (given the remarks about acid content and safety). i used bottled lime juice to ensure uniform acid percentage, as noted by the Ball Blue Book and the various county extension services.
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Thank you!
also, it is very nice on Trader Joe’s Norwegian gluten free Crispbread, with Kerry Gold salted butter.
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Agree about having some butter with it. If I don’t have it with cheese I often butter the bread
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apparently there is a thing called “tomato marmalade.” i’m intrigued.
I saw that one! If oranges and tomatoes were both in season, I’d definitely be giving that a try. I guess lemons always get a pass, but oranges seem like a stretch.
I prepped some tomatoes for jam, but won’t be cooking it until tomorrow. I used Aji Amarillos for pepper.
I’m gambling on preparing six 4 ounce jars.
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The marmalade?
Crushed tomatoes, plain.
I water-bath can these in pint jars (35 min processing.) Then we use them in the winter for braises, stews and chili.
I’m still thinking about that marmalade, though. I will probably make a micro-batch of it.
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I may or may not going to Vancouver on Thursday, depending on how much Air Canada has caught up from the strike, so I have been trying to process all of the fruit in my fridge. Today I made plum butter ( a luisa weiss recipe), raspberry red currant, and peach butter. I have made peach butter using a wonderful Smitten Kitchen recipe for years but it always ends up with splatters all over my kitchen and often scorches. This year I tried an oven roasted version from food in jars that I think will be my new go to!
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I kept my word and stayed away from the blackberry patch for an entire week. Today was the day, and there were so many ripe, plump berries, they were falling off the vine. A gleaner’s dream.
I picked just enough for a couple of jars of jam - I’ve been on a small-batch kick this summer and enjoying the ease of it. Another upside of small batch jamming is we’re getting a wide variety stocked away for the winter, as opposed to an awful lot of the few same things.
I cooked the berries down for a few minutes, and then strained through a sieve. Not the most efficient process, but hauling out the Victorio Strainer for a small batch isn’t worth it.
45% sugar and squeeze of lemon juice - perfect.
(Note to self: I’m not done with that blackberry patch yet!)
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Thank you for sharing! I’ve never made anything with blackberries before, but saw these when I was picking up some corn at a big roadside market
So different from the ones on the bike path I thought I would see what I could do with them! Maybe jam!
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My #1 favorite fresh blackberry recipe is this one:
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Another benefit I enjoy with small-batch jamming is you get clearer signal about set, and can often get away with no pectin, even if I need pectin for a larger batch.
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I never use pectin, which is why - I suppose - my bigger batch jams come out a little more “dull” than my small-batch jams – longer cook times. I’m sold on the small batch stuff (at least for now).
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