BS: green tomato jam

Subject: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 18 Nov 16 - 09:34 PM

It's that time of year. The green tomatoes have been collected, hours before the first frost.

I'd like to make green tomato jam, but I don't want to get into canning. Buying jars, lids, rings, etc.

I made it years ago, following the recipe from the Nero Wolfe cookbook. It's delicious, but the sealing with paraffin never really worked out.

Do ya suppose I could make it and freeze it?

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 16 - 09:59 PM

Sealing with paraffin is not done any more - processing in a hot water bath is the standard method. You can freeze instead of processing - the consistency may be a bit different.

I make green tomato relish and can it. Tomorrow I'll be picking the garden, the first frost is late this year, but coming soon. Fingers crossed tonight we really do have 41^o and not a quick dip below 32^o. You can't can them if the plants have been touched by frost.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 11:01 AM

Thanks for the info, Acme.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: michaelr
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 12:01 PM

The Nero Wolfe cookbook???

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 12:16 PM

Now, are we talking about 'jam' as in strawberry jam and plum jam? Or is it a kind of chutney? I can't quite imagine tomato jam, as I think of tomatoes as rather more savoury than sweet. Even tomato chutney has a 'bite' to it. Most interesting!

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 04:10 PM

I'm googling it and encountering the Dark Side of American cooking.
They want me to make green tomato jam that calls for a package of raspberry Jello.

On the way I encountered a recipe for Oreo Dirt Cake. Next I suppose it'll be Beer Butt Chicken. [shudder]

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 04:14 PM

It looks like I can freeze it, I just have to get the right kind of pectin:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/06/how-to-make-no-cook-freezer-jam.html

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 05:02 PM

Green tomatoes in raspberry jelly? What a strange combination!

I should imagine there's little or no pectin in tomatoes, so could one add shredded apple? There's plenty of pectin in that.

And fancy freezing jam! My old auntie had shelf upon shelf of home-made jams, bottled fruit and chutney, and owned neither a fridge nor a freezer. I'd have thought the sugar preserves it for ages...

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 06:21 PM

Freezing is a good option if you don't want to put in as much sugar as regular jam calls for, though what you tend to end up with is the most delicious pancake syrup imaginable!

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 08:35 PM

Lee near wrote Jello, not jelly! Now who do we think of when the word Jello pops up? At least it's raspberry, not lime!

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: robomatic
Date: 19 Nov 16 - 10:04 PM

Oreo dirt cake?! You just made my memory flash on:

Kitty Litter Cake

To get that out of my mind I've got to get in the fish tank and sing!

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 02:59 AM

Now, when you're talking about green tomatoes, are you talking about underripe tomatoes, as in this
Italian recipe, or you talking about tomatillos, apparently commonly made into a
tomatillo and lime jam (though I've also seen one with jalapeno peppers online)?
We've been making rhubarb-and-ginger jam in our house, using a mixture of an old-fashioned ruby-red rhubarb we've had for yonks and what appears to be a Triffid, a 'peach-flavoured rhubarb' stool donated by an adventurous friend. We used jam sugar (which has added pectin). How to store it? We put it in the fridge, but it ended up being stored in our tummies too quickly to know if that was a feasible method of long-term storage.
Serious jam-makers may also preserve by 'canning' - in other words, using a
high-pressure cooker designed for heat-sealing the Kilner jars you use.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Senoufou
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 03:18 AM

"...calls for a pack of raspberry jello..."
I was under the impression that the word 'jello' in USA means 'jam' in UK. (Coloured wobbly stuff made from fruit-flavoured gelatine)

We used to pinch a cube of Chivers jelly from the packet and chew it all the way to school. We fondly imagined our mum never noticed (of course she did!) That, together with desiccated coconut and a handful of illicit glace cherries made a delightful but naughty treat. In those days, mums' pantries had no end of home-baking stuff. Nothing was 'bought in'.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Senoufou
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 03:42 AM

Haha, no no no! I should have written 'means JELLY in UK'!! Daft old biddy...

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 04:10 AM

now correct me if I am wide of the mark, but aren't green tomatoes richer in glyko-alkaloids (as per potato) than when red?

Cooking probably reduces the toxin. (as per potato)

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 02:20 PM

I am not a serious canner. I'm not buying a hot=water bath, or a pressure canner, a crate of glass jars, lids, seals and a jar lifter in order to use up a plateful of green tomatoes.

Mr. Red, back when I had more ambition, I made a batch of green-tomato jam from the Nero Wolfe cookbook, and nobody showed any signs of being poisoned. After being cooked, the green tomatoes aren't even especially tangy.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Rumncoke
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 02:50 PM

If when clearing away courgette vines you find a humungous one or two which have escaped detection, then marrow and ginger jam is a simple and easy to make option.

I had four escapees one year, which added up to 20lb of chopped material,and which made enough jam to last for years. If it is cut fine it is actually more like a marmalade and I used to enjoy it on toast.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Nov 16 - 10:55 PM

I made several small batches of green tomato relish today - two gallons so far, in pint jars. I have enough for probably at least 2 more quarts, and I'll let the rest ripen slowly and eat them this winter.

I process them in boiling water - all you need is a large stock pot, nothing fancy. This is hot water, not pressure canning, but you can do a lot with that. And once you do much canning, people who know about it tend to give you jars. Sometimes they're odd sizes and you need to go by wide-mouth lids, etc, but there is some kind of equilibrium in the canning world that helps keep up the level of jars in the house.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: Mr Red
Date: 21 Nov 16 - 09:58 AM

you need to go by wide-mouth lids

I make medlar jelly, most years it is hard to get to set. So last year I made a lot, and put some liquid in bottles, as it usually stays liquid. Only to find they had set (without added pectin)!
GF suggested re-heating to melt the jelly. I made so much I am still consuming the jars. I put it in plain yoghurt.
Anyone in Gloucestershire who wants a load of medlars PM me or webmail me from Mister.red cntact page, but be quick, they must be bletting now. Pick yer own!

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 21 Nov 16 - 06:38 PM

Just a minute while I figure out what a medlar is and why they blet.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: gnu
Date: 22 Nov 16 - 07:06 AM

Me too.

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: maeve
Date: 22 Nov 16 - 07:38 AM

http://www.rootsimple.com/2010/12/medlar-the-best-fruit-youve-never-heard-of/

Subject: RE: BS: green tomato jam
From: leeneia
Date: 22 Nov 16 - 10:01 AM

You have to wait till it's nearly rotten? It's not for me.