Tomato Jam – A New Condiment Must-Have

I take inspiration from many places for the foods I decide to cook. I read cookbooks like novels. I enjoy learning about the past and the cutting edge, differences in food based on culture, climate and economy. Let’s face it though, the best way to get inspired by food is to have tried something, somewhere and have that “WOW, what the heck is that?” moment.

That happened some time ago at a place in Salem, Oregon, called The Ram, a restaurant/brewery that we really like but seldom actually visit. I had a hankering for a burger and I was intrigued when I saw it had something called Tomato Jam on it. I’d never heard of this concept and certainly hadn’t tried it, well that was it, I had to order that one. Sweet, tangy, a little spice, chunky, a refined ketchup? Not really. A salsa? Not like any I’d ever had. This was new, and kind of exciting. My mother-in-law was with us that day and she had a similar reaction. In fact, she made this concept a reality far before I did in her kitchen.

On another outing, my wife and I were visiting a favorite local restaurant, Cellar Cat, and we saw tomato jam on yet another menu. Burgers weren’t on the horizon for me on this day but I asked our great server if I could taste the jam, she was happy to run back in the kitchen and grab a little sample. Again, something completely new. Like nothing else I’d tried before. A quick confession, I’ve meant to write about this for so long, I don’t honestly remember which experience happened first. Regardless of which came first, I knew one thing, when I had fresh garden tomatoes, I was making this magical new condiment.

Bloody Mary Mix From Scratch

This summer was a strange one in our garden. The early spring was really wet so it was hard to get outside and get the garden boxes cleaned out. Then later when the weather was good, we were busy every weekend (yeah big surprise there). Finally, Fathers Day weekend, we finally got around to planting a few things. Tomatoes, poblano peppers, etc.

That’s super late to expect an epic harvest but the plants really took off so I was hopeful. Fruit set, the annual volunteer cherry tomatoes started feeding us all (yeah the dogs have learned to pick the low ones and munch away), the San Marzano and Russian Pink heirloom plants looked good and I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d still be able to make some tomato sauce to can.

Fast forward to October, a ton of green tomatoes, some ripe and weather of the wet and cold variety was on it’s way. I gathered the family up and got help picking every last tomato. Certainly not enough to make sauce, too many to eat fresh before they turn. What is a boy to do?

Bloody Mary mix of course. I’d be wanting to do this forever but never took the time. Today was the day. Here’s the process I took. I canned mine in a water bath but you could also refrigerate it and use it within a few weeks.

The first step was to make tomato juice. This is easy enough. I put them all in a large sauce pan, added just a little water, put the stove on medium and put the lid on. I came back in about 20 minutes and they had started to break down. I gave it another 15 minutes or so then brought out the food mill to remove the seeds and skins and there we had it, tomato juice. If you want to skip this step completely and buy tomato juice you certainly can but you know that garden fresh stuff is the best.

The recipe below is scaled for each three cups of tomato juice you have, multiply as needed (do the math before you drink too much).

Irish Beef Stew with Guinness – Recipe Updated!

I had not made this recipe in nearly a year but with the cold weather I really needed a good stew.  I made a few recipe adjustments based on my last experience and the results were great.