posted by Liz Thomas 07-04-100 10:07 PM
Red Tomato Jam
For each pound of ripe, juicy tomatoes:
1 lb. granulated sugar
Juice and grated rind of 1 large lemon
About 1/4 tsp. of ground cinnamon
A little freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon citrus pectin powder
Peel and de-seed the tomatoes. Put the seeds in a sieve over a bowl and squeeze out as much juice as possible.
Slice the tomatoes thinly, add the juice from the seeds and mix in sugar, lemon juice and peel and the spices. Stir well and leave for a couple of hours till the sugar is dissolved, stir it every now and then. It just needs to get syruppy, doesn't matter if it is not completely dissolved.
Bring slowly to the boil. Put the pectin powder in a roomy bowl and as soon as the jam is boiling add a couple of ladles full to the powder and stir well till it forms a thick paste. Pour it back into the jam and stir well, then boil rapidly till setting point is reached.
Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla essence (not forgetting to lick the spoon -- jam-maker’s perk, don’t let anyone else in on it!!) Let it cool slightly and then pot and seal as for any other jam.
You can almost tell by looking when set point is reached as it turns a amber in colour and smells lovely.
It’s a jam that is very popular in Portugal and is as good as strawberry with scones and cream.