Tomato & Lemon Jam
Cousin Karen’s Recipe
My cousin Karen gave me a jar of her Tomato and Lemon jam. I must admit that I was not sure about this combination. After some time in my pantry, I finally decided to give it a try. I used Cousin Karen’s Tomato and Lemon Jam as the topping for roasted chicken breast. It turned out that this combination of tomato and lemon has great favor. I should have known that Cousin Karen is always right. There are many ways you can use this Tomato and Lemon jam outside of chicken. It also tastes great on pork, peanut butter sandwiches, and hamburgers.
-Sissy Vessey
Ingredients
3 cups seeded and skinned mash or halves or quarters tomatoes*
1 juice of lemon
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon**
1 package (1.75 oz) regular powdered fruit pectin
5 ½ cup White Granulated Sugar
*Karen suggests cherry or grape tomatoes. She stated they are “sweeter.” I do not have the same patience as my cousin Karen. I use Roma tomatoes.
**You can substitute 1 tablespoon candied ginger for cinnamon.
Preparation
Prepare canner, jars and lids.
In a large, deep, stainless-steel saucepan, combine tomatoes, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Whisk in pectin until dissolved. Add ½ tsp of butter or margarine.
Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.
Add sugar to fruit mixture in saucepan. Return to full rolling boil; boil exactly 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Ladle hot jam into hot clean, sterile canning jars to within ¼ inch of the upper rim of the jar. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.
Use either a hot water bath or steamer canner. I use the steamer for my canning. If you decide to use a canner steamer, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines.
For hot water bath standard instruction would apply – place jars in a canner and cover with water by 2-inches. Bring the water to a fully rolling boil. When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack. For both the hot water bath and steamer canner, leave the jars to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth, then label.
Makes about seven 8-ounce jars.
