Early Summer Tomato Jam

We’ve been exceedingly blessed with weather in the Bay Area this year. A mild winter transitioned gracefully into an early spring with sunny days arriving mid-April with seemingly no end in sight. We can’t help but relish these sun-drenched days by spending the entire afternoon outside, soaking up the Vitamin D, sipping on cold white wine and doing very little else. I chalk it up to our Southern California roots but when the sun is out, so are we. As a result of this wonderful stroke of good weather, we’ve managed to get little else done lately…one of those ‘good problems’ to be sure.

That said though, I quietly delighted waking up to a drizzly overcast Sunday yesterday. DH was away for the weekend so I cycled down to the DMV Farmer’s Market, spent a ridiculous sum on waaaaay too much produce and spent the entire day cooking in the kitchen.

On the day’s agenda:

-fresh whipped butter with chopped radish

-fresh ricotta with lemon

-gremolata

and last but certainly not least…

-early summer tomato jam

The original intent for the tomato jam was to enter it in Pizzaiolo’s Jam/Pie Contest for this Sunday’s fundraiser but it’s come to my attention that the fundraiser was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. Bummer.

This was my first attempt at tomato jam. I wanted to make a more savory jam, ideally with less sugar. Full disclosure, I’ve been attempting to avoid all refined sugar as of late. But sure enough, tomato jam calls for a good amount of sugar to bring the fruit together, arguably more than other summer fruits with higher natural sugar content such as berries or stone fruit. C’est la vie. On with the recipe…

Chop tomatoes and a white onion. Add sugar (some recipes call for as much as a 1lb::1cup ratio but I lessened the sugar ratio to 5lb::3cups). Add spices (cumin, coriander, caraway & cayenne were my choice). Add lemon juice or vinegar. I chose sherry vinegar but balsamic might have been nice with more Mediterranean spices. 

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy bottomed pot and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Keep mixture at a boil for a minute or so, then reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. 

Cooking time from this point on will depend entirely on the juiciness of the tomatoes. Mine were rather juicy so the cooking time was close to 4 hours. Once the mixture reached jam-like consistency, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Then transfer mixture into canning jars and turn upside down to cool. For long-term storage, stabilize cans in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Maybe its from not eating sugar for a full week or maybe it’s just that I expected it to be more savory but the jam tasted too sweet for my taste. DH loved it, especially on toasts with the fresh ricotta. Paired with a Bloomsdale spinach salad with fresh onions, pickled radish, pecans & gremolata, the tomato jam made a nice addition to an easy dinner.

Riverdog Dinner

First shelled fava beans with dragon tongue radish

Midway through the Riverdog Farm tour, guests were given the opportunity to purchase produce, farm fresh eggs and house-made almond butter. I scooped up some dragon tongue radishes and a handful of fava beans. When another enthusiastic guest inquired about how many fava beans to buy, one of the Camino kitchen staff wisely and wearily replied, "with favas, its never enough and its always too much work!".
No truer words were spoken that day. 

Riverdog fava beans

Upon arriving home I realized my paltry number of favas would make but a mere embellishment to whatever dish they were in.
Fresh favas + fresh pasta = favorite spring meal

fresh favas after 2nd shelling; empty pods

Tonight would be a perfect night to christen my new(ish) pasta attachment. I've made fresh pastas for years but much like pizzamaking, my process has improved greatly. This was my first go at a mechanical roller rather than the hand-cranked variety. 
Pros: faster, easier, less hands-on 
Cons: less control (once the pasta sheet is in the roller, there is no stopping it!)

first rolling pasta sheets flat 

then for a spaghetti cut

I opted for whole wheat pasta because 1. its healthier 2. we just ran out of AP flour and 3. I genuinely prefer the taste of fresh ww pasta over white. There's more of a toothiness to it.

'limone'

spaghetti al limone with fava beans

Spaghetti al Limone (lemon spaghetti) seemed like an excellent compliment to the fresh fava beans. 

poached salmon; radish & avocado toast

DH poached a nice piece of salmon and I toasted the last of Tartine loaf I'd made earlier in the week. We both adore butter and radish sandwiches but in our feeble efforts to be 'healthy', avocado slices replaced the French tradition of butter for these toasts. Strangely, the toasts were the most delicious (and easiest) part of the meal. Why is it always this way??

Bovine Bakery's raspberry marzipan tart

Dessert was tiny slices of a divine raspberry-marzipan tart DH picked up at the Bovine Bakery in Petaluma, CA.