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.

Gremolata Love and Ice Cream Trials

gremolata love.

Cooking at home is another wonderful way to celebrate free time.

Gremolata is an Italian dry condiment made up of chopped parsley, garlic, lemon rind and salt. It is typically paired with osso buco (veal shank) or braised beef short ribs.

Gremolata Components: Italian Parsley, lemon zest, raw garlic, salt, pepper

I like gremolata on just about everything. To me, it is a perfect combination of flavors and textures. Parsley provides the freshness of greens, garlic imparts its pungent warmth and the lemon zest punches with a fragrant tang. I mix Parmesan cheese into mine to add a rich, salty depth. It improves almost everything it is added to.

Additionally, it couldn't be simpler to make.

Simply clean and pluck the parsley leaves, zest an entire lemon and peel some garlic cloves. This can all be chopped by hand or take a couple pulses in a food processor. Mix Parmesan in by hand.

Pulse parsley, lemon zest, garlic and salt & pepper 

Mix in Parmesan by hand

Finished Gremolata

I tossed the gremolata with green beans and sprinkled a little on top of a Portabella Parmesan to make a nice, hearty dinner.

gremolata green beans

portabella parmesan

By the way, portabella mushrooms make a much easier (and arguably better) 'Parmesan' than eggplant Parmesan.

We decided to put in a little elbow grease for dessert. With the big upcoming camping trip at our heels, we decided it would be wise to try out the camping ice cream maker beforehand. The last two times we tried using the camping ice cream ball while camping, the ice cream never set. In an effort of full disclosure, both those times a capful of whiskey was (brilliantly) added, the alcohol of which likely threw off the freezing point of the ice cream.
In theory, making the ice cream should be as easy as 1-2-3:
1. fill the bottom basin with ice and ice cream salt

Ice filled bottom basin

2. combine the ingredients: heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract in the top basin.

heavy cream

sugar

vanilla extract

3. shake the living hell out of the ice cream ball.

Ice Cream Workout

Acrobatic DH

DH putting some muscle into it

After about a half hour of tossing, twisting and shaking we had what looked and tasted like vanilla ice cream. 

Vanilla ice cream w. Campari & Orange zest

Though I was tempted to top even this with the gremolata, I opted instead for another classic italian pairing: orange zest and Campari!
I'll admit it was not the most outstanding ice cream ever made, but by a campfire it'll be pretty near perfect!


***Editor's Note: we just got back from the camping trip and I am chagrined to report we we're having so much fun with each other we completely forgot all about the camping ice cream experiment. After all that!
C'est la vie.