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.

The Great Debate; jura vs. chablis

When you ask most people with careers in the wine industry how they got there, there is usually a specific wine that got them there. By that I mean it is usually from drinking one exceptional glass/bottle of wine that makes a person say, "I want to make wine like this" or "I want to sell wine like this", ect. This proverbial bottle can often change over the years but there's always a first.
For DH it was an '06 Auteur Manchester Ridge Pinot Noir.
For me, it was the 2010 Domaine Alain Labet, Cotes du Jura Chardonnay, Fleurs, just a few months ago. (Well, technically it was a bottle of '06 Stemmler Pino Noir drank almost 5 years ago but that has more to do with first understanding why DH had chosen the path to winemaking.)   

VIN JAUNE; oxidizing white wine

I was skeptical at first to drink a Jura wine, assuming all Jura's were 'Vin Jaune', sherry-like wine aged up to 6 years in Burgundian oak and allowed to oxidize over time. The result is an intense flavor not for the faint of heart (moi!).
But while this is the most famous wine from the region, there are some extraordinary Chardonnay producers from Jura as well.
The 'Flueurs' Cotes du Jura Chardonnay is the polar opposite of a Vin Jaune; utterly bright and crisp while still posessing a dynamic tannic profile and complexity.
We bought a cold bottle to accompany our fish sandwiches from Oakland's gem, Market Hall for an impromptu picnic a few months back. It was a nothing day which made the wine shine all the more.
One sip in and I was hooked. I declared to DH, "I want to make wine just like this." He sweetly concurred, "yes, let's." and with that we carried on with our picnic.
*     *      *
As our first foray (together) into the winemaking process is fast upon us, we revisited the Jura Chardonnay conversation more in depth yesterday.
Labet's Jura Chardonnay is made with some skin:juice contact (meaning the grape skins are in with the pressed wine grape juice during fermentation), producing the tannic complexity so distinct in the wine. 
Do note, this skin:juice contact is brief as prolonged contact during fermentation would lead to an orange wine. Most red wines go through the entire fermentation process with skin:juice contact.
While DH loved the Jura wine equally, he felt it imperative to taste it against a Chardonnay produced in a similar process (i.e. neutral oak, low alcohol, native fermentation) without skin:juice contact. 
We purchased the same 2010 Domaine Alain Labet, Cotes du Jura Chardonnay, Fleurs along with a 2011 Vendanges Chablis by Patrick Piuze. 

I whipped up a Thai mussel soup and an heirloom tomato salad to pair with these two crisp whites while we watched the first of the Presidential Debates. Two debates in one night, imagine that.

The tannic structure of the Jura definitely stood out from the Chablis but it was arguably impossible to say which one we preferred. Both wines were high acid, low alcohol so while great on their own, they both paired exceptionally well with food. We'd be happy making both wine styles!
So while we are still unsure of just what Chardonnay we will make this harvest, the debate on the table was far more interesting than the one on the screen! zing!