Bernardin (homecanning.com) has a recipe for Sun Dried Tomato Jelly that wife has made a couple of times. We don't sun dry but use the dehydrator instead and most of the tomatoes in it are fresh not dried. It is quite good if you don't mind seeds in your jelly. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Sun Dried Tomato Jelly

I made a tomato butter from the old Farm Journal Canning Book, it was very good but scorches easily, so watch it carefully.

Farm Journal Tomato Butter

5 qts. of ripe tomatoes, chopped fine
3 med. onions, chopped fine
1 pint apple cider vinegar
3 c. brown sugar
2 c.white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (make sure it's fresh)
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. allspice
1 T. salt

Combine the chopped tomatoes and onions and set aside. (If the tomatoes are watery, use a few more and drain some of the liquid.) Combine vinegar, sugars, spices, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add tomato mix and turn down heat. Simmer until the mixture is thick (like apple butter), OR heat in a 350 degree oven. Either way, stir frequently to prevent scorching and/or a crust forming on the top. When the consistency suits you, ladle the hot mixture into hot sterilized jars (I prefer pints) and process in a BWB 15 minutes for pints.

Annie

That Bernadin recipe just might be the elusive holiday condiment for me Dave! As I mentioned in my other post, I have seen really good looking romas in the stores around here (PA) for a relatively inexpensive price. And I love sundried toms too.

Seems like so many good canning stuff comes out of Canada!

All I can say is I made a tomato preserve with ginger from the Joy of Cooking preserving book. I'd recommend avoiding that one. It wasn't a recipe we enjoyed. I'd trust Annie's. Farm Journal is just about foolproof for these old recipes.

Carol

I got this recipe from Mark Bittman's column in the New York Times, and it has been a big hit. I'm hoarding my last jar for my New Years celebration as I didn't have tomatoes to can this year.

This is fabulous on sandwiches or with cheese and crackers.

* 6 lbs tomatoes
* 4 c sugar
* 8 T fresh lime juice
* 4T fresh ginger, coarsley chopped
* 3 t cumin
* 1 t cinnamon
* 1/2 t cloves
* 4 t salt
* 2 T crushed red pepper flakes

Chop tomatoes. Add to pan with remaining ingredients, cook until jam like.

Annie and Mabel, thank you for the recipes. As you know, Annie and others, I LOVE the Farm Journal Freezing and Canning cookbook -- so I bet this recipe is great.

Mabel, your recipe looks very interesting, too. I like the combination of lime, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and cloves, but I'm worried about the two Tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes. I'm such a wimp that way. One question: Are the tomatoes supposed to be peeled? I would guess so, but you don't mention that.

Tomorrow is finally the Tomato day. Then on Tuesday I'll cook up and make Pickled Beets. I purchased a "knife" that will make that cute corregated/waffle cut -- so that will be nice. I still have determined a recipe for Beet Relish yet, though.

Thanks all,
Kathy

I made Mark Bittman's recipe also, but I froze it because I wasn't comfortable with the amount of acid. The blog post (on the NY Times Bitten blog) originally said it could be canned, but that note was removed after a discussion of the acid in the comments section. It seemed like a good recipe but I decided I don't like warm spices in tomato products, plus it was a little too sweet. I just didn't know what to do with it.

The recipe as Mabel wrote it is actually 4 times the original. For me the original recipe yielded 2 half-pints plus some extra. Also, Mabel substituted cumin for coriander, and the original is less specific about how to add the heat. (I think I used 1 jalapeno, and mine was not hot at all.) Below is the recipe as it appeared on nytimes.com, to save you the math if you want a smaller batch.

Melissa

Tomato Jam

1 1/2 pounds good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeño or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste.
1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.
Yield: About 1 pint.

recipe by Mark Bittman

Here is a link that might be useful: tomato jam post on Bitten blog, with link to recipe

Thank you, too, Melissa. It was interesting to read both of your and Mabel's recipes, to look at the recipe at the NYTimes page, and to view the video that Mark Bittman had online (the link was on the NYTimes page). All have a slight difference -- and while you don't know what to do with yours, I think I'll attempt it anyhow. I'm always game for something new, and anything with tomatoes, sugar, and spices can't be all that bad! I noticed on the video that he didn't grate or mince the fresh ginger, but cut it into small chunks. I would guess they might have been the size of a square pea or the little cubes of carrots in that horrible canned "peas 'n carrots" that my mother used to warm up! Anyhow, he said he liked the bite of the little chunks.

I'll share with you and others what I thought of it ... once it's made.

Thank you, all, for your help.

Kathy

It would make awesome sauce for stir fry. I use ketchup mixed with soy sauce, ginger, hot pepper flakes and sesame oil. You could just add the soy sauce and sesame oil to this straight up and it would be great with rice, mixed veggies, tofu or whatever you like to stir fry. Add heat to taste. You could even mix it with a dab of peanut butter if you're really adventurous. Serve that as a sauce over asian pasta.