Tomato Jam – So Good You Won’t Believe It

If you have never tried Tomato Jam, you are in for a treat.

I have been reading about this jam and when I saw the recipe in the New York Times, I knew I had to make it. I didn’t like their recipe – too many conflicting spices. I tried several iterations and now I think I have the perfect recipe based on the Times recipe. 

If you make this, it is mandatory that you use ripe, fresh, preferably home-grown tomatoes. I used several kinds of tomatoes; I even added a few golden cherry tomatoes to my jam. It does have a bite – if you don’t like spicy things reduce the amount of ginger and cracked red pepper. I like the bite!

It is so tasty on crusty bread or crackers with goat cheese, cream cheese, brie, or any mild cheese. Spread it on sandwiches or burgers for an extra layer of flavor. Tomato Jam gives a zesty bite to scrambled eggs.

There is a very nice restaurant in “Little” Washington called the Mulberry Brewery. They serve tomato jam on their burgers. Try it!

If you decide to make this recipe when tomatoes are not in season, I think the Flavor Bombs or Sweet Pops grape tomatoes will work fine.

(Adapted from a recipe from the New York Times & Lucy Baker of Serious Eats)

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Tomato Jam - The Best Ever

The Ultimate Tomato Jam: Sweet, Savory, and Everything In Between

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Keyword Tomato Jam

Prep Time 1 day day

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Servings 16

Calories 119kcal

Author Chloe Tuttle

Equipment

• 4 half pint canning jars, lids, and rings optional
• 1 Large stainless steel cooking pot
• 1 Hot water bath Canner
• canning tongs for removing hot jars Optional

Ingredients

• 3 -3½ pounds tomatoes* chopped and preferably home-grown - you will need 4 cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups sugar
• ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
• ¾ Tablespoon ginger grated
• 1½ teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon ground
• ¼ teaspoon cumin ground

Instructions

• This jam condenses a lot as it is cooks and it isn't necessary to add pectin. You can store this jam in the refrigerator for several weeks without having to run through the hot water process. If you plan to keep for some time, then you should run through the hot water process.
• If you have access, meaty tomatoes like Roma are best for this recipe. I used 4 kinds of tomatoes, even using grape tomatoes. You will need 4 cups total of chopped tomatoes. If your tomatoes do not have a large core, especially if you use Roma tomatoes, you will not use all of the 3 pounds of tomatoes.
• Wash tomatoes and remove the stems, cores and blemishes. It is up to you whether you blanch the tomatoes. I have made both ways. If you plan to blanche the tomatoes, now is the time.
• Chop the tomatoes - you will need 4 cups chopped tomatoes. Combine the chopped tomatoes, 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 3/4 T grated ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon cumin in a large, heavy pot.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat, while stirring.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring often and cook until mixture has a jam-like consistency. Cooking time is affected by the type of tomatoes used. If you have juicy tomatoes, this will take longer.
• Ladle into jars and process in a hot water bath if you plan to keep for an extended time. Otherwise, ladle into jars and store in the refrigerator.
• Hot water bath canning instructions are in the last part of post about Sweet Pickle Relish that explains Hot Water Bath: How to Do Hot Water Bath: https://chloesblog.bigmill.com/sweet-pickle-relish-recipe-southern-style
• * Note: If you make this jam when you cannot find home-grown tomatoes, I suggest making it with grape tomatoes. The brand Sweet Pops is really good and you can buy them in a 1 1/2-pound package. You will only need a total of 3 pounds, maybe fewer, because there is no waste. Do cut the tomatoes in half. I might even try this recipe with canned tomatoes.

Notes

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.05g | Sodium: 156mg | Potassium: 281mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 1020IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.4mg

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast Extended Stay 

Quiet rentals for traveling nurses & professionals in eastern North Carolina 252-792-8787

Looking for extended stay lodging in Eastern North Carolina? Big Mill Extended Stay offers quiet, fully furnished rentals ideal for traveling nurses, medical professionals, contractors, and guests relocating to the area. Our accommodations provide comfort, privacy, and Southern hospitality, perfect for short-term and long-term stays. We also have three RV rental spaces.

Chloe’s Plum Jelly is the Best

Growing up, we had a beautiful red plum tree.  And Plum Jelly is my absolute favorite jelly. Experience the essence of juicy, tangy plums captured in every jar of this  pretty plum jelly.

This Plum Jelly is absolutely the best of ALL the jellies. It has a sweet-tart taste that can’t be faked. Try to get ripe plums – there are many varieties. I like the red plums because that is what we had. This jelly recipe is a keeper.

Chloe’s Luscious Plum Jelly is the BEST

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Plum Jelly

Sweet, tart jelly from red plums is the best ever.

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Condiments

Cuisine American

Keyword Red Plum Jelly

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 8 half-pints

Calories 529kcal

Author Chloe Tuttle

Equipment

• 1 Canner pot

Ingredients

• 8 lbs ripe plums (you will need 4 Cups of plum juice)
• 5 ½ cups sugar
• 3 ounces liquid Certo (1 pouch)
• 8-10 half-pint canning jars
• cheesecloth

Instructions

• Wash plums and put whole plums in a large stainless steel cooking pot. Mash the plums with a spatula or potato masher to extract some of the juice. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often.

  Line a large colander with cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Pour plum mixture into the colander and set aside to cool. After it has cooled, put in refrigerator overnight. DO NOT squeeze or mash the plums, just allow to drip. Hopefully, you will have 4 cups of plum juice.

  Add 5 ½ cups sugar and the 4 cups plum juice to a pot and cook over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

  After mixture is boiling, raise heat and bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.

  Add Certo and bring heat back up to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.  Stir and cook the jelly for 1 minute…. or a bit longer if you want.

  Put into sterilized jars and put on lids and rings. Process in hot water bath for 5 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 2Tablespoons | Calories: 529kcal | Carbohydrates: 137g | Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 3mg | Sugar: 137g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.1mg

A fun thing to do with edible flowers is to freeze them in ice cube trays for drinks and punch. You can use these in any season. Here is how to do it – it’s easy as 1-2-3!

HOW TO MAKE EDIBLE FLOWER ICE CUBES:

• Pesticide-free edible flowers like pansies, violas, begonias, nasturtiums
• Large silicone ice cube tray with sections that are 2″ in size
• Distilled water — enough to fill an ice tray

Boil the distilled water and chill it. This removes impurities that might cloud the ice water. Using clean and pesticide-free flowers, place one in each cube slot, pretty flower side down.

Fill tray about 1/4″ full of water and freeze. Add another flower, pretty side up, and and fill each slot with water until full. Freeze.

You can, of course, add more than two flowers if they are small.

Keep frozen until you are ready to use them. The flowers might impart a faint flavor to the beverage. There are many fun things to do with Edible Flowers.

You can purchase these edible flowers from upscale grocery stores or order them online.

Chrysanthemum, pansy, viola, Johnny Jump-Ups are the easiest fall edible flowers to find and to grow. The Violas actually taste good – not so with the pansies. Chrysanthemum petals are good, but not the base of the petal. Chrysanthemums are best to line or accent food. We grow many edible flowers here on the farm at Big Mill.

…or you can just use these pretty flowers to garnish that plain almond vanilla ice cream.

I try to serve an edible flower to all my guests here at Big Mill B&B. My philosophy is simple — Dining should be fun!

Be creative – your guests will love it!

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast  Williamston, NC. 252-792-8787

Chloe’s Rain Gutter Garden in July

Basically the Rain Gutter Grow System is a self-watering container gardening system “on steroids.”  Plants grow in pots or bags in either a gutter or pipe or even a kiddie pool. 

My garden this year is phenomenal – there were ripe tomatoes in EARLY June, a full month ahead of time. I used Miracle Grow potting soil for my tomatoes; for the other plants I mixed my own potting soil. The fun part is that I do not have to water the plants…it is automatic. There are no weeds to pull. Oh, my goodness, this is wonderful.

This growing system was started by an old Hippie, well, maybe not, but I assume he is. He makes you listen to a song about the northern lights before  the “how-to” video starts. My mind went to Crosby, Stills and Nash and their “Southern Cross” and my sailing days.

Larry Hall is his name and he has started a gardening revolution. Larry has a huge following on Facebook and folks all over the world are doing the “RGGS,” as they call it. He was tired of coming home from work to a bunch of weeds in his garden. I agree.

Larry usually uses an open gutter for his watering system. A friend, Don, helped me install my system and he suggested I use a new 5-inch sewer pipe (made in USA) instead of the open gutter. It works great. I chose to plant in 5-gallon buckets, but you can use grow bags to hold the growing mix.

The idea is that there is a hole in the bottom of the bucket with a net cup (strainer) that fits through the hole and sticks into the “gutter” to wick up the water from the gutter or pipe. You drill a 3-inch hole in the pipe where the bucket sits. If you use the gutter instead of the the pipe, this step isn’t necessary. Don did the engineering part — I did the gardening part.

Don Drilling the 3-inch Hole in the Buckets

A water pipe is inserted into the end of the sewer pipe and there is a float (rather like in a toilet) that will turn on and off the water supply as needed. See my video below.

This is the first video of Larry’s that I watched and it is my favorite. Get comfortable and listen. After you watch this, tell me that you don’t think he is one of “us.” He gives a link in the description where you can find more information and tips.

By the way – I think I have the most photographed garden in eastern North Carolina. My guests love it, but none of them have seen it before.

This gardening system is a science and Larry has it figured out. Thanks, Larry!

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, Williamston, NC 252-792-8787

Fresh Basil from Chloe’s Cook’s Garden

Pesto will keep a long time in the freezer. It can be frozen in ice cube trays — handy if you only need a small amount of pesto.

Basil is also easily rooted if you want to try to keep a pot inside over the winter. I just put a stem in a glass of water, then plant in soil once it shows roots.

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Pesto Genovese

Growing basil is easy, and pesto Genovese is a great way to preserve it and enjoy it year round.

Course Condiments

Cuisine Italian

Keyword pesto Genovese, pesto Genovese recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 174kcal

Author Chloe Tuttle

Ingredients

• 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
• 2 large cloves garlic minced or mashed
• 1/2 cup olive oil good quality
• 2/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, freshly grated is best if using pre-grated, grind in a food processor before adding to pesto
• Handful of grape tomatoes optional

Instructions

• Wash and dry the basil leaves. Peel the garlic and mash it. Put basil, garlic and oil in blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add nuts and mix.
• Remove from blender and mix in cheese. I like to blend some of the cheese in with the basil mixture
• Serving Suggestions : Serve on noodles with diced grape tomatoes as garnish. It is also very good in salad dressings or on crusty bread.

Notes

* You can use fresh spinach leaves instead of basil leaves

Yield 1 1/2 cups

** You can use walnuts or pecans instead of pine nuts

This Pesto Recipe is adapted from Craig Claiborne’s Pesto Genovese in his New York Times International Cookbook.

Nutrition

Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 255mg | Potassium: 101mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 300IU | Vitamin C: 0.9mg | Calcium: 194mg | Iron: 0.9mg

Hover over photo to PIN FOR LATER

Write to me and let me know if  you have any great uses for Pesto.

Recipe from Innkeeper Chloe at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast in Williamston, NC 252-792-8787

Edible Flowers are all around you

I grabbed my Edible Flower book and wandered around the yard, tasting. I eat whatever is in the yard that I KNOW is edible, including  pecans, blackberries, mulberries, blueberries, tomatoes, wild cherries, figs and cucumbers.

Now I have added Edible Flowers to my “Okay to eat” list. I don’t use these flowers as a main course – they are too pretty blooming in the yard! I pick them as garnish and they add a special pop to any dish.

Freeze Edible Flowers in ice cube trays to give your beverage special pizzazz

Some edible flowers are tastier than others. As I was walking around Big Mill B&B, I found that I have many edible flowers already growing here. So far, my favorites to eat are chive flowers and nasturtium flowers. The Nasturtiums are in the watercress family and have a peppery taste; they are great in salads.

I also serve pansies, Johnny-Jump-Ups and even Spiderwort. They really aren’t so tasty, but they are pretty and my guests love the presentation!

Pansies perk up any salad

Before you go snacking in the gardens and fields be sure to find out which plants are safe. Good sites to test this are the “edu” sites. Just type into a search engine edible flowers site:edu. This will give you search results from academic and research-based sources. Also, do not eat flowers directly from the nursery or near roads. These might have been sprayed with toxins.

Many of our favorite flowers are edible

If you don’t have any edible flowers, don’t fear – you can BUY edible flowers from Amazon.com.

I grow every flower in these photos, even the Elderberry, which grows in the ditch here on the farm.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make sure you know what you are eating and eat in moderation. Many flowers can make you sick and some can be lethal. 

Hover over Photo to PIN FOR LATER

To try all these wonderful Edible Flowers come see us at Big Mill B&B  or give us a call 252-792-8787.