Yellow Tomato Jam

It was 42 degrees F this morning when I rode my bike into downtown Northfield, so tomato season cannot last long. Late last week, I harvested what will probably be my last pile of tomatoes off of the Beam’s Yellow Pear bush that has been so prolific and delicious this summer. I’ve had problems with my other tomatoes, but the yellow pears have been great.

Since I had more than I thought we’d eat in the next day or two, I decided to make Yellow Tomato Jam with them. There are a bunch of recipes for this jam at various cooking sites. This one sounds good, if you like things spicy, as does this one. I modified this recipe to make my jam.

Yellow Pear Tomato Jam

• 4-6 cups pear tomatoes, cut in half with as many seeds removed as is easily possible.
• 1 lemon
• 1 orange
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 package of pectin
• Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt

Prepare the tomatoes and place in a large pot. Grate the lemon and orange zest into the pot, then remove the pith and put the flesh of the lemon and orange in the pot, add a good shake of nutmeg, cinnamon, a dash of salt and cloves. (Heavy on the nutmeg, light on the cloves.) I also added a half cup of water, too, because things were looking dry. Add the pectin, stir, and heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Dump in the sugar all at once, stir until mixed, and let it boil for 10-15 minutes. It will get thickish. Meanwhile, prepare your canning jars and lids and get a big pot of water boiling on the stove, preferably canning size. Put the jam in the jars, wipe rims, apply lids, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (If you don’t like to can, you could probably freeze the jam as well.)

This jam is like a marmalade because of the orange and lemon and the spices. Very good on toast or on a bagel with cream cheese.