….spicy tomato-ginger jam 

I forget where I first tasted tomato jam, but I can tell you that I instantly fell in love with it!
I’ve been searching for a recipe for a few years, and the few times I attempted to make it, it did not come out well🙁
I’ve been doing a lot of research ove the last few weeks, giving that I have SO many tomatoes! (You can see just how tall my tomatoes a in my previous post) 

I played around with a recipe yesterday and I have a winner!  I based it on This recipe, but made a few changes.
 I didn’t take too many photos because honestly, I wasn’t too optimistic after my previous failed attempts. 
It’s not a quick recipe.. but it is super easy.  
And the flavors..
Oh.

My.

Goodness!

spicy tomato-ginger jam 

4 pounds tomatoes, cored and peeled ( for details on how to do this see This post)

3 cups sugar 

1/2 cup lemon juice 

1 jalapeño, halved and seeded

3 pieces of crystallized ginger 

2 cloves

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 

1 tsp cinnamon 

Sea salt

Ground pepper 


Place all ingredients in food processor of high-speed blender and pulse until chopped up to the point just before puréed 


Add mixture to heavy non-reactive pan.  Bring to a boil and the reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. 


It’s starts out pretty soupy, but slowly thickens. It took my batch close to 5 hours! 



As it gets close to the end, it will start getting glossy looking and thick.  You have to stir more often as it gets close to being done.  Essentially, you’ve condensed the sugars and don’t want it to burn. 



You can store it in a jar in the fridge, or you can process it, like I did 

It’s amazeballs on crackers with cream cheese… ( these are my favorite crackers, btw… they are amped right here in Denver, they are super thin, tasty and figure-friendly!) 

It would be incredible on bruschetta with a thin later of ricotta.. and maybe some prosciutto on top.. 

And it’s a good thing that I don’t have bread right now, because this would make a most excellent grilled cheese with white cheddar cheese 😍
Maybe I’ll treat myself later this week…
The jam has what I’d call a ‘sweet heat’. Think jalapeño pepper jelly ( which I made and processed last week) 
It’s elegant enough to have on a special occasion/ holiday.
I’m going to make another batch and process from holiday gifts.  I think it’s that good! 
On another note… I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but I’d like to introduce you to our newest family member 

Meet my Jersey Girl 🐾😍❤️️

oh no she didn’t!

Oh YES she did!

 

So here’s a shocker.. I don’t really like potatoes. I mean I don’t dislike them or anything, but they can be kind of boring.. not  at all exciting as say.. maybe

Cheese?

If I’m going to eat calories, I want them to be for something that I love, not just like.

SO when I was catching up on some blog reading & I saw a picture of Angela making home made potato chips.. I sais to myself, “self.. you should try that” so I did.

I started by washing the potatoes, then slicing them about 1/4 inch thick. I tossed them with some Evoo, salt & pepper & placed them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet

(makes for real easy clean-up 😉

 

I roasted them at 375 for about 20 minutes, carefully turning them 1/2 way through.

I served them alongside a garlic mayo that I made by just stirring some crushed garlic into a small bowl of mayo.. 

friends, this was an easy recipe and inexpensive and so darn good.  Even for this potato non-lover.

Here’s where I got a little crazy.  I made way too many chips, so we had leftovers. I put them in a small paper lunch bag ( the paper helped absorb the excess oil).

 

So Sunday afternoon, I was trying to decide what to do with them (I hate to throw food away) and it hit me..

Potato Chip NACHOS!!   seriously..it just made so much sense

so I placed the chips on the cookie sheet & placed them in a 375 oven for about 5 minutes to warm them, then topped with cheddar cheese, onions,& jalepeno

 

I placed them under the broiler for a few minutes..

served with  FF Greek yogurt & cilantro.

 

OMG!

I finally think I have a potato recipe that I love 😉

smooches!

%d bloggers like this: