Spiced Tomato Jam

Spiced Tomato Jam has a complex flavor from a variety of spices, chili peppers, apples, and tomatoes. It’s like a sophisticated ketchup that is amazing on almost anything.

A couple weeks ago we had some friends from college in town. The weekend consisted of some brewery tours, lots of food, s’mores at the fire pit, and talk of eating peppers. One of our friends had been gifted a couple chili peppers by a coworker. Unsure of what kind of pepper they actually were, I posted this picture on instagram.

According to instragram user spiceprinces, it’s a Black Cobra (also called Goat’s Weed) pepper, could be used like any other chili, and has a spicy/smokey flavor. My problem? I’m a huge wimp when it comes to spicy food. Although my spice tolerance is getting better, I just don’t cook with chili peppers.

Throughout the weekend, the six of us kept threatening to make a dare where someone had to bite the pepper. Lucky for me, those dares never happened, and no one had to bite any spicy peppers. So after our friends left, I set out to find a way to use these hot peppers.

I decided to make this Spiced Tomato Jam because I also had a LOT of super ripe tomatoes from our CSA box. I was intrigued by the list of ingredients in this jam. You get a little heat and smokiness from the peppers, some sweetness from the apple, and a plethora of flavors from all the spices thrown in there.

I ended up making a double batch and processed the cans of jam so that we can enjoy this stuff all year long. Although, I have to admit, I don’t think it’s going to last very long. Hubby and I went through our first jar within a week of when I made it. So far I’ve eaten it oven chicken, scrambled eggs, potatoes, and on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Two Years Ago: Freshly Squeezed Lemonade and Chocolate Biscoff Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Elote
Four Years Ago: Banana Split Cupcake
Five Years Ago: Blueberry Buckle

Spiced Tomato Jam

Spiced Tomato Jam has a complex flavor from a variety of spices, chili peppers, apples, and tomatoes. It's like a sophisticated ketchup that is amazing on almost anything.

Yield: Four 8 oz (half pint) jars

Ingredients:

3.5 lbs tomatoes, roughly chopped with seeds and skin attached
2 large apples, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 Thai chili peppers, minced (I removed the seeds from one and left the seeds in the other)
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of ground cloves
1 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients (except the balsamic vinegar) in a large pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the juices have evaporated and the tomatoes and apples have softened and the consistency is thick. This could take a few hours (I let mine simmer for most of the afternoon. It made our house smell AMAZING).

Remove from the heat and add the balsamic vinegar.

Once cooled slightly, remove the cinnamon stick and place in jars. Store in the fridge for one week or process in a water bath for 10 minutes to store it for up to a year.

Recipe adapted from The Dabble