Bless Her Heart

Another refrigerator staple in many Southern homes is tomato jam.

Tomato jam, like pepper jally, is great to have in the fridge for those days that you wanna go home and fix an easy snack and veg out in front of Netflix all evening.

Split a brick of cream cheese in half. Pour pepper jelly over one half…tomato jam over the other.

And call that dinner, right(?!)….

Tomatoes: Roma or plum tomatoes work well, although you can also use cherry or even green tomatoes.

Bacon: Add chopped, cooked bacon before simmering the tomato mixture. (We are Southerners, after all…or at least learning to eat like one)

• 1½# tomatoes – peeled, cored and diced

• 5oz tomato paste
• 2Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion diced (optional)
• 2 minced cloves garlic (optional)

• 2Tbsp fresh lemon, lime or orange juice
• ¼tsp cinnamon

• ¼tsp cloves

• 1tsp cumin

• ¼tsp nutmeg
• 1tsp smoked paprika

• 1C sugar (brown, white or a combination of the two)
• ½C vinegar
• 1½tsp salt

—Prep the water: Bring a large pot of water to a boil in a large Dutch oven over high heat.

—Prep the tomatoes: Peel the tomatoes over a medium saucepan. Let the tomato dripping fall into the saucepan while you are peeling them. Core and chop tomatoes. Place in Dutch oven.

—Blanch the tomatoes: Blanching the tomatoes will make them easier to peel. To do this, first drop the tomatoes into the boiling water. Then let the tomatoes boil for 1min. Finally, drop the tomatoes into ice water to stop the cooking process.

Cook the onion, if using: Heat 2Tbsp olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium-high heat, Saute the diced onion 5min, until the onion has softened and browned. Add 2 minced cloves of garlic. Cook for 2min.

Finish making the jam: Add everything, except the tomato paste, to the Dutch oven. Add only half of the tomato paste and the lemon juice for now. You can always add more later, but you cannot take it out.

—Bring to a boil: Bring to a low boil over medium heat

—Simmer: Reduce heat to low, Simmer 90min, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees.

—Puree: Remove and discard cloves. Use a potato masher, an immersion blender or a stand blender to mash the mixture to desired consistency.

—Make any adjustments: Add additional tomato paste if the tomato jam is too thin,

—To serve: Cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate overnight before using. A few ideas for using tomato jam:

• Alongside beef, chicken, fish or pork

• On a charcuterie board

• On toast
• Over cream cheese

• To top sandwiches – particularly grilled cheese and hamburgers – and tacos
• With cheese and crackers

—To store: Refrigerate for up to one month. Pour into jars or can appropriately for longer storage.