Tomato Preserve
This is not a beginners recipe
Ingredients
- 5 lbs tomatoes
- 8 cups sugar
- 2 tbs pickling spices
- 6 thin slices ginger
- 4 pc. medium lemons sliced
Instructions
- Blanch tomatoes -2 min- plunge cold water, core, peel & quarter. In a bowl mix sugar with tomatoes and cover with plastic wrap let stand 6-12 hours in the refrigerator. (This is called macerating the tomatoes)
- Drain the liquid from tomatoes into a saucepan. Tie the pickling spices and ginger in cheesecloth .
- Bring the tomato liquid to a boil and stir until syrup forms a thread- 220 degrees F. on a candy thermometer. (This is how you know it will set)
- Add tomatoes, lemons, and spices. Reduce heat to low and cook tomato mixture until dark red and translucent.
- Skim off any foam - remove spices -with plastic utensil remove lemon slices place in bottoms of sterilized jars.
- Ladle preserves into half pint jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims and add hot lid/ring. Process the jars for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath. Do not start timing until the water has come back to a full rolling boil.