When I was just a wee demon, some of my best memories came from the summers spent deep in the heart of the forbidden woods with my favorite Great Aunt Hagatha. Part of what made our time so special was her generosity in teaching me how to cook and how to use ingredients that many people would otherwise either overlook or discard.
For example, green toes. As a swamp dweller, Aunt Hagatha had her fair share of local ogres who would wander through her property. Due to their migratory patterns, late fall was always the best season for them and Hagatha was a pro at trapping them and harvesting their toes for her famous toe jam.
While ogres are few and far between these days due to the changing global climate, you can easily substitute their meaty delicious toes for a few green tomatoes. While it’s not as good, it’s good enough.
For this recipe, you will need:
- 2lbs green unripe tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 envelope powdered gelatin
- 1 whole lemon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
When making this recipe almost any green tomato will work as long as the green status comes from it being unripe. Don’t try tomatillos, it just doesn’t taste right.
While you can use full-sized tomatoes for this recipe, I’ve found the small cherry tomatoes are my favorite and they make the nicest jam.
Start by cutting your tomatoes up. If using cherry tomatoes, just cut them in half. If using full-sized tomatoes, dice evenly.
Move your diced tomatoes to a large pot and cover with your sugar.
Toss well to coat evenly and let sit for about 10 minutes to macerate and to help draw out the natural liquid in the tomatoes.
After 10 minutes add in your cup of cold water and again stir to combine.
Once everything is mixed in well, sprinkle the surface of your tomato, sugar, and water mixture with one envelope of powdered gelatin. Allow to bloom for another 10 minutes.
While your gelatin is blooming, zest your lemon and set the zest aside for now.
Cut your lemon in half. Juice one half of your lemon and slice the second half into rounds.
Once your gelatin is bloomed, add your lemon slices, your zest, and your lemon juice as well as your ginger and cinnamon.
Put the whole thing onto the stove and bring to a boil.
Stir until all the sugar is dissolved and then reduce to a simmer.
Allow to simmer for an hour and a half, stirring regularly. As your jam cooks, the color will deepen from a bright green to a darker, deep pond scum green. So beautiful! It will also thicken up as it cooks.
At an hour and a half, turn off the heat…your toe jam is done!
Fish out your sliced lemon pieces and transfer your jam to jars.
If you want to can your jam, feel free to, but if you decide to skip canning and just go straight to eating (I can’t blame you, that’s how I do it!) this should be just fine in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Toe jam is absolutely delicious. With a taste not unlike orange marmalade…and yet just a little different, it’s perfect on buttered bread and can also be served as an addition to any classy charcuterie board, like our very own Feast for the Beast.
Bone Appetite!
