Tomato jam is recommended for the Savoury French Toast recipe, but it goes with so many other things. Finding a tomato jam recipe is challenging, however. While many of them exist and are readily available on the Internet, it is difficult to tell which to use.

Some tomato jams are obviously jam with plenty of sugar and other spices. Other tomato jams are saucier and flavored with Italian herbs and spices. After much searching through English-language cooking websites, I turned to Google.fr to search for tomato jam that is truly in the French style. After viewing several recipes, I determined that a recipe from RecettesdeCuisine.tv was a good representation. The following delicious recipe is an adaptation of the Recettes de Cuisine recipe.

French Tomato Jam Ingredients

• 4.4 pounds tomatoes (16 medium tomatoes were used to test this recipe);
• 4 1/3 cups sugar;
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice;
• 3/4 cup apple juice.

I used a juicer to extract the juice from two apples which, at first, was not enough. I ran the pulp through a second time to extract more juice that gave me the perfect amount of 10 oz (the French recipe calls for 20 cl).

Be sure to use a pan that holds more than three quarts to allow room for boiling and stirring.

Making the Tomato Jam

1. Peel and core the tomatoes (see “How to Remove Tomato Skins“), and then dice them.
2. Dissolve the sugar in 1 1/4 cups water over medium heat. The sugar will not completely dissolve. Occasionally stir.
3. Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and apple juice. Stir.
4. Add the tomatoes.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the temperature, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
6. Uncover and gently boil the mixture for about two hours over low heat. Stir occasionally for the first 90 minutes. Stir frequently for the last 30 minutes to keep the jam from burning.

The volume of the jam will reduce by half. It will darken in color and the tomato chunks will shrink. The jam is finished if it is syrupy when a little is placed on a cold plate.

Cool the jam and use on bread, hamburgers, eggs, or anything else! This French tomato jam goes well with the following:

• Savoury French Toast
• Zucchini Bread