Cookbooks: Little Jars, Big Flavors

July 5, 2013(updated on August 30, 2021)

Little Jars, Big Flavor

I like making small batches of preserves (you probably know this already). I appreciate their relative ease and speed, as well as the fact that they mean that I wind up with a lot of variety in my pantry (instead of 12 jars of the same thing). In fact, I like them so much that my second book is entirely devoted to tiny batch canning (it’ll be out next spring!)

basic gear spread

I also like seeing what other people are doing with small batches and so when I heard that Southern Living was putting out a book devoted to just a few jars at a time, I was excited to check it out. Called Little Jars, Big Flavors, it’s a beautifully photographed volume that contains both preserves as well as a generous handful of recipes that suggest ways to use them.

canning tips

One of the things I really like about this book (in addition to its many tasty-sounding recipes) is its tone. It delivers information in a way that is useful, clear and does not encourage the reader to be at all fearful about what they’re about to do. For instances, the troubleshooting section called “Not Ideal, But Usually Not a Big Deal.” It’s so no-nonsense and helpful. To my mind, that’s a very big part of what a canning book should be.

tomato jam with lemon verbena

There are a number of recipes I’ve marked in this book to try someday. However, there’s one that particularly leaps out at me as one I must make. It’s for a Refrigerator Tomato Jam with Lemon Verbena. I had every intention of making it before I wrote about this volume, but once again, I seem to have overestimated the amount I’d be able to get done in a week’s time. Happily, the publisher has given me permission to share the recipe anyway. If any of you try it, tell me if it’s actually as good as it sounds!

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Tomato-Ginger Refrigerator Jam with Lemon Verbena

Servings: 3 half pints

Ingredients

  • 5 lb. firm ripe tomatoes
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup fresh lime juice 4 medium
  • 1 ⁄3 cup chopped garlic 10 cloves
  • 1 ⁄3 cup minced fresh ginger
  • 1 6-inch lemon verbena sprig

Instructions

  • Wash tomatoes. Cut an X in bottom of each tomato.
  • Place tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water 30 seconds or until peel begins to separate
  • from tomato flesh. Remove with a slotted spoon. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain.
  • Peel back skin using a paring knife, and discard.
  • Place a fine wire-mesh strainer over a bowl. Cut tomatoes in half crosswise, and squeeze gently to remove seeds, holding tomatoes over strainer to collect juices to measure 1 cup.
  • Discard seeds, and trim off stem ends. Coarsely chop tomato halves to measure 6 cups.
  • Bring reserved 1 cup tomato juice, 6 cups coarsely chopped tomato, sugar, and remaining ingredients to a rolling boil in a 6-qt. stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
  • Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove and discard lemon verbena sprig.
  • Simmer, uncovered, stirring often, 1 hour or until mixture is thickened. (Keep a close eye on it near the end of the cooking, being careful not to let the bottom scorch.)
  • Spoon into clean canning jars or other heatproof, nonreactive containers with lids. Let cool 1 hour.
  • Cover and chill. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks.

Notes

This is a refrigerator jam from Southern Living's canning cookbook, Little Jars, Big Flavors. The recipe is reprinted with permission.

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7 thoughts on "Cookbooks: Little Jars, Big Flavors"

  • Made this today, with multiple substitutions. I only had 2.5 pounds of tomatoes, so everything got halved, including the cooking time. I used three 2″ pieces of lemongrass instead of lemon verbena, and left the stalks in during the entire cooking process. I left the lime juice out until the very end, in order to preserve its flavour. At the same time I stirred in the lime juice, I also stirred in the zest from my limes, plus 1 tablespoon of aged soy sauce. After checking my acidity level, I decided to water-bath can so I could save this delightful little Asian-style tomato jam for the winter months.

    Hopefully sometime this summer I can procure some lemon verbena and make it as directed!

  • looking forward to trying this. Do you have a recommendation for a substitute for lemon verbana? it’s not so easy to find here.
    thanks!

  • Hi, Marisa, This sounds delicious. It looks like it is supposed to be more than 1 cup of sugar? Or is that 1 cup even? Thanks much!

  • Great read- tell me, didn’t you have a link to free canning jar labels- printables? Would love one to go on the lids 🙂 Glad you are here to further my canning skill. Love you

    1. Laura, I do vaguely remember posting a link to printable jar labels a while back, but I honestly don’t remember when it was or where it went. So sorry!