Tomato Pineapple Preserves

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups sugar

Preparation

Dip the tomatoes into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Let them cool and slip off their skins. Cut them into wedges and put the wedges into a bowl. Add the sugar and gently mix. Cover the bowl and let stand for 6 to 12 hours, gently turning the tomatoes once or twice in the meantime.

Peel and core the pineapple and chop it coarsely, reserving all the juice. Weigh the chopped pineapple, you should have 3/4 pound.

Strain the syrup from the tomatoes into a nonreactive pot. Add an sugar from the bottom of the bowl and any juice from chopping the pineapple. Put the ginger slices into a spice bag and add it to the pot.

Stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Raise the heat to high and boil the syrup until it reaches the thread stage or 230 degrees. Add the tomato wedges and chopped pineapple. Reduce the heat and barely simmer the mixture until the tomato wedges are partially translucent, at least 30 minutes. Skim off an foam.

Press the spice bag against the side of the pot, and remove the bag. Ladle the preserves into pint or half-pint jars. Add lids and process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.