Hey, Mark Bittman! I've out-minimalized The Minimalist!

Regular followers know I love the cooking panache of Mark Bittman, whose minimalist nomen and style mirror my own. (HE just happens to be famous.)

Last week his regular column in the New York Times featured a ginger jam that required peeling and chopping a pound -- a POUND -- of ginger. Do you know how long that would take? Oh my!

I substituted a bottle of a favorite product, a ginger paste. It's like the bottles of chopped garlic found in grocery stores except that it's ginger. And it worked like a dream!

This jam packs heat, that's for sure and thus won't be for everyone. Next time I might leave out the chili entirely.

The heat was completely metered, however, in lunch's tomato sandwich: good bread with a smear of ricotta, then a smear of the jam on both pieces of bread with leafy lettuce tucked in with the tomatoes. I gotta admit: it was something.

Mark's column suggests serving the jam with grilled pork or chicken. And something tells me this would be fabulous turned into ice cream. I was tempted to try that yet this afternoon ... and may yet.

Note to Family: If you have a hankering for "Sharon's Pickle", this is similar though a lot less work.

[8/13 Taste Report: The heat moderated overnight, I suspect it'll dissipate over time. And it was delicious on a nutty toasted bread for breakfast. It would be fabulous with hot biscuits or scones, bran muffins, as a thin layer with pound cake, any time you might use marmalade.]

TOMATO GINGER JAM
Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Start-to-finish: about 1 hour (even though this batch took 2 hours ... keep reading)
Makes 1 1/2 cups


1 1/2 cups water
7.5 ounces ginger paste (or if you use fresh ginger, the recipe says you'll get 1 1/2 cups from a pound)
5 teaspoons garlic (from a jar! you might as well, the way you are!)
3/4 cup sugar (I used a blend of white and brown)
1 pound tomatoes, chopped (Mark says to seed, I didn't)
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 dried hot chili (next time I'll definitely skip the chili or maybe take it out after a few minutes)

Mix all the ingredients in a large saucepan over medium high. Bring to a boil and let boil, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes or until the mixture has cooked down and thickened considerably. (The recipe said to "simmer for 30 - 45 minutes". This wasn't enough heat to cook down the mixture. I ended up letting it boil at a good clip, that is with bubbles across the entire surface, for a full 45 minutes AFTER it'd simmered for 50 minutes. It's possible that the ginger paste has more liquid than what you'd chop yourself.) Cool and refrigerate.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon: 81 Cal (6% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 81% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 1 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 19 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; 23 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 446 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 1 point


SOURCE
Mark Bittman, The New York Times, August 3, 2005