Hot Pepper Jelly

Is your garden bursting with vegetables and fruits this summer? I hope so! My gardening space consists of a few small containers on the back deck.  There are a few herbs, a tomato plant and a hot pepper plant. Some plants I grew from seeds but this hot pepper plant was already on its way to success when I purchased it. For me, it is an accomplishment to keep ANY plant alive; it’s simply a skill I don’t seem to possess…but I keep trying!  Hot pepper jelly is an ideal way to use your garden’s bounty of hot peppers. Or you could easily buy some jalapenos at the grocery store—either way this recipe is an easy way to make a special hot pepper jelly.

I turned to my favorite Williams-Sonoma recipe book for jams and jellies, The Art of Preserving by Rick Field , Lisa Atwood, and Rebecca Courchesne.  Their recipe for hot-pepper jelly includes three red jalapenos and three green jalapenos as the source of spice for the jelly. I tasted my chiles then came up with a combination of peppers which I added to the remaining ingredients of onion, cider vinegar, sugar and liquid pectin. The result was a colorful pepper jelly packed with heat, a jelly I will happily share and serve.

Ingredients:
2 green jalapeno peppers
10 red fresno chiles (mine were quite small)
1 red bell pepper
1/2 sweet onion
3/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 packet of liquid pectin

Process all of the ingredients except the pectin in a food processor until the peppers and onions are finely chopped. Pour the mixture into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook while stirring for 1-2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the pectin. Return the pan to the heat and boil for exactly one minute. After you remove the pan from the heat this final time, allow the jelly to sit for five minutes.

Fill the jars leaving 1/4 inch space at the rim and process with a boiling-water bath if desired. You may eat this jelly so quickly that you won’t need to preserve it with the boiling-water bath. I put mine in the refrigerator and have been finding lots of reasons to use it. I hope to share some recipes with you here in the coming weeks.

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http://www.livelaughrowe.com/
http://www.positivelysplendid.com/
http://www.houseofhepworths.com/
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/
http://alderberryhill.blogspot.com/
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/08/27/made-by-you-monday-116/