What to do with that great harvest of jalpeno peppers? Well, one way to use them up is to make pepper jelly/relish!
If you've never attempted to make any kind of jelly or jam due to intimidation, don't be scerred. It's really very easy.
The recipe/directions for many kinds of jams and jellies are right on the instruction sheet inside the box of Sure-Jell, including the recipe for Hot Pepper Relish.
I've got all the necessary items ready to go.
10 large jalepeno peppers
3 medium red peppers
2 medium green peppers
Also needed:
1 cup cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. butter - optional
1 package Suer-Jell
I usually don't wear a rubber glove when I'm handling jalepenos to make pico or poppers or in any other recipe, but when I'm cutting this many peppers, it's usually a good idea to "glove up"!
The colors of the chopped peppers look so pretty. Like Christmas!
Empty the chopped peppers in a large saucepan adding the 1 cup of cider vinegar and the package of Sure-Jell.
Adding the optional 1/2 tsp. butter will prevent foaming when the mixture starts to boil, and it won't affect the taste one bit.
Bring the mixture to a full boil. At this time add the sugar all at once.
Stirring constantly, bring the mixture back up to a full, rolling boil for one full minute.
After one minute, remove the pot from the heat. Wearing an oven mitt, carefully ladle the hot mixture into jars to within 1/8" of the top. Wipe any drips from the rim of the jars and place on seals and rings and screw down tightly.
At this point, you could process the jars in a water bath. That's submerging the jars in a large pot of water covering them with 1 to 2 inches of water, and bringing to a boil for at least 5 minutes - 10 minutes for jam.
I actually skip this step. I read somewhere that if you turn the jars upside down while they cool, they will seal. It's worked for me every time. Just make sure once you flip the jars upright, the dimple in the center of the seal part of the lid is pushed inward and doesn't pop up when you press on it.
Pepper Relish/Jelly has that spicy sweet combo going on.
It's especially yummy as an hors de'ouvre when drizzled over cream cheese and spread on buttery crackers.
Or, for me, makes my Thomas' Bagel Thin super yummy.
- Have you tried these? They're great! And only 100 calories for the whole bagel! -
A strawberry smoothie helps cool down that little bit of spiciness.
A few more batches of this jelly/relish, and I'll have some Christmas gifts done!
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3 comments:
Thanks for this! I LOVE pepper jelly. My daughter and I like to put some cream cheese on a cracker, drop a spoonful of pepper jelly on it and then top it off with a dill pickle chip. Addictive! I've never tried to make my own pepper jelly. I am adding it to my list.
Glad to hear you got your son all moved to Charlotte. Did you hear me honk my horn as we passed on I-95?
yum I was chowing down on my batch yesterday at my pool party. I didn't wear gloves when I made it in June and my hands/fingers burned for days. I didn't know that you don't have to water bath process. Do you have to keep them in the frig if you don't?
Hey Lisa! I've made the ungloved mistake and paid for it for days as well!
Not doing a water bath is referred to as "open kettle" canning. It's old fashioned way of canning and not always well received anymore. The water bath process part of canning helps kill any bacteria contamination that could possibly occur during the canning process especially on high acid foods like tomatoes. For instance, I canned salsa last night and did a water bath. The water bath is always a good idea, I guess. So if you feel more comfortable with that step when making your pepper jelly, definitely go for it.
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