Thursday, December 24, 2009

Hot Pepper Jelly from Taste of Home


We share this with our close friends and neighbors at Christmas each year, and it always gets rave reviews. We love the spicy contrast of this jelly the most when poured over a brick of cream cheese and served with crackers, or on a bagel or toast with cream cheese. This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe I found several years ago in a Taste of Home magazine. 

1-1/2 cups white vinegar
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into wedges
1-2 jalapeno peppers (depending on desired heat and pepper size)
6 cups sugar, divided
2 pouches (3 ounces each) liquid fruit pectin
1/2 tsp. butter (optional)

Place vinegar and peppers in a high powered blender; cover and puree.

Add 3 cups sugar; blend well. Place fine mesh strainer over saucepan, and strain while pouring into saucepan. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to move mixture into the saucepan. Discard strainer contents. 

Stir the remaining sugar into the mixture in the saucepan and bring mixture to a boil.

Stir in pectin and return to a rolling boil over high heat.

Add butter to reduce foaming. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from the heat; skim off foam.

Carefully ladle hot mixture into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims and adjust lids.

Process for 5 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Yield: approximately 5-7 half-pints.

Notes: When cutting hot peppers, disposable gloves are recommended. Avoid touching face or other sensitive areas.

The processing time listed is for altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. Add 1 minute to the processing time for each 1,000 feet of additional altitude.

What's been cooking lately

While December is traditionally a busy month, I was down at the beginning of the month due to an unexpected surgery.

While I wasn't sure if I'd get all of my Christmas cooking done, my sister showed up and helped out. Here are links to the gifts we gave this year to our neighbors and friends:

Hot Pepper Jelly and Wheat Bread
Caramels
Almond Bark
Pumpkin Bread