Wednesday, June 8, 2011

5 Jalapeno Jelly

My friends, Kelli and Marcus, have a pretty amazing vegetable garden. So when they had an abundance of jalapenos. . . Kelli and I decided to tackle Jalapeno Jelly! I had never made jelly, jam, or anything of the sort, so I was SO thankful that Kelli was there to guide me and to be my partner in crime if it turned into a messy disaster (which it almost did) . . . 
but luckily, the jalapeno jelly turned out perfectly and got an overwhelming thumbs up by everyone! :-)
First, wash the jalapenos and remove the seeds and stems. . . (you might want to wear gloves for this part. . . I think Kelli's thumb nail is still burning from jalapeno juice getting under it!)
Beautiful!
Then puree the jalapenos and vinegar in a food processor . . .
Add the contents of the food processor, more vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil . . .and here is where we almost lit the house on fire. . . either use a HUGE pot OR keep an eye on it because IT WILL BOIL OVER. . . (lesson learned the hard way. . . oh yes. . . and sugar catches on fire. . . awesome. . . ) This was one of the many times that I decided making jelly is a two person job. . .
And this was the stove "mid-massive cleanup" . . . 
 and here it is after some magical elbow grease. . .
Back to the jalapeno jelly. . . it will start to turn kind of an unusual color . . . but never fear. . .
Green food coloring saves the day!
Pour the liquid into the mason jars. . . 
and put jars in a pot of boiling water but make sure the jars don't touch the bottom of the pot. . .since we did not have the handy dandy Ball's "canning equipment" we had to improvise . . .
Kelli told me about how if jelly isn't canned correctly you can get the bubonic plague. . . (or botulism to be more exact. . . which is like making bad moonshine during prohibition. . . e.i. paralysis) So just to let you know, our jelly was canned PERFECTLY! (all you have to do is follow the directions! :-)
Remove the jars from the water and let cool! :-)
Serve over cream cheese or on Kate's Cheese Ball
I waited until Nate was eating the AMAZING HOMEMADE jalapeno jelly to let him know that I NEEDED the whole KIT of Ball's canning equipment. . . to which he rolled his eyes. . . but, I think I caught him at a weak moment. . . so, hopefully that is coming in my future. . .:-)  
Making the jelly wasn't that difficult and with the proper equipment and the know how, I could probably make this again on my own. But making it with a friend is always more fun! ;-) 
Jalapeno Jelly
3/4 pound jalapeno peppers 
2 cups cider vinegar, divided
6 cups sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin
Green food coloring (says optional in the recipe but I beg to differ. . . I think it is a NECESSITY

Wash peppers, drain. Remove stems & seeds. Puree peppers and 1 cup vinegar in a food processor or blender. Combine puree, 1 cup vinegar and sugar in a large saucepot. (I would start boiling the extra pot of water now so that it is ready when you have filled your jars with the jelly.) Bring to boil; boil 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a roling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Stir in a few drop of food coloring, if desired. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars (we soaked them in hot water before adding the jelly to them), leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner. (just stick them in a pot of boiling water (but don't let the jars touch the bottom of the pot). After you remove them from the water, the lids should "pop" down sealing the jelly correctly.) (It was also recommended not to double this recipe but to make the whole thing more than once if you would like more than 4 or 5 jars of jelly.)
Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
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5 comments:

  1. I have been anxiously awaiting this recipe! I'm gonna need to muster up some courage to give it a go.

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  2. YUM! this recipe just gave me goosebumps- is that weird? ha. my parents have a ton of jalapenos in their garden and this is DEF making it on the "canning recipes to try" list! :)

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  3. I love your cute logo stickers! -Emily Dalton

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  4. wow! I am impressed. I am too scared to tackle "canning" or making jellies... but maybe I should?

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  5. I just made grape jelly this week and would love to give this recipe a try too. I love your labels- did you make them yourself or buy them somewhere online?

    ReplyDelete

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