Friday, October 22, 2010

Habanero Gold Jelly

Can Jam Challenge #10

You guys, it’s been crazy around here. You KNOW I must be committed to this Can Jam challenge when I can barely find my shoes and definitely not my iron, but will not let you down without a recipe! We moved to this house a little less than a week ago and I did manage to keep a sharp eye out for my canners, jars, and canning paraphernalia. It was all rounded up somewhere between the garage, basement, and kitchen. Pictures will have to come later because I am just too darn exhausted to photograph any jam/jelly food porn for you today.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this month’s canning feature. Chili peppers? Really? I wanted apples, darn it! What is fall without apples! Apple Jelly, Apple Butter, Apple Pie Jam, Apple Chutney, Apple Sauce. APPLES, APPLES, APPLES! Wahhh!

Someone needs a nap, ya’ think?

But in the scope of things chili peppers do work. I’m now living somewhere that is actually cold during the month of October, so maybe a little capsaicin to heat things up is a good thing.

For this month’s challenge, there’s gold in them thar hills! Habanero Gold Jelly. I have literally sold cases of this jelly to friends, family, and admirers near and far. I’m pretty sure it’s a Ball recipe, and it’s a definite star on the Harvest Forum for sure. A few years ago, a few of my canning Jedi Masters put their beautiful heads together and scaled this recipe up to make more half pints. I think the original recipe only made 2 or 4 half pints, but this makes 6.

Big Batch Habanero Gold Jelly
Makes 6 half pints

1 cup minced dried apricots (1/8" dice)
Note: Could use dried peaches or pears instead.
1 1/4 total cups minced red sweet pepper and minced red onion (1/8" dice), approximately half-and-half.
1/4 cup Habanero peppers
Note: For extra-hot, increase Habaneros to 1/2 cup and reduce red sweet pepper/red onion combination to 1 cup total.
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 3-oz. pouch liquid pectin (I used Ball, which I've decided I like better than Certo.)

Prep apricots, peppers and onion. Place in a large, stainless or other non-reactive pot. Add sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil and cook 5 minutes. Pull off the burner; allow to cool, cover and let sit overnight. Stir occasionally if convenient.

Note: 4-6 hours would be plenty, so the time doesn't need to be any greater than the soaking time for apricots in the original recipe.

Next day, bring the mixture back to the boil. Stir in liquid pectin. Boil hard 1 minute. Pull off the heat. If necessary, skim foam. (I did need to skim a bit.) Let cool 2 minutes, stirring to distribute solids. Pour into jars. Stir to distribute and remove air bubbles. Process in a BWB 10 minutes.

When jars are sealed, "agitate" to distribute solids throughout the jelly.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

YUMMY! Im going to try this one tonight!! Will post my results.
Thanks from Wyoming!!

Just the Right Size said...

Enjoy Anon! You will LOVE this jelly...it's a staple around my house.

meg said...

This sounds great- loved the dried fruit addition!

 

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