jalapeno jelly inspired by GOT14U

the recipe is pretty easy and very close to what GOT14U did. one important thing i learned: MAKE ONE BATCH AT A TIME. do not combine two batches into one big one or you will have jelling problems, according to my mother.

OK, here's what i used for EACH batch:

• 25 fresh jalapeno halves
• 1 box of powdered pectin (if you use liquid, the procedure is different)
• 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 10 drops of green food coloring
• 5 cups of white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. of butter

and here's what i did:

i took 25 jalapeno halves; they were pretty-well seeded and de-veinved, but i did leave a few random seeds here and there. i ran them through the food processor until they were pretty finely-chopped, then added a few more whole seeds ~ didn't want TOO many, but i did want enough to be there randomly, know what i mean?

i then put them in a cooking pot with one cup of cider vinegar and gradually stirred on the box of powdered pectin and 10 drops of green food coloring. i then heated on high until i got a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. 

i then added the sugar all at once and kept stirring constantly until it came to a boil. when you first add the sugar it will be thick and grainy and you are going to think, "what the heck? this is too much!" - but it isn't.

when the sugar got to boiling again, i kept stirring and suddenly it was like it all "came loose" and i got a good, hard boil with foam starting to form. i tossed in the 1/2 teaspoon of butter to kill the foam and stirred constantly for one minute, then removed from the heat.

i then ladeled the stuff into jars (yield seemd to be about four-and-a-half (half-pint-sized) jars per batch) up to 1/4 or 1/8-inch of the rim. i wiped the tops of the jars with a clean, wrung-out wet cloth so nothing would interfere with the seal and screwed on the bands (should have wiped the threads of the bands, too - a little spilled ~ i need to get one of those wide-bottomed funnels!). finally, i gave them a boiling water bath for 10 minutes plus adjustments for my altitude (5 minutes) for a total of 15 minutes and set the jars out in a draft-free area to dry, cool and set. had about half a cup left over and tasted it immediately with some tostito chips - it was great!

here are a couple of pix that will hopefully show the ingredients and the color:

thanks for looking and many thanks to GOT1 for this idea ~

i think that would be a good use for it. i know a few of the folks i gave ot to said it went really well on ham and other pork. one fellow said it made a good glaze for barbecued pork shoulder. heck, i think it's just fine on tortilla chips (aztecs) as well, or trictuits with just a little cream cheese or sour cream.

Edited by TasunkaWitko - 10 February 2010 at 11:55