Next week all the boys leave for camp, so the girls and I will have more time for creativity than cooking. In fact, we're having a week long extravaganza of "foods Dad hates to eat!" It's one of the main reasons I look forward to camp every year...that and the dramatic decrease in my grocery bill.
Last week, my friend, Lyn, called to cut me in on a stellar deal for fresh strawberries. I ended up with four heaping berry buckets!
I froze one, set one aside to eat and the other two were turned in to jams. I did a large batch of strawberry jam, of course, and a very special batch...of Strawberry Pepper Jam.
Pepper Jams and Jellies are a special treat. I had never even heard of sweet pepper jellies until moving to the south. I put off trying them until last year. All I could envision were jams and jellies suitable for peanut butter sandwiches. I had no idea--NONE-- of what I was missing. And now, I'm totally hooked.
For this particular pepper jam, I used the hot banana peppers from my garden. The jalapenos haven't come in and I really wanted to use what I had on hand. The banana peppers give it just a touch of heat. . . Just enough to welcome you to the world of pepper jellies.
Strawberry Pepper Jam
4 cups
crushed strawberries
1 cup minced hot peppers of your choice (hot banana, jalapeno, habernero)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (2 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin (watch the size on this...many new pectin packages are smaller than 2 oz! It should be 3 T of powdered pectin, if you get the jar)
7 cups white sugar
8 half pint canning jars with lids and rings (mine made less than this, but I had a lot of foam)
1 cup minced hot peppers of your choice (hot banana, jalapeno, habernero)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (2 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin (watch the size on this...many new pectin packages are smaller than 2 oz! It should be 3 T of powdered pectin, if you get the jar)
7 cups white sugar
8 half pint canning jars with lids and rings (mine made less than this, but I had a lot of foam)
Place the strawberries, minced hot pepper, lemon juice, and pectin
into a large saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Make sure the it's a full boil that doesn't go back down when you are stirring. Stir in the sugar until dissolved, return to a boil that doesn't stop while stirring, and cook
for 1 minute.
Sterilize the
jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. You may run it through a sterlizing cycle on your dishwasher. Pack the jam
into the hot jars, filling the jars to 1/4 inch of
the top. I found a tool that measures headspace...it was $1 at Walmart in the canning section. Remove bubbles by inserting a knife along the sides. Wipe the rims of
the jars clean with a moist towel. Top with
lids, and screw on rings.
Process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Want to learn more about water bath canning? Here's a great tutorial.
Remove the
jars from the water and place onto a dishcloth surface,
several inches apart. Cool overnight. Once cool check the lids to make sure they sealed. Store in a cool, dark area.

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This jam sounds really good - love the addition of the hot peppers - sounds REALLY good!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at The Project Stash! I'll be featuring this recipe tomorrow in a special strawberry post!
ReplyDeleteMelanie
ithappensinablink.com