six pepper jelly

After I graduated college, I had 6 months off to do whatever I wanted to do. So I took my extremely expensive Duke degree and went to work as a server in a gourmet market/restaurant named Foster's. One of the things that they had for sale there was a seven pepper jelly, which was so wonderful. It was good as a spread over cream cheese, it was good as a marinade on chicken, or even on sandwiches. I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to take some of our garden produce and make a six pepper jelly. It wasn't seven because I ran out of ideas for different kinds of peppers.

Recipe:
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
a handful of jalapeno peppers
4 or 5 banana peppers
paprika
crushed red pepper flakes
6 cups of sugar
1 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1-2 packets liquid pectin.
Jars for canning (will make 6 half pints with a little left over for immediate eating)

How to make:
1)slice all peppers(except for those in dried form). remove seeds unless you want some spice (In retrospect I would have left more seeds in).
2)Place all the peppers in a food processor, reserving 1/2 of red bell pepper. Pulse into a pulp.
3)place pepper pulp into pot (hee hee)and add vinegar, water, and sugar.
4)slice up reserved red bell pepper half into a fine dice, and put into pot (this just makes it a prettier jelly).
5)add dried peppers to pot, bring mixture to a boil, and let boil for about 6-8 minutes.
6)add certo and let boil for another 1-2 minutes. one packet of certo will make for a less firm jelly (if you want to pour it over something), two packets will make it a more firm jelly.
7)put into sterilized jars and boil the jars in hot water to seal them.


I think next time I may add some cayenne to give the jelly a little more kick (And to make it a seven pepper jelly!)

The last step is to have an extremely patient and giving husband who will clean up after you when you make a mess and the kitchen is all sticky because lately, I have just enough energy to make a mess, and not nearly enough to clean my own up. But I do make him home-made jellies so I guess it's a fair trade!