Oh my....that looks delectable.
It tastes as good as it looks! I have relatives who beg for it every year. A relative shared it over a cream cheese block at a meeting and four ladies came to her, wanting to know where she got it. They wanted to buy it and/or they wanted me to travel to their location & teach them to make it! My brother uses it for a glaze on roasted/grilled salmon & loves it (he’s on the list to receive a few jars at Christmas). It would also be a good glaze on chicken or pork & of course, as an appetizer over cream cheese or even plain on crackers. I love it on buttered English Muffins. It’s got a bit of heat to it, but you won’t be running for something cold to drink.
This is a common recipe - in the Ball ‘Blue Book’. Here’s a link online:
https://ballhomecanning.com/recipes/jalapeno-jelly/
The recipe calls for using 2 3-oz pouches of Ball® RealFruit™ Liquid Pectin. This is expensive!! There is a way you can use much cheaper dry pectin (I use 1 box of original Sure-Jell premium fruit pectin). There is another jelly recipe I make (Blackberry Merlot) that calls for liquid pectin & I’ve converted that one to “dry” pectin as well - works like a charm.
The recipe ingredients are the same, but here is the process for using Liquid & DRY pectin so you can see the difference. Also, I get 6-7 8-oz jars of jelly which differs from the 5 jars listed on the recipe. I use a regular pot, not an ‘electric canner’.
Prep:
Wash peppers under cold running water drain.
Remove stems & seeds & chop into large pieces.
Puree peppers with 1 cup cider vinegar in a food processor or blender
Cook [liquid pectin]:
Combine pepper puree, 1 cup cider vinegar & sugar in a large saucepan.
Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Boil 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add Pectin (liquid).
Bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Skim off foam if necessary.
Cook [dry pectin]:
Do not add the sugar in the first boil, but add the DRY pectin instead (sprinkle it in while stirring so it doesn’t clump)
Bring mixture (vinegar, pepper puree, pectin) to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.
Add the sugar, pre-measured, all at once.
Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly, then take it off the heat. The foaming will subside - what little foam is left when I ladle into the jars, I don’t skim off - just my personal preference since I don’t think it’s worth the trouble.
Fill:
Ladle into jelly jar leaving 1/4 inch headspace
Process:
Half-pint jars for 10 minutes at a rolling boil, covered.
Turn off heat, remove cover, let jars cool for 5 minutes.
Cool 12 hours, check seals, label & store.
One more note if you use the dry pectin which requires adding all the sugar (6 cups!) at once: DO NOT PANIC!! You will have lots of what I call “sugarbergs” (sugar icebergs) in the mix. Just keep stirring & crushing them against the sides/bottom of the pot (I use a spatula with a silicon head, metal handle). You have plenty of time to incorporate/dissolve all of the sugar into the mix before you get to the final one minute boil point. The first time I dumped all the sugar in, I almost had a heart attack thinking I would never get the clumps out, but it works just fine. :-)