Sometimes I find that we have too much produce chilli pepper especially. It is great to know that we can grow these things but sometimes what do we do with the excess?
Well I make jams, chutneys and pickles. Some I sell via the shop and some I keep at home for that special occasion.
This is a recipe I use for my excess chillies, this recipe can use our chillies from the shop but I have used my excess Scotch Bonnet and Yellow Habanero chillies I grew this year. Needless to say this will really put hairs on your chest.
To calm down the heat use the Jalapeno pepper or the chillies from the shop .
Chilli pepper jam ingredients:
3 x Red or Yellow Pepper
150g of Chillies (any will do but if you like heat substitute 25g for 2 x scotch bonnet chilli)
500g Vine Tomato halved (or use 1 x tin whole plum tomato)
1 tsp of grated Ginger
2 cloves of Garlic (chopped)
2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
300g Soft Brown Sugar
50 ml White Wine Vinegar
50 ml Raspberry Vinegar ( if you havent got this use 50 ml of white wine vinegar )
Juice and zest of 1 Lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Chilli pepper jam method:
Get a skillet (preferably) or frying pan really hot then place your Peppers in it (no oil just a dry pan) and scorch the skin to char it. This brings a mellow smoky flavour to the finished jam. Turn the peppers to evenly scorch. Your looking for scorching not totally black. Now remove from the pan.
Place the scorched peppers in a bowl and cover immediately with cling film or a batch cap. Allow the condensation to build this will help with peeling the peppers.
Do the same to the chillies. Be careful as they char quickly (switch you extractor on)
Place these in with the peppers and cover.
Once cool enough to handle, remove the lid and peel the skins off. Don’t worry if you don’t get it all off it won’t harm the end result.
Once peeled transfer to a food processor with the, tomatoes, blitz until smooth.
Then;
Tip all of it into a large heavy based saucepan and add the chopped garlic, grated ginger, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and salt and bring to rolling boil.
Why a rolling boil;? This is to get the jam to its setting point as quickly as possible. You are looking for a rapid boil that isn’t affected by stirring and the bubbling still keeps going.
Pop a saucer into the freezer for a bit later.
Now reduce the heat to a simmer for about 50 minutes but stirring often to help stop it sticking to the pan. You are looking for a deep reddy brown colour and for most of the liquid to have evaporated.
Switch on your oven to heat up to sterilise your jars, 100 deg C is fine.
It is ready when you can place a dollop of the cold plate from the freezer and the dollop sets almost straight away and you can draw a clear line through the middle. This makes sure that the jam is spreadable and not too watery. if it doesn’t set keep the boiling going and retest the same way every 5 minutes (not forgetting to stir)
Pop 3 x 180ml (or one whatever you have) jars into a sink of warm water and rinse out then place directly onto the shelf in your oven upside down to dry out the water and sterilise your jars. This is very important and stops bacteria from getting into your newly made jam and ruining it before it’s ready. Please make sure the jars are still hot when you add the jam.
I use a jam funnel for the next bit but spooning carefully is equally as good.
Now spoon into the hot jars and seal with the lids and allow to cool completely before adding the labels. You can use the jam once cold but I like to leave mIne for a couple of weeks to let the flavour develop, this will last for months unopened and kept in a dark place, once opened pop in the fridge and use within 1 month.
Really nice on toast, with a strong cheese (Snowdonia Black Bomber) , add it to stews for a new flavour combination or just eat straight from the jar
