Jalapeño Jelly

Of the jams and jellies I make and can at home, jalapeño jelly is the most requested. Even the years I do not make it, someone will ask for it. This year I bought jalapeños from La Conner Gardens farm stand and from Klesick's, of Stanwood. A few years back I invested in a battery operated kitchen scale. Measuring ingredients is one of the things I enjoy while cooking. Piling fresh jalapeños on top of the scale was just a small challenge but accomplished. I had the 12 ounces of jalapeños for this recipe, plus three extra jalapeños. That made the difference to make an extra jar of jelly!

Ingredients:

Jalapeños, medium, 12 oz

Apple cider vinegar, 2 cups

Sugar, 6 cups

Liquid pectin, 2 pouches

8 oz canning jars, 7 to 8

Preparation:

I always begin by preparing the jars and water bath canner. Wash all new canning jars. The water bath canner has a rack insert in the bottom, to keep the jars away from the direct heat. Completely fill the canner with similar size jars. Not all will be filled but will serve as space savers to keep the filled jars upright. Heat the submerged jars, on medium heat, for ten minutes.

Wear thick kitchen gloves when prepping the jalapeños. Use a chopping knife to remove the stem, cut out the seeds and remove the central stem. To a blender or food processor, add one cup of the apple cider vinegar. Put in all the jalapeños prepped. Blend well into a purée. In a heavy, large cooking pot, add the second cup of vinegar and all the sugar. Begin blending and stir to mix well before turning the burner on high. Keep stirring. Add in the jalapeño mix. Keep stirring. Begin timing when everything starts to boil. Set the timer for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to a low boil. Remove from heat each time everything starts to boil high in the pan. Stir down and put back on the heat. This batch, I had to remove from the heat, five times. When the time is up, maintain the heat and add both pouches of pectin. Set timer for one minute, stirring constantly. Then remove from heat and fill the warm canning jars to within ¼ inch from the top. Wipe the rim. Secure lids. Place into the canner. Turn the heat to high. Begin timing for 10 minutes, once the water boils. It may take 20 minutes for the water to boil. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the lid and top rack. Set timer for 5 minutes. Remove the jars and set on a wood cutting board or thick kitchen towel. Allow to sit, undisturbed for 24 hours. Remove the bands and look to see that all jars sealed.