Pepper jellies: heat + sweetness

[Gifted Gourmet]

From everything I have read about various forms of pepper jellies, they are almost exclusively a southern form of condiment. They combine the heat and sweetness we southerners crave alongside our entrees or even on a bagel with a cream cheese ....

Do you like pepper jellies? Do you make them? Variations on the standard green bell pepper jelly? Sugar and heat .. do you make them with habaneros for that special "je ne sais quoi" it gives your tongue?

[bandregg]

I don't make pepper jelly but I buy it from one of the vendors at the Durham Farmers Market (Amy something). I buy the hot stuff which is made with jalapenos and use it on bagels or toast on a regular basis. I buy a couple of jars at the end of the season to get me through the winter. Chipotle and Rasberry jelly is also very good.

[nessa]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE pepper jelly. I always have. I got my first taste at the mall one day during grade school. New Caanan Farms used to set up shop during the holidays and give out tastes. It was crack. I've had to have it ever since. The hotter, the better. My current favorite is from a brand called Austin Slow Burn. Its their Habanero-Rosemary jelly.

I'm pondering learning to make jelly so that I can make my own habanero-rosemary concotion. If only my habaneros would bloom.

Another thing that I adore is candied jalepenos. Some local guy makes them and calls them something like sweet heat. It is indeed.

I'm hardpressed to find something better to put in my mouth besides some good pepper jelly slathered over fresh, hot-out-of-the-oven sourdough thats dripping in fresh butter.

[chickenlady]

The New England Cranberry Company makes a delicious Cranberry Pepper Jelly, so I wouldn't say exclusively southern. In fact, this is one of the best sellers in the gourmet store where I occasionally work in Upstate NY. I also see pepper jellies at most of the local farmers markets.

Yum! I adore the stuff. A sandwich wouldn't be the same without it!

[enrevanche]

Happily, not an exclusively Southern phenomenon at all. The big Greenmarket at Union Square in New York City has a couple of vendors who sell homemade pepper jellies; my personal favorite is a green pepper/bell pepper jelly with just a few habaneros added into the mix for a little piquant "kick." And yes, it's great on a bagel with a little cream-cheese.

[Gifted Gourmet]

You must realize, those of you who religiously read the posts in the Southeast Forum, that many of the topics posted recently would make a damn nice meal in Dixie: ham biscuits and sweet tea and pepper jelly .... not too shabby at all!

still worrying over why people put peanuts in their sodas in the South though ...

Edited June 24, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[andiesenji]

Pepper jellies are also very popular out here on the left coast. There are several California companies that produce these fiery sweets that are sold in markets. We even have a local cannery in the Antelope valley that produces hot jellies, jams and preserves to order for local retailers who label it under the store names.

One local store sells Sam McGee's hot stuff from Idaho.

I make a limited amount of sweet pepper preserves, however I do candy the little chile pequin and chile tepin peppers on request for a group of guys known as the Hotspur club, mostly from Edwards AFB.

These are the original red-hots.

A bee man in Pearblossom makes honey candy containing a chunk of hot pepper - similar to the Asian honey candies that contain a salted plum. His process is a secret......

Pearblossom is a wide place in the road between Palmdale and Victorville, on the way to Las Vegas, famous for the fruit that is grown there in the middle of the desert. The bee man "rents" his bees to the orchard owners so the bees will pollinate the blossoms. His honey is exceptional and the hot pepper honey and honey candy is unique. Unfortunately he is not on the 'net.

[Marlene]

Up here in Canada we like pepper jelly too. I use it in this recipe which calls for either garlic jelly or red pepper jelly. Garlic jelly is hard to come by up here (although I just got my hands on some and so made this tonight with it). We use Red pepper jelly quite often as a condiment as well.

[ruthcooks]

Pepper jelly is wonderful with lamb, in place of any kind of mint sauce or jelly.

I order it from The Pepper Patch here.

Their Jezebel Sauce and Bread and Butter Pickles are also outstanding.

[oneidaone]

Aloha! We have a fabulous product made locally Hot Pepper Ginger Jelly in Kailua, HI. It is a

wonderful condiment used in the ways you all have suggested but here is something I do. Take the

jelly and mix it with some apple cider and let it heat up, you can even reduce it to make it thicker,

most recently I roasted a pork tenderloin and sliced it and drizzled this concoction over the top

and served with garlic couscous, it was great! Also I like to put bread crumbs on chicken breasts

or pork chops and fry them and do the same thing with this jelly. They also make a regular Hot Pepper jelly but the Ginger is just so tasty! Doesn't hurt to make a small marinade of ginger and

shoyu and a little sherry for the above mentioned before putting in bread crumbs. A hui ho!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Aloha! We have a fabulous product made locally Hot Pepper Ginger Jelly in Kailua, HI.

Great ideas, oneidaone, and appreciate your broadening the idea that pepper jellies are exclusively a southern phenomenon! Truly, we do live in a global village!

[phaelon56]

I"ve seen pepper jellies at the local Farmer's Market and craft shows up here in central NY state for about the past twenty years or so but you generally won't find them in grocery stores. It's not a common iytem that you'll find in the cupboard or fridge in most people's homes but there's a market for them none the less.

[BeJam]

First hot pepper jelly: Eastern BC at a closed dude ranch in the mountains served by a retired restaurateur from Alberta.

Lived in Birmingham, AL for five+ years: Never saw it there although I did see an onion/galic jelly which I found confusing.

First time I made it: Used local Jalapenos and developed stomach ulcers because I ate too much.

Now: this summer am growing my own jalapeno and cayenne peppers and will make separate green and red jellies.

[chickenlady]

Take thejelly and mix it with some apple cider and let it heat up, you can even reduce it to make it thicker,

most recently I roasted a pork tenderloin and sliced it and drizzled this concoction over the top

and served with garlic couscous, it was great! Also I like to put bread crumbs on chicken breasts

or pork chops and fry them and do the same thing with this jelly.

You just reminded me of one of my favorite ways to grill chicken breasts: Melt the jelly with a little white vinegar and stir in lots of cilantro. Coat chicken breasts with this some of this mixture and grill. Keep the remaining sauce warm to drizzle over finished breasts.

[GG Mora]

Yum. Not exclusively a southern thing in the least.

I like it vinegary and hot, and I do make my own – with garlic, onion, poblanos (adds an interesting flavor component), jalapenos, sweet red pepper, red pepper flakes, cayenne and cumin seed. Great on fresh biscuits, served alongside cream-cheese scrambled eggs.

Because peppers have little or no natural pectin, making pepper jelly requires adding pectin. So far my recipe always comes up a little hard; I want to try experimenting with making my own pectin this year.

[Gifted Gourmet]

First time I made it: Used local Jalapenos and developed stomach ulcers because I ate too much.

Now: this summer am growing my own jalapeno and cayenne peppers and will make separate green and red jellies.

Really stomach ulcers or a very bad inflammation?

And, obviously, you plan to enjoy your own this time but with much caution!!

[chemprof]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE pepper jelly.        I always have.  I got my first taste at the mall one day during  grade school.  New Caanan Farms used to set up shop during the holidays and give out tastes.  It was crack.  I've had to have it ever since.  The hotter, the better.  My current favorite is from a brand called Austin Slow Burn.  Its their Habanero-Rosemary jelly. 

I'm pondering learning to make jelly  so that I can make my own habanero-rosemary concotion.  If only my habaneros would bloom.

I really like pepper jelly as a condiment with meats or on cream cheese or goat cheese and crackers as an appetizer. I've been making my own for a few years, and mixing with herbs such as thai basil or rosemary (Nessa, I got that idea after having run across the ad for Austin Slow Burn on the internet!). I use a mix of yellow and red bell peppers, plus chopped habaneros for the flavor and burn. It's really very simple to make except...

I have to wear gloves and a mask when working with habaneros! The first time I tried it without the mask, I dissolved into a coughing, sneezing, eye-watering mess. I swear I've had an easier time working with dangerous chemicals in the lab. But the results are worth it.

If anyone would like the recipe just let me know and I'll try to figure out the appropriate place to post it.

Anne

[Gifted Gourmet]

If anyone would like the recipe just let me know and I'll try to figure out the appropriate place to post it.

On the top of the page is a button which says Recipe Gullet.. click on that and post your recipe there! We will be waiting for your hot, hot, hot habanero pepper jelly!!

[chemprof]

If anyone would like the recipe just let me know and I'll try to figure out the appropriate place to post it. 

On the top of the page is a button which says Recipe Gullet.. click on that and post your recipe there! We will be waiting for your hot, hot, hot habanero pepper jelly!!

Done! Thai Basil Pepper Jelly

Hope you enjoy it!

Anne

[hazardnc]

I believe it is truly a Southern girl thing to serve jalapeno pepper jelly with cream cheese on Triscuits. The hostess simply plunks a block of cream cheese on a plate, dumps on some jelly and surrounds the cheese with crackers. A savory variation is cream cheese with Picka Pepper sauce.

For a more modern version, try Earth and Vine's Red Bell Pepper and Ancho Chile jelly with peppered goat cheese on Sesmark thin crackers. Yum!

[kpurvis]

still worrying over why people put peanuts in their sodas in the South though ...

Silly boy -- because with a nickel bag of peanuts and a 10-cent RC, you could pour the peanuts in the bottom of the bottle and end up with something that tasted like a candy bar for 15 cents.

And because of the elusive perfection of salty/sweet. My addiiction to salty/sweet combos still drives me to sprinkle Junior Mints in my popcorn at the movies.

[kpurvis]

Silly boy --

My apologies -- that should have been "silly girl." Or as I would usually say it: "Miz Gourmet MA'AM."

[foodie52]

Let me put in a plug for Austin Slow Burn Rosemary Habanero Jelly. It's my favorite, too. The owners, Jill and Kevin Lewis, are two of the nicest people you'd ever want to know. I've included a link to show how their labels look: it's their hot apple pie jam which I've actually used as apple pie filling, along with a few fresh Granny Smiths. Gives the pie a real kick!

The rosemary habanero has a "warm glow" to it. It's amazing over cream cheese....and spread lightly in a grilled cheese sandwich. Spread over baked brie...basting a pork tenderloin. It's really good.

Slow Burn

[chile_peppa]

I made pepper jelly with my homegrown habaneros - killer stuff! My pepper patch was on the side of the driveway, and the blazing sun reflected from the asphalt, not to mention the exhaust fumes from two Mustangs, gave those peppers quite a kick. I gave some of the jelly to a friend of my father's and he ate it on his breakfast toast. My sister likes it with cream cheese and crackers. Haven't tried it with peanut butter yet, but you never know...

[GG Mora]

Because peppers have little or no natural pectin, making pepper jelly requires adding pectin. So far my recipe always comes up a little hard; I want to try experimenting with making my own pectin this year.

←

And so I did. Cooked down 7 lbs. of crabapples, strained the juice and reduced it by half. Substituted homemade for commercial pectin in my jelly recipe and, miracle of miracles....got a nice soft-set jelly instead of some vaguely rubberized product.

Edit: I have no idea what "commerical pectin" is.

Edited October 4, 2004 by GG Mora (log)