Pepper Jelly

My Grandma makes the best strawberry jelly. Hands down. So you can imagine my skepticism of a jelly recipe that calls for hot peppers rather than sweet strawberries. But sisters-in-law Megan and Kirsten assured me it was well worth a try. So we sanitized the jars, chopped the peppers, boiled the ingredients, and chilled the jellies. And then we sampled. I’m now a believer!

The 6 1/2 cups of sugar nicely cut the spiciness of the 8 jalapeños. And the addition of food coloring produces the most brilliant, festive green color.

We ate our pepper jelly in little scoops atop Ritz crackers with cream cheese and baked phyllo cups with melted Brie. (Bake the cups with a small chunk of cheese for about 10 minutes at 350°.)

Kirsten suggests serving a variety of “Brie bites” with pepper jelly and raspberry jam. The reds and greens look lovely on a holiday appetizer display.

Ingredients

• 1 cup jalapeño peppers, chopped (8-9 small peppers with seeds)
• 1 ½ cups green peppers, chopped small (without seeds)
• 6 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups cider vinegar
• 2 pouches Certo
• green food coloring

Directions

1. Boil peppers, sugar, and vinegar for 2 minutes. Set for 5 minutes. Add pouches of Certo and green food coloring. Pour into sterilized jars. Refrigerate to chill.
2. Serve with cream cheese and butter crackers.