Red Pepper Jelly

It's time for our Farm Fresh Recipe of the week... a weekly feature that will appear on the blog throughout our market season. Sometimes it will feature my favourite recipes, and many times it will feature favourite recipes of others... our vendors, our shoppers, our sponsors and our volunteers. Always, some of the ingredients will be available at our market... helping you to shop local for your health, and for the health of the community in which you live!

Dad's Red Pepper Jelly

My father introduced pepper jelly to me about eight years ago. I had never heard of it before and at first thought... eeewwwww! Why would you ever want to eat a sweet jelly made out of peppers!

Trust me! Get some aged white cheddar from Everything Cheese, put it on a nice, seedy rustic cracker and top with a teaspoon of this pepper jelly... it's incredible!

Or get some wonderful bread from Prairie Mill, lay down some butter lettuce from T.R. Greenhouses, top with some roast chicken from Sunworks Farm or Red Tractor Meats, and top with pepper jelly... hands down, it'll be the best roast chicken sandwich you've ever had!

This recipe has become our signature appetizer when entertaining in our home. It is incredibly simple to make and looks beautiful. I make sure that I make a number of batches throughout the year so that we have enough to give away in Christmas gifts to special friends.

And the beauty of it is that though our gardens are not producing fresh vegetables yet, T.R. Greenhouses has the peppers... both red and spicy... that you need right now, to make this at home!

Ingredients:

4½ c. (approx. 3 large) red peppers, diced

3/4 c. (approx. 5) fresh red chilli peppers, diced

4½ c. white vinegar

19½ c. granulated sugar

18 oz (2 pouches) liquid pectin

Directions:

Combine the chopped peppers and the vinegar in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large pot. Add sugar. 

Heat on medium high heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Stir in the pectin. Return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat. Skim off foam.

Pour into hot, sterilized, small 1/2 c. jars. (use about 45... they're the size you need to serve this appetizer once to 4 people) or 1 cup (use 22 jars).  Fill to within 1/4" of top. Place sterilized metal lids on top and screw metal bands on securely.

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Contributed by Sheri Hendsbee