Jalapeño Jelly.

With all of my previous batches, I have avoided adding pectin to gel the preserves. While I like to think it is in an effort to keep my ingredients lists as short as possible, the honest truth is, recipes that call for citrus rind instead seem more natural. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with pectin. After all, it is most often extracted from dried citrus peels or apple pomace left over from juice production. Using what would otherwise be considered waste is never a bad thing. This has been my rule for choosing recipes. Until now.

I was drawn to this recipe because it calls for jalapeños - and only jalapeños. Seeds and all. The other "jalapeño" jelly recipes that I came across called for just as much, if not more, bell pepper. I went on adventure to the farmer's market on Airline the other day with my friend Erika, waiting for something to call out to me to be transformed into a tasty jelly. I wandered around mostly in awe of everything going on around me when, finally, I found the most beautiful jalapeños in whole world. Jalapeño jelly came to mind instantly. They are certainly too beautiful and scarred up to be cut down with bell pepper. There was no way I can pass this recipe up - it is going to be fiery.

Jalapeño Jelly:

12- 14 jalapeños.

6 cups sugar.

2 cups cider vinegar, divided.

2 pouches liquid pectin.

Chop up all of the jalapeños and place them in a blender with one cup vinegar and liquify. CAUTION: The oils in peppers can cause burns. Do not touch your eyes or other sensitive areas after handling. Combine the purée with the remaining vinegar and sugar in a dutch oven.

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Boil for ten minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat.

Stir in two pouches of liquid pectin. Return to heat and bring to a hard boil for one minutes more. Remove from heat.

Ladle directly into hot, sterilized jars. Leave a quarter inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and be sure to wipe the rims clean. Lid directly and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 4 pints.

I was right - I did not try very much, just touching my tongue to the spoon, and my mouth was on fire - I thought for sure I was going to have heartburn instantly. It was so hot and good I had to try more. Later, I tried more with some cream cheese on a fresh jalapeño bagel from Hot Bagel Shop. Pure bliss.

I love making new favorite things.

Peach Party Part 2: Jalapeño-peach preserves.

About a week ago, I was telling a couple friends about making preserves over drinks, when my friend Mandy told me about how her family always made jalapeño-peach jelly. It sounded really good, so I asked about their recipe, but she said that she did not have it. As I ended up buying about 10 pounds of peaches this past weekend, I set out to find a recipe of my own. As it turns out, I did not have to look very far - my mom had this one:

Jalapeño-peach preserves:

8-10 medium, ripe peaches - peeled and quartered.

1/2 a medium orange - quartered, seeded, and thinly sliced (rind included).

2-3 jalapeños (seeds and all).

4 cups sugar.

3/4 cup clover honey.

1/4 teaspoon all-natural almond extract.

1/2 teaspoon of butter (optional).

water.

Wash and peel your peaches. Quarter them and discard the pits. Place them in a dutch oven, adding the sugar and honey. Cover and let stand for about 45 minutes (no heat).

In a food processor, combine the orange slices and jalapeños. Blend until finely chopped. Scrape into a medium saucepan and add an equal amount of water, about 2/3 of a cup. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat - simmer for about 10 minutes.

Bring the peaches to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has completely dissolved. Turn heat up to medium-high, and boil. Stir often.

Add orange-jalapeño mixture, and return to boil for another 20-25 minutes or until you reach 222˚. At this point, the preserves were almost ready but they seemed overly foamy, so I added 1/2 teaspoon of butter, which helps cut it down some.

Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract. Ladle directly into your waiting hot, sterilized jars. Leave a quarter inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and and be sure to wipe the rims clean. Lid and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

The resulting preserves were spicy, but not so spicy as to overpower the peach flavor. They retained a pleasant sweetness - I swear I could taste the honey. I sampled a bit on some stovetop toast sliced from a baguette I had on hand - as usual - but this time with a taste of cream cheese, which really made for a winning combination.

Pickled jalapeños.

Saturday morning I woke up early (considering the night before), and I took my friend Erika (and my hangover) to Froberg's farm. It was her first visit and I did my best to show her around. She took lots of photographs and will likely have something to say about the experience soon - she has in mind that this is the beginning of "Farm Tour," which I am totally in for.

While we were there, I picked up more strawberries, okra, eggs, and - you guessed it - jalapeños. They looked so good; Erika caught me lingering and suggested that I might could pickle some. Sold.

I did not have a specific pickled jalapeños recipe so I started with a generic recipe of water, vinegar, and salt. I added some of my pickling spice mixture and some sugar to (maybe) soften the burn a touch.

Pickled jalapeños:

1 pounds fresh jalapeños.

3 cups white vinegar.

3 cups water.

3 tablespoons kosher salt.

3 tablespoons raw turbinado sugar.

3 tablespoons pickling spice.

4 crushed cloves of garlic.

Start by piercing each pepper with a fork several times - this will allow the pickling juices to get inside and the hot to get out.

In a medium saucepan, bring to boil your vinegar and water with the rest of the ingredients. Reduce and simmer for five minutes.

Pack the jalapeños into your sterilized jars - I only managed about five peppers per pint jar.

Pour the vinegar solution into each jar - dividing the bay leaves and garlic - leaving an inch of headspace.

Lid the (clean-rimmed) jars and process in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes. Let sit for at least a week for maximum seasoning.

The sugar darkened the vinegar more that usual which makes for a dramatic looking jar of peppers.

My mouth is watering over these already. That is all.

jon.