Chilli jam

Another great way to use chillies is in a chilly sauce or to make a chilly jam. Any of these recipes can be made in small or large batches. They are great to have as a cupboard store item and they also make wonderfully coloured gifts.


INGREDIENTS

150gms/5oz long fresh red chillies de seeded and cut into four pieces each (or you can leave the seeds in for a hotter version).

150gms/5oz sweet red peppers cored de seeded and cut into chunks

1kg/2.2lbs Jam sugar

600mls cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

6 x 8oz sterilized sealable jars

METHOD

1. Put the cut up chillies into the food processsor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the chunks of sweet pepper and pulse again until you have a vibrantly red-flecked processor bowl

2. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a wide, medium-sized pan over a low heat without stirring.

3. Scrape the pepper mixture out of the bowl and add to the pan. Bring to the boil and leave it at a rollicking boil for 10 minutes

4. Take the pan off the heat and allow the mixture to cool. The liquid will become more syrupy, then from syrup to viscous and from viscous to jelly like as it cools.

5. After about 40 minutes, or once the red flecks are more or less evenly distributed in the jelly (as the liquid firms up, the bits of chilli and pepper start being suspended in it rather than floating in it), ladle it into your jars. Then seal tightly.

Make the jam up to one month before using or giving.

Store in a cool dark place for up to a year.

Once opened store in the fridge and use within a month

Mrs Beaton's blackcurrant jam

Mrs Beaton's recipe for blackcurrant jam is as follows:-

Blackcurrants -
To every 450g (1lb) of Fruit, weighed before being stripped from the stalks, allow: 
340g (12oz) Sugar 
150ml (¼ pint) Water

Let the fruit be very ripe and gathered on a dry day. 
Remove blackcurrant stalks and put into a preserving pan, with 150ml (¼ pint) of water to each 450g (1lb) of fruit. 
Boil together for 10 minutes. 
Add the sugar and boil the jam again for 30 minutes, from the time when the jam simmers equally all over or longer, 
If it doesn't appear to set nicely when a little is poured on to a plate. 
Keep stirring to prevent it from burning, carefully remove all the scum. When done, pour into sterilised jars with airtight lids. 
Let it cool before sealing. 
Great attention must be paid to the stirring of this jam, as it is very liable to burn, on account of the thickness of the juice.

Time: 10 minutes to boil the fruit and water. 30 minutes with the sugar or longer. 
Sufficient: Allow from 6 to 7 quarts of currants to make 1 dozen pots of jam, each pot to hold 450g (1lb) 
Seasonable: Make this in July.