Hot Pepper Jam

After a few batches of pickled peppers, I decided I wanted to do something different with my last picking of hot peppers. After looking at a few recipes, I decided to try hot pepper jam. This recipe is adapted from the hot pepper relish recipe included in the Sure-Jell package.

1 package Sure-Jell
5 C sugar
1 C cider vinegar
4 C finely chopped peppers. (The recipe called for a mix green, red and jalapeño. I used only hot peppers. About 3 C jalapeño and 1 C banana peppers.)

Mix peppers, cider and Sure-Jell in a saucepan. Measure sugar out into a separate bowl. Bring pepper mixture to a full boil on high heat. Stir in sugar. Bring back to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Stir constantly. Ladle into hot jars. Boiling water process for ten minutes. Yield: 4 pints.

Some tips: Wear plastic gloves when working with the hot peppers. Seed and remove the membranes of the peppers if you don't like a lot of heat. The jam I made with only hot peppers with all the seeds and membranes removed has a wonderful flavor, but hardly any heat. Leave a few seeds to kick it up a bit.

Uses: Pepper jam is great poured over a block of softened cream cheese and served with crackers. It can be used on sandwiches like relish, and last night we used it as a dipping sauce for corn dogs. I think it would be delicious over chicken too.