Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local
Jellies, jams, marmalades, preserves and conserves; the list goes on and on. There are all sorts of terms to describe all sorts of different sweet fruit preparations intended for all sorts of different usages. I enjoy making pretty little jars of these things, and those different colors always look so cute and satisfying sitting on the wooden shelves in the fruit cellar.
The problem is that that’s about all they do: sit and look nice, year after year. We’re just not a jam-eating family. The occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich barely accounts for enough consumption to legitimate even having a jar open in the fridge, and often I end up having to pitch the last dregs.
The one type of jam that at least I personally am more prone to use is something with a little edge, a spicy zing to it (intentionally, from the addition of hot peppers, not because it’s too old…). Raspberry jalapeño, blackberry habanero, I’ll take it. I was thinking about this as I was picking all the peppers on the predicted last frost-free date of the year, which actually was the last day before a frost and thereby necessitated a combing through of the garden for anything I wanted to save. I didn’t really want the hot peppers, because they were too hot, and I was having a hard time even giving them away.
A vision of the jalapeño jelly sitting on the shelves downstairs came to mind as I carried in my pepper loot. I call it jelly, but it’s more like jam, and actually it’s more like syrup. It failed to set up — but on purpose this time.
A friend and I had made some a couple years back, and I was disappointed to find that something had gone amiss in our pectin process (you may have noticed I am not always the most precise recipe-er…that may or may not have something to do with it) and while the flavor was sweet-spicy delicious, it was thin and runny. My friend, however, was not disappointed. She thought it was perfect that way, raving about the jam-syrup, and so now we make it together that way on purpose.
Something that started off as a bug became a feature; something that seemed like a problem turned out to be an advantage. This got me looking around and asking a question I first heard on a podcast. “Is this a bug, or a feature?” I’m not a whiny person, but this simple perspective shift is working on my eyesight.
Suddenly the oatmeal smashed into Kiah’s hair was a sweet cinnamon aroma to breathe in as I laid her down in her crib. Picking her back up shortly thereafter because she prefers to only sleep while touching me was less annoying when I told myself it was a feature of her personality, one that allows the two of us a treasure trove of snuggles.
The living room is perpetually covered in intermittent mountains of toys, since Benson needs “all the small things” to make his heifer feed piles; I don’t need to feel guilty about how messy it can get, because it’s a precious feature of having a 3-year-old who can lose himself in creative play.
It is a bummer that the frost came when my tomato plants were covered in hundreds of cherry tomatoes, but maybe it’s also a timely advantage of the season since we have to let go of the garden at some point — and it pairs well with a feature of the dilapidated chicken coop that allows the door to keep blowing open in these strong winds, just in time for the hens to go enjoy all those tomatoes that froze. I was tempted to complain when explaining to Benson why our windows were all frosted over on that cold morning, but stopped myself when thinking perhaps gorgeous ice crystals and icy privacy screens are actually a feature of poorly insulated windows.
So is it a bug, or a feature, that all these jalapeños I picked are too spicy? I guess it depends on how you look at it.
Chunky Jalapeño Syrup
I’m not sure that this is the best title for the product, yet I have to call it something. This non-jammy jam is the perfect thing for a non-jammy fam, since it doesn’t follow the typical routes of jelly usage. While it does work oddly deliciously with peanut butter, it pairs better with cream cheese & crackers, drizzled in a grilled cheese sandwich, or spooned alongside ham or lamb.
Prep tips: there is no positive “feature” of not using gloves to work with this many hot peppers. Trust me on this one and just put them on.
½ pound jalapeños (or other chiles)
1 pound bell peppers (any color)
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
4-6 cups white sugar
1 package pectin
Cut stems off peppers and cut into chunks; blend in a food processor with vinegars until finely minced. Bring to a boil along with sugar and pectin in a large saucepan; simmer for 10 minutes (don’t breathe in too deeply). Ladle into half-pint jars, lid, and either water-bath process for 10 minutes, or let cool and refrigerate to eat/give away.
