HOT PEPPER MARMALADE

What to do with a 5 gallon bucket of hot peppers? Make marmalade, of course!! My favorite cookbook,Simply In Season, has a recipe for hot pepper marmalade.  The suggestion is to serve it with cream cheese and crackers or a warmed wheel of Brie.  Both sound equally delicious to me.  You can control the amount of heat in the final result by how many hot peppers you use, and I suppose the type as well.  I don't think you would want to use habanero peppers for this recipe.  We grew a mildly hot banana variety this year.  The recipe calls for 3-5 hot peppers and I used 3 for my first recipe, and 4 for the second.  After the first recipe was done, and I had tasted it, I wanted just a little more heat so I added one additional pepper the second time around.

The other thing I did to alter the recipe was to add and additional 1/3 of a package of pectin so that my end result was firmer.  I didn't want it too runny.  I would rather have it firm so that I can spread it over a wheel of Brie before baking and let it gradually become runny and ooze over the cheese for serving.  The taste of this marmalade has a nice mild kick to it, and an excellent blend of sweet and sour.  It's going to make delightful gifts come holiday season!

HOT PEPPER MARMALADE

3-5 chili peppers minced

2 medium green peppers minced

1 medium red pepper minced

1 medium yellow pepper minced

1 cup white vinegar

2 cups sugar

Combine in a large saucepan. (I placed all peppers in my food processor and pulsed to mince them)

1 package no sugar needed pectin

Gradually add the pectin to the pan, stirring until dissolved. Boil 1 minute, skimming off foam.  Ladle into hot 1/2 pint jars to within 1/2 inch of top.  Seal and hot water bath for 10minutes. 

As you can see from this recipe I didn't use all the peppers in my 5-gallon bucket!  Last year I chopped and froze a  lot of peppers for use through the year. I still have some left to use up so I decided to just string the rest of these and hang to dry in my kitchen.  We will be able to cut off what we want and add to salsas or dishes that need a little OR a lot of kick.  Plus, they also serve as a lovely decorating item! I love them especially this time of the year.  The reds, oranges, and golds are a reminder of the next couple of months of cooling weather and changing season. 

HOT BANANA PEPPERS & HABANEROS

One last garden harvest item!  We had an over abundance of green beans this year. I canned over 50 quarts and still gave away several bushels!  We ate them fresh for over a month and they just kept growing! Now Richard is trying to clean up the garden and there are a ton of them on the vines drying.  I've never used green beans as a dry bean before, but I'm not going to let these go to waste. We'll let the bean pods dry on the plant and then later, during the cooler months, I'll shell them and use them as a dry white bean.  They'll be delicious as a white bean spread, soup, or dip!