Ever since I bought
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook last year, I’ve had my eye on their recipe for Hot Pepper Jelly. In part because I’m a huge fan of anything with cream cheese. But most appealing was that the recipe called for
green peppers. We receive a LOT of green peppers in our boxes and, quite honestly, not a big fan. Love red peppers; but green peppers, not so much. I usually hand them over to my Dad so he can make stuffed green peppers or I donate them back to the swap box.
But it’s a different story when I have the time and the other ingredients to make Hot Pepper Jelly. Then I can’t wait for the green peppers to arrive. This most recent batch of jelly posed a bit of a challenge – the recipe calls for jalapenos and, for those of us in the U.S., you’ll be hard-pressed to locate them in the grocery store because of the recent salmonella contamination. So, you can either hit your local farmers market or, if you’re lucky, raid your own garden. Otherwise, you can do what I did – substitute an equal volume (1 cup) of other fresh peppers. I used a combination of poblanos, cubanelles and one habanero for heat.
All of the pickling and canning recipes in
The Lee Bros.’ cookbook are refrigerator pickles – meaning that they are not shelf stable, so you will need to keep them in the refrigerator. If you’re not familiar with basic canning principals and techniques, you should visit the
National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website – a great resource to learn the do’s and dont’s of safe and successful canning.
Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:
Hot Pepper Jelly
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This is prime, peak season for tomatoes and they’re the perfect ripeness and flavor for an outstanding fresh tomato salsa. The key to a chunky texture, rather than a soggy salsa, is to let the tomatoes drain in a colander for 30 minutes to purge excess water. Then simply toss with the other ingredients, season with lime juice, salt, sugar and a pinch of pepper.
Fresh Tomato Salsa
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We’ve been lucky this year with carrots – this was the fifth week in a row that we’ve received a bunch in our box. Last year, I can only remember getting them once or twice due to the incessant 2007 August rain. But this year, the farm has been yielding bumper crops, and it’s likely we’ll receive more on Saturday. So, what do to with all those carrots? How about a cool, crunchy, spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad – a great alternative to boring, old carrot sticks.
Moroccan Carrot Salad
Admittedly, this recipe is about one week late. Last week’s box contents were a perfect mix for ratatouille – eggplant, zucchini, garlic, onion, and parsley. But many of you, like me I suspect, have vegetables that hang around the week after and this is a perfect recipe for clearing out your refrigerator. There are a lot of variations and styles of ratatouille and everyone has their favorite. I am a big fan of roasting and I like my vegetables to remain separate and distinct, so this version is perfect for my tastes. You can serve this bruschetta-style on toasted bread with goat cheese. Or, as a side dish to fish or poultry, warm or room temperature.
Roasted Ratatouille
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Oh what to do with the lemon balm? I ask myself that question every time I get this little known herb in my box. Well, this time I actually used it – some of it, at least. I tied together a bunch of lemon balm along with three black tea bags (you can use any tea you like – black, white, green, herbal...) and placed the bundle in a 2-quart container. Fill it up with filtered water, place in a sunny spot and the tea will be ready in 3 to 5 hours depending on how hot and sunny it is that day.
Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that vegetable.
Ever since I bought The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook last year, I’ve had my eye on their recipe for Hot Pepper Jelly. In part because I’m a huge fan of anything with cream cheese. But most appealing was that the recipe called for green peppers. We receive a LOT of green peppers in our boxes and, quite honestly, not a big fan. Love red peppers; but green peppers, not so much. I usually hand them over to my Dad so he can make stuffed green peppers or I donate them back to the swap box.
Click on an ingredient and link to a past 24 Boxes post using that vegetable.
