Today’s post is such a simple and it’s customization to fit your tastes is easy to achieve.
In this herb jelly the base ingredient is apple cider or white cranberry juice…these lighter juices allow the herbs to show through creating a visually rich jar of jam. It can be used on breakfast items, lunch sandwiches, as a meat glaze at dinner time and any kind of cracker or cheese board any time of the day. It is a delicious secret weapon to add to roasts, glaze on veggies of any kind, or as a starter for a salad dressing. The herbs you use can be either fresh or dried and either sparse or dense in the spread. Below are the amounts I have used in the past when making this jam but use your judgement when it comes to intensity, obviously for a habanero pepper you would probably use less than if you were making herb de Provence jam or dill jam.
Herb Jelly
Ingredients
2-3 cups firmly packed, finely chopped fresh herbs or 1/2-2/3 cup dried herbs of your choice. (I have used herbs de Provence, dill, a mix of oregano/basil/thyme and rosemary and all have worked out wonderfully. Again, if using a strong crushed pepper or something you might want to keep the amount down to 1/4 of a cup or so for this first batch so you can judge it’s level of heat after it cans and sits in the jar. This is a small batch recipe so it’s easy to try a couple batches to find what herb blend suits you best.)
3-1/2 cups unsweeted apple juice or unsweetened white cranberry juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 box of pectin
4 cups sugar
Process:
1.) Prepare canner, jars, lids and rings. This small batch recipe makes around 5 half-pint jars, always prepare one or two more jars. I always have on hand a couple 4 oz jars for those small amounts left over.
2.) Wash fresh herbs really well if using them. Drain and blot with paper towel. Finely chop the herbs. (For this recipe leaving the stem on for most herbs is ok, rosemary and similar woody stemmed plants you’ll want to remove the stem but soft stemmed herbs it’s ok to use the stem as well.)
3.) Place herbs and fruit juice of choice in sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil uncovered for 5 minutes then add the lemon juice and whisk in the pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil and add the sugar. Return mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring all the while, and boil hard for one full minute. Remove from heat.
4.) Ladle jelly into hot, prepared jars leaving 1/4″ head space. Wipe jar rims, place lid and screw ring on to finger tight pressure.
5.) Place jars in a water bath with 1″-2″ water covering jars, when water has reached a boil process for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes turn off heat source and remove water bath canning pot from that burner. Let jars stand in water bath for 5 minutes before removing, then place on a cloth towel on the counter to cool fully.
Canning Unexpected 