One of my favourite shops in US, is Harry and David—a gourmet food store. I can never resist the impulse to enter the store when I pass by it and once I enter, I rarely leave without purchasing something or the other. My favourite item from the store is their collection of relishes, dips and spreads . The last time I went there, I bought their green jalapeno jelly, it was simply delicious—the right mixture of sweet and spice. Infact, I liked it so much that I emptied the entire bottle in one sitting.  And then I got on the internet to find how I could make these at home. I got tons of recipes while I googled recipe for jalapeno jelly.
It was quick, it was simple and it was delicious. I had some red and green chillies that I had grown in my garden last year in my freezer and I was glad to finish them before I planted some more this summer. Once I had the jalapeno jelly, I started looking out for things I could eat it with. This weekend, I made some zucchini & beetroot muffins to go along with it. The muffins were such a healthier alternative to bread—I had it for lunch for 4 straight days.
Jalapeno Jelly:
I based my recipe on this one but as usual I went ahead and made several modifications to come up with my own concoction.
Ingredients
- 1 large green bell pepper ( I liked using bell pepper, keeps you guessing what you bite is hot or not)
- About 6-8 small chillies ( I liked using both red and green)
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2Â cups granulated sugar ( I halved the sugar in the original recipe)
- 2 generous squirts of honey
- Pectin (Â I had only powdered pectin, and I used may be a tsp or so)
- One tablespoon of raspberry jam ( that’s what I had in my pantry—I liked the color it gives to the jelly)
- Lemon juice (from one lemon) ( I also added the zest, since I was squeezing the lemon, anyway)
Directions
- Chop the bell pepper and jalapenos very finely.
- In a sauce pan, add the vinegar and bring it to a boil
- Dump the peppers, chillies, sugar , honey and salt and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so
- Add lemon juice, the jam, and continue stirring
- When the mixture comes to a rolling boil (one that cannot be stirred down), stir in the pectin.
- Pour it into a jar to cool and set. Refrigerate after cooling.
Zucchini & Beetroot Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 zucchini , peeled and shredded
- 1 beetroot shredded
- 2 eggs or 1 cup egg beaters
- ½ C oil
- 1 C flour
- 2 C wheat flour
- 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- Salt to taste
Directions
Squeeze out all excess moisture out of the Zucchini
- Mix in all the other ingredients
- Whisk to incorporate
- Pour batter into muffins cups till they are nearly full. Do not fill to the brim.
- Grate a little cheese (I used jalapeno cheese) over the top of each muffin cup
- Bake at 400 C for 35-40 minutes
- Let cool .
Drizzle some jalapeno jelly over the top and enjoy!! Â For an even better taste, spread a little some cinnamon honey butter. It is easy to make, simply mix honey, cinnamon powder and softened butter together.
