Sunday, September 30, 2012

Hatch Chile Jelly

One last New Mexican green chile recipe

I made this quick and easy jelly at the end of Hatch chile season, so I either have to wait until next year or use Anaheim chiles to make another batch.

In the last hatch chile pepper jelly I made, I found some red chiles to give some interesting color, but this time I made sure to get the classic green for a monochromatic tribute. In addition, this jelly is nothing but hatch; no apricot, no onion, just chiles! The short cooking time allows the pepper to retain their crunch in the jelly.

If you've ever found yourself pondering what you could possibly do with a hot and sweet pepper spread besides over toast, I have some suggestions below:

Interesting twist on a quesadilla: spread some jelly on the inside of a tortilla, top with shredded cheese and meat of your choice, and grill until melted. I did this for my habanero gold jelly and made a quesadilla with leftover rotisserie chicken and cheddar.

Heat it up and swipe it over grilled meats right at the end of cooking: Grilled fish, poultry, and red meats will all benefit. Great when making grilled fish tacos!

Quick and easy appetitizer: Top crackers or toast with goat cheese and pepper jelly. Also good with cream cheese.

Fired up? Let's make some hatch chile jelly!


Hatch Chile Jelly

1 1/2 cup Hatch chile, deveined and seeded, chopped finely
3/4 cup white vinegar (5% acidity)
3 cups granulated sugar
1 three-ounce pouch of liquid pectin

Combine chiles, vinegar, and sugar in a saucepan (non reactive such as stainless steel or enamel) and heat to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down over high heat. Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly, then pour in the pectin. Once the mixture returns to a boil, boil hard for one minute and then remove from heat. Ladle into jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes if you want to make this jelly shelf stable for up to a year, or just cool and the refrigerate in a sealed container. Makes approximately 6 half pints.

See Also:
Chocolate Berry Jam
Grandpa's Pickled Beet Eggs
Hatch Chile Apricot Jelly

9 comments:

  1. Hatch chiles! They almost never make it up here, but my parents live in Austin, which goes Hatch-mad once a year. I'm intrigued by the quesadilla idea; that sounds great.

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  2. Jon Carole GilbreathAugust 19, 2013 at 8:57 AM

    I hardly ever follow a recipe exactly but I did this one and it is wonderful -- although I did leave a lot of seeds because I like it hot!! Thank you for the great recipe.

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    Replies
    1. Oooh absolutely! When I have some chiles that are mild, I love leaving in the seeds. I like their texture in the finished jelly.

      This batch had some real zingers in them, so I left the seeds out.

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    2. I made a very hot chilli "juice" that I keep to add to these recipes and other things. I just a water and all the seeds and junk from the chillis and boil and strain. perfect for that added heat to anything. Keeps a long time. Also I found a secret ingredient, adding a little, to taste, balsamic or dark vinegar is wonderful. Makes a big difference.

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  3. I finally got into canning this summer and was planning on red chile jam, but I just might have to try your Hatch version! Looks simple & great - no extra "stuff"!

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  4. Are these roasted or fresh Chile?

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  5. Is that 1 and a 1/2 cups or one - 1/2 of peppers. Most of my jellies only call for a small amount of peppers, well except cowboy candy (jalapeños). They have mixture of peppers but small amounts of each. ( like habenero gold )

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