Hot Pepper Relish

Instructions

1. Prepare the peppers: de-rib and de-seed the bell peppers and chop finely. Add to your food processor.
2. Repeat the same process with the hot peppers. For us, we have tried the jalapeño relish without seeds and ribs and found it could have a little more heat for our palates, so we now leave some of the ribs and seeds on the peppers.
3. Honestly the amount of sugar in these recipes really balances out the heat. But if you’re averse to heat, definitely take the time to remove seeds and ribs — and always remember to wear gloves to protect yourself. This was our jalapeño and red pepper relish. You can see that I do dice them pretty finely before the added step of run them through the food processor. It really makes a difference on the texture of the final product, so don’t skip this step (or just keep chopping till you’ve got it super fine).
4. To process, I use the pulse setting, running it for a second or two and stopping and starting again. The finer you get it, the better.
5. Meanwhile, get your hot water bath canner filled up and boiling. Wash and set your glass jars into the heating water and set up a second pot for your lids too.
6. Now it’s time to start cooking this up.
7. In a 3 quart pot, mix your 4 cups of finely chopped peppers, cider vinegar, and the sure jell pectin.
8. Turn on high heat and bring to a rolling boil, one that keeps boiling even when you’re stirring constantly. This is extremely important as it helps activate the pectin.
9. Next you will add those 5 cups of granulated sugar, stir to combine and work to bring this back up to a rolling boil. I like to keep it on medium high heat at this point. This should take about 5 minutes or so to return to a full raging boil. BEWARE: you do NOT want to keep this on super high heat as it can and WILL boil over. Trust me, I’ve been there and it’s a sticky mess.
10. Once you get back to that vigorous, rolling boil, set a 1 minute timer and stick to it. As soon as those 60 seconds expire, remove from heat and gently skim off any foam on top.
11. Now you can hot pack your jars, leaving 1/2” headspace.
12. Clean the tops of jars off with a damp paper towel to remove any jelly that may have dripped on it before placing the lid and securing it to a fingertip tightness with the ring.
13. Boil in your hot water bath canner for 15 minutes (1,000-3,000 feet), adjusting for altitude. Keep the boil active and lid on or just burped.
14. After the boil, turn off heat and let stand in canner for 5 minutes.
15. Remove from heat and place on a tea towel and let stand overnight or for 24 hours before moving.
16. Check to make sure all seals are secure, label, and store. Or just crack one open immediately and slather on a bagel or piece of sourdough with some cream cheese. You’re choice!