Mmmm. Ymmmm. Smack, smack. Mmmm.
I just pulled my first (and it will not be my last!) batch of mint jelly out of the canner. I have never tasted anything like it! I'm totally blissing out here.
Mmmm. Golden jars of minty goodness.
The recipe, from Ball Complete book of Home Preserving
Mint Jelly (makes 4 half-pints)
1-1/2 cups fresh mint leaves, packed
2-1/4 Cups water
2 T lemon juice
3-1/2 Cups sugar
One packet liquid pectin
Prepare jars, canner, and lids. Wash, dry, and chop the mint fine.
Combine mint and water in a small saucepan. Bring to boil. Turn off heat and cover, letting it steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag.
In a large saucepan, mix 1-3/4 Cup minty liquid with lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When boiling so hard, you can't stir it down, add pectin and boil hard one minute. Remove from heat.
Skim scum, pour into jars leaving 1/4" headspace, process 10 minutes.
6 comments:
Yum! What all can you do with mint jelly? I've always only heard of it in relation to lamb chops, lol. How strong is it?
I'd call it "pleasantly strong". I could see it used for thumbprint cookies, with biscuits, on toast, on ice cream, mixed in with chocolate somehow.... The nice thing is that it only made four half-pint jars, so I'm not looking for loads of ideas right now. If we totally love it (and I wish to sacrifice more of my mojito mint!), then it's really easy to double or triple the recipe.
Oh darn, I see you only have a small portion or I would have been begging for a little sample. :) Sounds wonderful.
I mused about what to do with mint jelly (I decided to do lavender peach jam instead) and Daisy Mae posted this recipe on my blog - thought you might try it too.
and, yum! I am totally going to make mint jelly, yours looks fabulous!
ouble Chocolate Bread
Dry Ingredients - mix together and make a well in the center
1-3/4 c. flour *
3/4 c. sugar **
1/3 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. bkg powder
1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients - mix together then add to dry
3/4 c. milk - room temp
2/3 c. veg oil ***
2 eggs - room temp
2 tsp. vanilla
Then fold in
1 c. chocolate chips
1 well greased loaf pan
Bake at 350 - 55-65 minutes
It's about 25 minutes for muffins and 35 minutes for mini loaves.
* I always use 25% whole wheat flour
** This is where you would substitute the mint jelly. Even though the recipe calls for 3/4 c. sugar, I just add the whole half pint of mint jelly - since what am I going to do with a leftover bit of mint jelly?
*** I personally limit myself to 1/4 c. of oil per loaf of quick bread. If I'm using the mint jelly, I don't need the additional moisture. If I'm making it plain, then I use additional milk
************************
I also make this as a chocolate banana bread. I sub 1/2 c. of the flour with oats. I use a mashed banana in lieu of the additional oil. I cut back the sugar to 1/2 cup. And then I use half chocolate chips and half walnuts.
My mouth is watering. I was itching to do something garden wise I found out lilacs were edible and made lilac jelly. Now I'm planning to add some mint to our garden and hopefully get at least one batch of mint jelly by the end of the season!
Dear For Better or Worsted,
I just have a quick question for you but couldn't find an email so had to resort to this. I am an environmental blogger. Please email me back at barbaraobrien@maacenter.org when you get a chance. Thanks.
Barbara
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