Sweet to Hot - Pepper Jellies

I was watching Anna Olson's show >"Fresh" on The Food Network the other day and saw a recipe for Red Pepper Jelly. Jellies have always seemsed so complicated; to concentrate the flavours and the excessive amounts of sugar was all so inconceivable to me. Worst of all, what if I didn't get the colour right? I mean, with jellies it's naked to flaws of hue. If it's not spot on, it looks unapetizing at best. And then I saw the trick. She used (gasp) food colouring.

It's hard to think about food colouring as good for anything other than frosting, but it does have it's uses. And if Anna Olsen uses it to give a visual pop to her jellies, then dammit, it's good enough for me.

With the possible 'wow' for a dinner party, I figured I could take down the recipe and try it. Why not? I felt this way only because I saw the options for a savoury jelly, and figured it would be so interesting to try this to serve with a meat. Or even if I substituted the peppers for mint (which my parents have growing like a weed), or any other sort of herb. This could get interesting in application.

I'm capturing the recipe here, although it can be found on the Food Network website, I'm keeping it for my notes.

PepperJelly (courtesy of Anna Olsen)

In a pot on med-high heat, add...

• 1 2/4c white wine vinegar
• 1 1/4 c water
• 2 sprigs rosemary

When liquid comes up to heat, add...

• 2 c sweet red pepper
• 1 c hot pepper (Seeded)

Bring to boil
Reduce to simmer (covered) 15 min
Strain to remove solids (liquid is yellow-orange)
Strain with cheesecloth (2 cups)
Return to pot

• 5 c sugar

Stir on med heat. Add...

• red food colouring
• 1 pk liquid pectin

And maintain bare simmer (until there is a bit of thickening pull)
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PostScript:
Since this post, I have tried to use galatine to thicken a chipotle concoction that would somehwat mimic a taco hot sauce. I used chopped chipotle, 1 part lime juice, and 4 parts water. Bring to a boil and add gelatin. I think I added too much gelatin. What is '1 package'? I need to better understand the ratio of gelatin to liquid so I don't once again create chipotle jello. Should I have used a pectin instead? If I could 'find' pectin around here, then maybe I could start experimenting.