JBug's Kitchen Antics

Raspberry Habanero Pepper Jelly

Are you really tired of winter and can't wait for spring? Finding your meals bland and boring? Well here's a little somethin' somethin' guaranteed to warm your soul and put some spring in your step. Not only that, it's a handy little item to have on hand to put a little "joi" in just about darn near anything.

A couple of weeks ago the big guy was on a cookin' binge and whipped up two batches of this ruby red, sweet and spicy jelly we found on-line at food.com. If ya' really want to know the truth, I wish he'd made another 3 or 4 while he was at it.

A combination of sweet red and green bell peppers and spicy habanero along with raspberries, this one might make you think "no way could I eat this", but you'd be wrong. The sweetness from the raspberries never mind the sugar really tones down the habanero heat. Actually if you're that chicken, you could substitute jalapeno peppers instead but that would be a huge disfavor.

It's wonderful slathered on top of a cream cheese bagel, or with crackers, or on a slice of ooey gooey triple cream brie. Try it with some roasted chicken or on a panini sandwich. Melted down, you can use it as a dipping sauce for chicken wings or ribs or even as the sweet, spicy ripple in a batch of home made chocolate ice cream. Spicy heat and chocolate together are darn near perfection.

Raspberry Habanero Pepper Jelly (adapted from food.com)

Be sure to wear gloves when you’re working with habanero peppers and remember to wash your work surface and knives well before you remove the gloves.

5 habanero peppers, seeds and membranes removed

2 sweet red bell peppers,

1 sweet green bell pepper

1 – 12 ounce package frozen raspberries, defrosted and put through food processor, then strained of seeds

2-1/4 cups water

1 cup white vinegar

1 package sure gel dry pectin (POWDER)

4 cups sugar

Chop peppers in food processor until very fine. Put all but a quarter cup into a large saucepan along with raspberries and water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Press through a fine sieve or jelly bag. You’ll require 2 cups of juice to finish the recipe; however, we had 4 cups so we made a second batch.

Return 2 cups of juice to a large, clean pot. Add vinegar and reserved chopped peppers. Cool for 15 minutes. Add pectin, stirring well. Bring to a boil and add sugar. Bring back to a boil and boil hard for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, skim foam from top. Ladle into hot sterilized half pint jars, leaving 1/8 inch head room. Seal and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Note: jelly may take up to 2 days to completely solidify. Makes 5  half pint jars. Download Raspberry Habanero Pepper Jelly

Buttermilk Cheese Scones and Kicky Kumquat Marmalade

Last night's dinner would have been better suited to a hot summer's day, but what the heck. Every once in a while you just have to break away from the usual, so instead of making a pot of chicken soup with the big guy's leftover rotisseried chicken, I used the breasts to make a batch of chicken salad.

Sorry, there's no recipe for it people - I measured not one thing; however there are several recipes on this site for cluck in the salad form so fear not. I'll just say this one had the usual celery, sweet onion, and dried cranberries and the unusual chopped Granny Smith apples along with some Mango Chutney that we've shared here with you as well. The garnish of choice was a lashing of Kumquat Marmalade we made over the weekend with a little special kick - Habanero peppers.

Not only is this particular condiment gorgeous to look at, it says "howdy" all the way down and went exceedingly well on the moist and flakey Buttermilk Cheese Scones I whipped up to go with the salad. The marmalade, while kicky for sure, isn't so hot it is inedible which surprised the heck out of me considering there's 8 of the hot little suckers in it, seeds, membranes and all. Used as a dipping sauce for chicken wings or slathered on a bagel with cream cheese, it's all good stuff. For sure if you're having it on your morning piece of toast, it'll be a wake up call you're not likely to forget any time soon. That's a guarantee!

Buttermilk Cheese Scones (adapted from Real Simple)

The key to making tender, flakey scones is to use a light hand. Don’t work the gluten in the flour too much and if the dough seems a tad dry, don’t sweat it. They’ll be wonderful!

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup shredded Madragal cheese (or Swiss)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

 1-1/4 cups buttermilk

 Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt thyme and red pepper flakes. Whisk lightly to combine. Using a pastry blender cut in butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Toss in cheeses. Make a well in the center of the ingredients and add buttermilk. Using a fork, toss ingredients together to form a loose crumbly dough. Transfer to a lightly floured board and kneed gently until it comes together (about 30 seconds). Form dough into a flat round approximately 1 inch thick and cut into eight even wedges. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake until scones are a very light brown – 20 to 25 minutes. Download Buttermilk Cheese Scones

Kicky Kumquat Marmalade with Habanero (adapted from pepperfool.com)

Remember to use gloves when you’re slicing the Habanero peppers, otherwise you’ll burn yourself. Be sure to remove gloves carefully and wash your hands well when you are finished. Do not rub your eyes or touch your face or the air will turn blue!

2 cups thinly sliced kumquats, seeds removed

1 cup Minneola tangelo, seeded and finely sliced

1 cup Valencia Orange, seeded and finely sliced

7 cups water

8 Habanero peppers, sliced into thin rings (seeds and membranes included)

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind

3/4 cup Triple Sec

Sugar to equal cooked fruit

In a large glass bowl mix together kumquats, tangelo and orange. Cover with 7 cups of water, cover and let stand overnight in a cool place (or minimum 12 hours). Pour ingredients into large pot and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, stir in habenero, lemon and Triple Sec. Measure this mixture carefully and add an equal amount of sugar. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, for 30 to 45 minutes or until mixture begins to set when tested. Remove from heat, pour into sterilized jars. Process jars for 10 minutes to seal. Makes 8 half pints. Download Kicky Kumquat Marmalade with Habanero

 

Mango Chutney

Tiz' the season for making use of Nature's bounty and fortunately for all of us, there's a lot of bounty to be enjoyed at the moment including some fabulous tropical fruit.

The big guy and I whipped up some Mango Chutney on Saturday - a very welcome addition to our jam cupboard. This particular version from The Complete Book of Year Round Small Batch Preserving is loaded with apples, red peppers and golden raisins along with mango of course. Great with curries, chicken, pork, lamb and game, I daresay it would be fabulous with almost anything - say even a grilled cheese sandwich.

Imagine, just imagine a crispy hot chicken Panini adorned by this fruit jeweled chutney, or a spoonful nestled into a bite size samosa.  We enjoyed our chutney last night along with a Curried Ground Chicken dish from Simply Recipes. (Elise made hers with ground turkey, but I used chicken). It was absolutely delicious.

A word from the wise - there are many things I don't know for sure but I do know this - we loved this Mango Chutney's spicy ginger curry flavored sweetness but for certain there's just not enough of the darn stuff so next time I'll be making a much, much bigger batch. You can count on that!

Mango Chutney

2 large mangos, peeled and chopped

3 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 medium sweet red pepper, chopped

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup golden raisins

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cinnamon and salt

Combine first 8 ingredients (up to and including ginger) in a large stainless steel or enameled saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently uncovered for 20 minutes or until fruit is tender. Stir from time to time. Add lemon juice, curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Continue to boil gently for 5 more minutes. Ladle into sterilized half pint jars and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes 5 cups.