I know this will sound really strange, but oh, so yummy!
We had an abundance of strawberries a month ago due to Aldi’s having quarts of strawberries for $.49 – $.79 each. So we ate strawberries. We froze strawberries. And we made lots of jam. In looking for new strawberry ideas I found several recipes for Strawberry, Mint, Pepper Jam. Interesting. Since we had all the ingredients we gave it a try.
Most recipes are an unique why of making jams and jellies involving marinating the strawberries over night and cooking with a candy thermometer. I didn’t want to do that so essentially I just made up my own version based off the way I make Strawberry Jam.
Strawberry, Mint, Pepper Jam
5 cups mashed or strawberry puree
7 cups sugar
1 box sure-jell
1 tbles butter (optional for foaming)
10 – 20 whole peppercorns fresh ground
10 – 20 mint leaves shredded finely
I throw whole strawberries into the food processor and give it a whirl for just a second. Just enough to leave it chunky still. Measure out 5 cups. Follow the directions on the sure-jell box. Add the mint leaves and pepper while heating up the strawberries. Here is where you need to play around with the taste. We added a lot of mint but still didn’t have enough noticeable mint taste. (Mint’s flavor changes according to the rain and weather, so it is temperamental.) We add a lot of pepper but next batch we will add even more. Process jam as directed from instructions.
The pepper somehow makes the jam not quite as sweet and gives it a little surprising zest. It was hard to notice the mint after the jam was processed and cooled. But just Strawberry Pepper Jam is really good. I think I’ll make my jam like that more often than just plain Strawberry Jam. I like the extra kick.