Blueberry Hatch Chili Jelly

A few weeks back a friend of mine was asking around about making a red berry/jalapeno jelly, and while I did not have red berries or jalapenos I did have blueberries and hatch chilis in the freezer! So, I got the bright idea to come up with a recipe that combined those two ingredients!

My friends response; That was phenomenal. I'd say you definitely nailed it and I'll be letting you know when I run out. LOL The flavor was so freaking good.

​Well, there you have it! Don't take it from me, but I too would have to agree it is phenomenal!

There are a few things to note;
1. Most importantly, make sure that you have absolutely all of the seeds out of the chilis. If you don't, you are definitely going to know it!
**take a look at the picture below where you can see that even I missed one seed! The good news is, they do float, and they are relatively easy to spot! The seed is the little white spot just left of center. 
2. The first time around I used 7 chilis, and I wanted just a little bit more bite so this time I used eight.
3. These are hot chilis, so if you can't take the heat you might want to use mild ones or less than 6 hatch chilis.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 Hatch Chili’s *HOT* (roasted and diced)
• 5 c. Blueberries (frozen and ground)
• 4 c. Sugar
• 3/4 c. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 8 tbsp. Ball - Realfruit classic pectin
• 3/4 c. Water
  

Directions:
​In a medium pot combine the apple cider vinegar and sugar on medium – low heat (4 on the dial). 

After combining the sugar and apple cider vinegar, chop up the chilis. Then add them to the pot. Stir occasionally. Make sure to pay attention to the pot, and the temperature. If this mixture gets too hot it will bubble over!!

After adding the chilis to the pot, measure out 5 cups of blueberries and put them in a food processor. Note that I am using frozen blueberries, that I picked in the wild, however that is not necessary. Add the ground up blueberries to the pot, again stirring occasionally.

Around this time you are going to want to add 1/2 inch of water or so to a saucepan, on medium heat, and put your canning jar lids in the water bath.

​In a large pot, add about 3 to 4 inches of water and bring to a boil.

Add the Realfruit classic pectin to 3/4 c. water, and whisk. Note that you can also add the mixture to a saucepan to heat up, to whisk and dissolve the pectin into the water. *DO NOT OVER HEAT the mixture!

Add the Realfruit classic pectin and water mixture to the pot, and turn up the temperature to a medium heat (I turned it up to 6 on the dial). Again, stirring occasionally. Bring to a hard boil!(1 to 2 minutes) Then, turn off the burner. Make sure your mixture does not boil over. 

Ladle hot jam into pint jars, make sure to wipe the rim clean. Leave 1/2 inch of room. Place the lid on the jar and then add the band. Do not over tighten, you should stop at the point of slight resistance.

Add filled jars to the large pot and boil for 10 minutes. *Water should NOT be over the top of the jars. 

Remove jars, and place jars on a towel on the counter. Tighten lids. Then cover with another towel so they do not cool too fast. *This is something my parents taught me to do when I was young. 

You should hear the lids pop after 1-2 hours, letting you know they have sealed. Let the jars sit on the counter for 12-24 hours, until completely cooled. Once cooled you can wipe off the lids, as you will likely see a white residue from boiling them in water.

*Yields 3 pints, or 6 1/2 pints.

While some stores may roasted them for you, if you need instructions on how to roast chilis yourself you can do a quick Google search or find directions here:
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-roast-and-freeze-green-chiles-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-193168