Quest 3: Red Chu Jelly
This savory jelly is
a little out of the ordinary. ChuChus typically appear from out of the ground
and made their debut appearance in Majora’s Mask. Since they come from the
ground, I found it fitting to use a root vegetable for the base of this jelly -
beets. Like other savory jellies like pepper jelly, I think that this version
could do quite well over cream cheese (because everything does) and served with
crackers.
Gear:
2 lbs. beets
5 cups water
Juice of 2 lemons (about ½ cup)
5 cups water
Juice of 2 lemons (about ½ cup)
1 tsp.
cinnamon
1 tsp. chili
powder
1 package dry pectin (Suregel)
6 cups sugar
6 cups sugar
Let’s talk about sterilization first. . .
The purpose
of canning is so that your food will last for a long, long time. It cannot do
that if there are microbial organisms living with it. So what do we do? We kill
‘em all! . . . Well, as many as possible. Throughout the canning process, it is
important to have a pot of almost boiling water on hand to put things like
spoons and ladles in so they stay sterile as we go.
You will
need to acquire (through legal means) a set of 8 oz. jam jars with metal rings
and lids. Please do not try to reuse the Grey Poupon jar or any other crazy jar
you have in your house, you are looking for a headache. Canning jars are made
for what we are putting them through and I cannot and will not guarantee any
sort of success with crappy jars. When they are empty, reuse your jam jars and
the rings again and again. So don’t worry, they pay for themselves in a couple
of uses. Note: You can only use the
lids once. It’s okay – I don’t want my next batch of blueberry syrup to taste
like beets anyways. Lids are relatively cheap.
Besides the
jar assemblies, you will also find handy a jar funnel, head space measuring tool
& jar tongs. These come in a kit at places like Target & Fleet Farm.
Some kits even come with a handy magnet to help you take the lids out of the
boiling water later. Other items you will need are a ladle, a couple of tea
towels, paper towels, either labels with your product information or a sharpie
pen.
There are
two methods for sterilizing your jars that I would recommend. One is to boil
them in a huge pot of water on the stove top for at least 5 minutes. I add
sanitizing powder too. The nice this about this method is that you already have your pot for sterilizing everything else.
But this does take up a lot of space. So the alternative method is the dishwasher. Place
your jars on the top rack and instead of using your normal gel or tablet, use a
sterilizing powder like OneStep. I steal out of my husband’s stash – he uses it
in the wine making process.
Okay . . . Onto the Quest!
Peel beets
and cut into quarters. I bought huge
beets, so I only needed 3 to equal 2 lbs.
 |
| That's a HUGE beet!! |
 |
| Quartered and ready to go. |
Cover with 5
cups of water and cook the beets until tender (about 30 minutes). Strain the
beets into a bowl and measure out 4 ½ cups of liquid and add to a large pot (6
quarts). Make salad or pickles out of the leftover beats.
Add cinnamon
and chili powder and simmer for about 10 minutes. Juice your lemons.
Stir in
lemon juice and pectin to beet juice. Bring to a full boil on high heat.
As soon as it comes to a boil, stir in all the sugar at one
time to the pot and stir for 1 minute until dissolved. And yes, you have to
time it.
The jelly is done. You should have 7 prepped, sanitized 8 oz. jelly jars for this recipe. Run your finger along the top of the jar before you start to make sure the edge of the jar is smooth. If it is rough, you may get leaks and is a sign that your jar is broken. Be sure to check even brand new jars before you use them.
Be careful, they’re hot.
Place lids in a small pot and
bring to a boil. This softens the wax on the lids.
Place jar funnel in a jar.
Ladel in the good stuff.
Measure to see that you have ½
inch of head space The correct amount of head space is important because it
allows the jar to seal properly.
Wipe the rim of the jar with
a clean, damp cloth . . .
I dip mine in the water from sanitizing the jars.
With the magnet, fish out the
lids.
And place them on the jar.
Now for
sealing . . .
You have two options for sealing. One options is to
place in a water bath (a large pot of boiling water) for 5-10 minutes. Or you can utilize what I like
to call the jam method . . .
Once the rings are on, flip
lid side down and let sit on the counter like this for 5 minutes.
Note: The jars are still hot.
Turn back right side up and
leave them alone. Just walk away!!
You will hear them make a “puck”
sound after awhile, meaning they have sealed.
When they have cooled, label and
enjoy! If you have any jars that do not “puck” you will have to refrigerate and
consume sooner than later.
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