How to make my ultimate hot & sweet chilli & garlic jam

How to make my ultimate hot & sweet chilli & garlic jam - cooking at De Tout Coeur Limousin

Hot & sweet chilli & garlic jam - cooking at De Tout Coeur Limousin 

On the top of my desert island top 5 foodie must haves - chilli and garlic. Add these both to a spicy, fragrant chilli jam and I am more than happy.  It can be added to stews and soups, stir-fries with rice and noodles or as a condiment with whatever you fancy.  My current favourite use of it is adding a spoonful on top of scrambled eggs for a breakfast with a kick or on top of fresh goats cheese on a slice of pain de campagne.  My ultimate hot & sweet chilli & garlic jam is also a delicious way of using up a glut of chillies (if you are lucky enough to be able to grow them in your garden). This is my 'go to' recipe whenever I need a chilli fix - which is pretty much daily, and luckily this recipe makes a few jars of the stuff. 

Chillies are a superfood too so this is no bad thing - packed with vitamins and antioxidants they do you good.  This recipe is not a 'blow your socks off' type of chilli jam as the sweetness from the sugar and other ingredients counteracts this - but be aware that chilli tolerances vary between people. The chillies I used were marked hot rather than very/extremely hot so I left the seeds in.  

I also make a batch of this every year to give away as homemade food gifts at Christmas time - you may have guessed I think it's rather good with roast turkey too!  

I hope you try this out and let me know how you get on.  Do say bonjour in the comments below and let me know what's on your desert island food list too...

recipe by: Ema at De Tout Coeur Limousin

makes about 1500-1750 ml of hot & sweet chilli & garlic jam

preparation time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 60-90 minutes (depending on pan size/heat)

ingredients:

225g chilli peppers (I used small green Thai/finger chillies but any would work - you can deseed them if you want but I did not as wanted the extra heat)

400g red/bell pepper - cleaned, deseeded and roughly chopped

600g onion - chopped

400g fresh tomatoes - chopped

1.5kg sugar

750ml red wine vinegar

1 head garlic - cloves peeled

1 tbs sea salt

1. clean your peppers and chillies well and de-stalk the chillies - you may want to wear rubber gloves while doing this to protect your hands - and remember don't touch any sensitive body parts after handling chillies!!!!!!
2. add the cleaned and prepared chillies, peppers, tomatoes, onions & garlic to a large pan with the vinegar and salt and blend with a hand blender (or in an electric blender before putting in the pan if you don't have one) until well mixed together - keep your eyes out of the way as any splashes would be very painful!
3. add the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and bring to the boil then simmer for about 60-90 minutes until reduced and thickened. Skim off any 'scum' that rises to the surface while cooking.  
4. when the jam is cooked, carefully add to prepared, sterilized jars - remember you must add hot jam to the hot jars - otherwise the end product will not be sterilized and also the jars may crack. Seal the jars immediately and leave to cool before storing in a cool, dark place. 
5. the jam is ready to eat the next day but will also keep for at least 1 month unopened. Once opened store in the fridge.  

hot & sweet chilli & garlic jam - cooking at De Tout Coeur Limousin

Check out my recipe page here for more of my cooking

This recipe is adapted from my original recipe for Ultimate hot and sweet chilli, garlic and ginger jam featured previously on my food blog Chip Butties and Noodle Soup, Punk Domestics and Instructables.  

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