Preserving a harvest by canning in a marvelous thing! Have a bumper crop of strawberries? It is no problem to just whip that into a delicious strawberry jam. The internet is full of strawberry jam recipes and it’s not difficult to find the right recipe for your particular needs. You can just be lazy and run to the grocery store and grab a jar of strawberry jam off the shelf — it would would taste nearly as good as the one you make yourself, but I find it difficult to justify the time and effort that goes into canning for food items that are easy to find.
If you are inclined to drag out that huge canning pot, clean it, find jars and lids and make sure they’re all clean, plus find all the other necessary utensils to do canning with — you might as well use that time and make something that would be hard to find at the local store. Perhaps something that would be delightful with a cheese tray — like Basil Jelly.
This recipe makes about four 8oz jars of basil jelly which you can use to to give as gourmet gifts for housewarming or Christmas or you can eat it yourself and wow your own taste buds. It’s so simple to make — you can use any type of basil you want — Large leaf, Cinnamon, Opal or Lemon Basil — and will stand out from regular ol’ strawberry jelly any day!
- 1 1/2 cups of packed basil (any kind)
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 3 1/2 cups white sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 ounces liquid pectin
- Chop up basil with a food processor.
- In a large saucepan, add the chopped leaves to 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
- Remove it from the heat, and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
- Strain the liquid into another saucepan removing the basil leaves and the rice wine vinegar, all the sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Bring it to a hard boil and add in the liquid pectin
- Boil for one minute. Skim off any foam and pour into prepared jars.
- Can as usual.
Photo credit: adapted from justgrowbio.com | Flickr