Extra-Hot Pepper Jam

• one large red bell pepper, minced
• one large orange bell pepper, minced
• 1 1/2 cups fresh jalapeños, minced (no seeds)
  
• 1/2 cup fresh habenero, minced (no seeds)
• 7 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
• 2 (3 oz.) pkg liquid or powdered pectin

Combine first 6 ingredients in a 3 quart pot and bring to a boil. Continue the boil for 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat source and skim away the foam using a spoon. Next, add the liquid or powdered pectin and blend well into the mixture and bring back to a boil for a couple minutes and remove from heat.

With a ladle, scoop and pour the pepper liquid into hot sterilized half-pint size jars (or smaller), leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe the rim of the jars clean, cover immediately with metal lids and proceed to screw-on the bands. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Yields about 7 half-pints of jam and 2 half-pints of preserves. It may take a few days for the jam part to set so be patient. Store the jars of jam in a place where no one will shake or handle them.

You can of course add the seeds to this recipe but unless you are a gluten for punishment it's best to keep the Scovilles toned down a bit, or use milder peppers to tone-down the Scovilles even more. I advise you to use latex gloves to cut and mince the peppers ... Ahheee! C'est Bon!

Enjoy!

Ahhh ... the Sweet Success of Hot Chili Peppers

In the 1860s, Edmund McIlhenny, the inventor of Tabasco Hot Pepper Sauce, would hand-out free samples of his secret concoction to friends and relatives in used French par-fume bottles. The bottles' legendary shape became his trademark and easily identifiable by millions throughout the world today.

Five generations later, his ageless condiment remains a popular household name. You can still find it in countless homes and restaurants across our planet.

The taste of his new hot-sauce was exciting! Everyone loved its unique flavor and bouquet. It took time, patience and diligence to cure and age his pepper-sauce, but it finally paid-off. His formula for success, however (in my opinion), was when he put it into the hands of the fiery Cajuns who had settled the area of his processing plant a century before. They used it unsparingly to spice-up their love and passion for French foods.

The tipping-point came when McIlhenny began ordering the par-fume bottles for his famous sauce, in large quantities, straight from the overseas Paris manufacturers. A new industry was borne.

There was no better ingredient for success--one Irish saucier in the midst of a nation of French exiles who loved to cook. You can read more about the history of the Tabasco Company at http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_history/mcilhenny.cfm

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