It’s been a trying week in my kitchen, and it’s only Wednesday. To start out the weekend, I discovered the door to our stand up freezer in the basement was left ajar for a couple of days. It needed a good cleaning out anyways, but still, talk about a waste. Then, to make matters worse, when cooking dinner on Friday evening – the propane tank that fuels the cook top ran out. We only have to have it filled once a year, and I guess it just slipped my mind. That meant going until Monday without a propane delivery. Thankfully, we have a beast of a grill with a handy side burner. It’s saved our butts more times than I can count when we’ve been without electricity for an extended period of time.
However, one thing that I couldn’t do on my trusty grill was preserve the 15 lbs of strawberries we picked on Saturday afternoon. So, we went over to my Mom’s house yesterday to can, and it was a great afternoon. Mom always enjoys spending time with the boys, and it was nice not to have them pulling on my apron strings when I was in the process of canning. Hot jars + boiling water + toddlers just makes me nervous!
I couldn’t be happier with how this jam turned out. At first taste, it’s pure delicious strawberry. But, comin’ up from behind is a lovely smokey, slow burn from the chipotles. I intended to do one batch of this, and one batch of a traditional strawberry jam. But, I loved this so much that I went ahead and did a double batch. I can’t wait to try it mixed into BBQ sauce, brushed onto grilled pork, or making a fun dipping sauce for coconut shrimp. Definitely plan on entering this one into my local fair come August!
Strawberry Chipotle Jam
6 cups strawberries
1 can chipotle chiles in adobo (I used about 3/4 of a can)
6 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
In a food processor or blender, process the chilis and berries in a food processor (pulse), being careful not to over process, you want some pieces of berry. Pour berry mixture, lemon juice, and pectin into a large pot.
Cook, over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until mixture comes to a boil. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.
Immediately pour the hot jam into hot jars and put the lids on. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.
Source: adapted from SB Canning and The Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving
12 Comments
This is going on my MUST make soon list! My husband loves any kind of strawberry jam and he loves heat, I wouldn’t have thought to put the two together!
Love this. What a great idea! I never would have thought of this combination!
This sounds so good! I seem to have caught the canning bug a little bit pre-emptively this year, this is going on my list!
What a genius idea! Makes me want to hit the strawberry picking farm again.
I’m totally intrigued by this combo of sweet and spicy. Yum!
This sounds amazing! Just pouring over some softened cream cheese and digging in with crackers, sounds delicious.
Question: How would this work as a freezer jam?
Kristen, I’ve never made freezer jam, so I’m not sure. I’d imagine it would be fine though!
How many jars does this make ?
Marla, about 8 half-pint jars.
Thank you so much Laura ..making this today !
Sounds like you we’re having a bad day.Making those starwberries into jam is perfect instead of just putting them to waste.Though I have not tried putting chipotle chiles into any jam I have made.I guess I will give this a try.
Holy moly this is good…just got done canning this and I have to say that it almost didn’t make it into the jars because my husband kept toasting sour dough and slathering the jam all over it. It is sweet and smokey and HOT ! But the heat leaves your mouth very quickly . Making pulled pork sandwiches with this jam, a little may-o and coleslaw on a kaiser roll this weekend for memorial day beach picnic. Can’t wait !