Basic Herb Wine Jelly Recipes

WINE AND HERB JELLY

Steps:

• Heat wine and thyme until simmering. Turn off heat, cover and steep for 30 minutes.
• Put a rack or a folded kitchen towel in a large pot, fill with water and bring to a boil. Add 5 quarter-pint canning jars and boil for 10 minutes. Jars may be left in the warm water until ready to be filled. (Alternatively, sterilize jars by running them through a dishwasher, leaving them inside until ready to fill.)
• Place canning rings in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add lids to soften rubber gaskets. Rings and lids may be left in water until jars are filled.
• Remove thyme from wine. It will smell spicy and herbal. In a large heavy, nonreactive pot, stir together wine, lemon juice and pectin. Bring heat to medium high and stir often as mixture comes to a boil.
• When the mixture reaches a boil that cannot be stirred down, add sugar while stirring constantly.
• Heat jelly again to strong, hard boil to reduce the foam. Boil hard for exactly one minute to set the pectin. Turn off heat.
• Add butter and stir well to continue reducing the foam. Remove any remaining foam with a clean spoon.
• Ladle hot jelly into warm jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims clean with a damp towel. Place lids on jars, screw on rings and lower jars back into pot of boiling water. Return to full boil and boil jars for 5 minutes. Transfer jars to a folded towel and cool for 12 hours; you should hear them ping as they seal. Sealed jars are shelf stable for one year.
• Once cool, test seals by removing rings and lifting jars by their flat lids. If the lid releases, the seal has not formed. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a month, or reprocessed. (Rings and jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time jars are processed.) To reprocess, reheat to boiling then continue as before.

BASIC JELLY

Steps:

• Combine fruit and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, mashing occasionally with a potato masher, until fruit is very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a fine sieve set over a heatproof bowl; let drain without pressing on fruit, 4 hours. Strain again through sieve lined with damp cheesecloth. Measure juice; you will have 3 to 4 cups.
• In a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring juice to a boil. Add 3/4 cup sugar for each cup of juice. Add lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Return to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, 8 to 12 minutes. To test if jelly is done, dip a large metal spoon in, lift it horizontally above pot, and let mixture drip back in. Jelly is done when mixture has thickened slightly and drops of it slide together off spoon in a sheet. (Temperature should register 221 degrees on a candy thermometer.) Skim foam from top.
• Ladle jelly into clean containers, leaving 3/4 inch of headroom. Let cool completely. Cover, label, and refrigerate up to 1 month, or freeze up to 1 year.

BASIL JELLY

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring water and basil to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 10 minutes. Strain and discard basil. Return 3-2/3 cups liquid to the pan. Stir in pectin and, if desired, food coloring. Return to a rolling boil over high heat. Stir in sugar. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off foam., Ladle hot liquid into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight. , Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 15 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

WINE JELLY

Steps:

• Combine wine, lemon juice, and pectin in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam off top, if necessary.
• Ladle hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Tighten 2 piece lids. Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

ROSEMARY MINT WINE JELLY

Steps:

• In a food processor or blender blend together the mint, the rosemary, and 1 cup of the wine until the herbs are chopped fine and transfer the mixture to a bowl. In a small saucepan bring the remaining 1 cup wine to a boil, add it to the herb mixture, and let the herb mixture stand, covered, for 45 minutes. Strain the herb mixture through a sieve lined with several layers of rinsed and squeezed cheesecloth set over a large measuring cup, pressing hard on the solids,and add 1/4 cup of the lemon juice. (There should be exactly 2 cups liquid; if there is less add enough of the additional lemon juice to measure 2 cups liquid.) Transfer the liquid to a kettle, stir in the sugar, stirring until the mixture is combined well, and bring the mixture to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the pectin quickly, bring the mixture again to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, and boil it, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the kettle from the heat, skim off any foam with a large spoon, and ladle the mixture immediately into 4 sterilized 1/2-pint Mason-type jars, filling the jars to within 1/8 inch of the tops. Wipe the rims with a dampened cloth and seal the jars with the lids. Invert the jars for 5 minutes and turn them upright. (Instead of being inverted, the jars may be put in a water bath canner or on a rack set in a deep kettle. Add enough hot water to the canner or kettle to cover the jars by 1 to 2 inches and bring it to a boil. Process the jars, covered, for 5 minutes, transfer them with tongs to a rack, and let them cool completely.) Store the jars in a cool, dark place.

SURE.JELL WINE JELLY

Steps:

• Bring boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
• Measure wine into 6- or 8-qt. saucepot. Stir in pectin. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.
• Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
• Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. (If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

WINE JELLY

Steps:

• Stir wine and sugar together, set aside for 10 minutes.
• Stirring occasionally.
• Stir water and Certo together and then stir into wine mixture. Stir constantly for 3 minutes, then fill jelly jars to within 1/2" of tops.
• Wipe tops of jars and cover with lids.
• Let stand for 24 hours at room temperature, then freeze. Store in refrigerator after opening.
• Use any red, rose or white wine. Or use a cream sherry, white port or marsala.
• Sweet wines make a more flavorful jelly than dry wines do.
• Tip: I have found this works best if you heat the wine and sugar while stirring. I couldn't get the sugar to dissolve until I did. I also filled the jars with hot water while making the jelly so they were warm when I filled them. This seemed to help the lids seal better.

BASIC HERB WINE JELLY

Steps:

• Combine wine, vinegar and herbs in large saucepan. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes to extract flavors.
• Strain mixture through a lined sieve; discard leaves. Return liquid to saucepan and stir in sugar.
• Bring to a boil over high heat and boil rapidly for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat and stir in pectin.
• Ladle into hot jars and process for 10 minutes in water bath.