Pepper Jam

My garden runneth over.

The tomatoes are nearing perfection, and I have loads of them. That’s for next week.

The eggplants have been amazing. Ditto the green and yellow string beans.

The basil, rosemary, thyme and mint have been glorious.

Ok, I had some fabulous squash blossoms but the zucchini and yellow squash — eh! Not so good.

But the chili peppers! Oh my. I planted several kind: cayenne, jalapeno, poblano, serrano and hatch. And I have so many peppers that I could open a farm market and make a few bucks.

With the abundance last year I made salsa a lot and used the peppers for various recipes. This year I gave a lot of peppers away. Still had more than enough to make salsa and then some.

So I made jam.

Yes, jam. Sweet, hot, sticky, unusual.

It took a few tries until I got it right. But oh my, it turned out to be the big summer bonus this year.

Delicious.

So far I’ve served it several times with cheese (the best kinds are spreadable tangy cheeses such as mascarpone, goat cheese or sheep cheese, but plain old cream cheese would work).

But we’ve also eaten this with grilled beef ribs and steak.

Perfect.

I’ll be including a dish of this jam alongside the apples and honey this Rosh Hashanah.

You can eliminate the bell pepper in the recipe. I happened to have one and wanted to use it. One pound of any kind of peppers will do.

Pepper Jam

• 1 pound mixed chili peppers and/or chili peppers and one red bell pepper

• boiling water

• 2-1/2 cups sugar

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers. Chop the peppers coarsely and place the pieces in a bowl. Pour enough boiling water over the peppers to cover them. Let rest for 10 minutes. Drain the peppers, discard the water and process the peppers to tiny pieces in a food processor. Spoon the chopped peppers into a saucepan. Add the sugar, apple cider vinegar and salt, stir to blend the ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat lower so that the ingredients cook at a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat. Do not be concerned if the mixture seems thin. It will thicken as it cools — if it is not as thick as jam when cooled, simmer the ingredients for 5-10 more minutes. Spoon the jam into jars and store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 2 cups

Tomato-Cucumber-Chili Pepper Salad

Finally, a chili pepper! For years I have been trying to grow something in my garden, but what with crazy weather — too much heat, too much rain all at once — and those beautiful deer, rabbits and other furry little animals chomping away at my plantings, I have been totally unsuccessful.

So this year I planted some chili peppers, thinking, “maybe those animals don’t like chili peppers.”

And I guess they don’t because I harvested the one in the photo and there’s lots more coming.

I chopped that zinger into a cucumber and tomato salad and served it with grilled chicken breasts and hot corn on the cob.

Tomato-Cucumber-Chili Pepper Salad

1 medium cucumber
2 large tomatoes
1 chili pepper
1/4 cup chopped red onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel the cucumber, slice it in half and scoop the seeds. Chop the cucumber into small pieces and place in a bowl. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and add to the cucumber. Cut the chili pepper in half, remove the seeds, chop the pepper and add to the bowl. Add the red onion and parsley. Pour in the olive oil and wine vinegar and toss the ingredients to coat them evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings