I first came across Chilli Jam at our lovely little local cafe in Brixton run by Rosie Lovell. Her cafe, Rosie's, was a favourite haunt of ours before we made the move up to North London, and we still miss our breakfasts there. She serves deliciously soft scrambled eggs on homemade toast with a big slug of chilli jam on the side of the plate. Sounds like a weird combo right? But it works. The first time we tried it we loved it so much we bought two jars of the stuff on the spot.
So, this Christmas I was looking for recipes that I could make for my hampers that fulfilled two criteria: 1. stuff we love to eat and 2. stuff I could make easily and in bulk. Nigella's recipe is sharper and more intense than the chilli jam we were used to but I think that's in it's favour - it works great on toast, with eggs, on cold meats, cheese, etc. The colour of the stuff is incredible.
And into the Christmas hampers went my jam. I spruced up the jars with a bow and a twig of berries and whacked them in. I made sure I kept a jar for myself though.
150g long red chillies, seeds removed
150g red peppers, seeds removed and cut into chunks
1kg jam sugar
600ml cider vinegar
Sterilized jars (you'll get enough for approx 8 200ml jars)
Put the chillies in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add red pepper chunks and pulse until everything is finely chopped and smooshy (this is a techinical term).
Heat the sugar and vinegar in a large pan over a low heat until dissolved.
Add chilli and pepper mush. Bring it to boil. Leave boiling strongly for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let it cool. Stir occasionally. After 30 mins it should have thickened up enough so that when you spoon it into jars the flecks of chilli and pepper are suspended evenly through the jelly.
Seal jars and give to some one you love. But keep one for yourself.
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