My neighbor has a fig bush. This bush doesn’t look that big but let me tell you about how many figs this thing pumps out!! Whew! I can barely keep up. There is an elderly couple who lives there and they like to enjoy a few figs from it but tell me to pick all I can. They say they hate to just see the birds get to them all. One day while I was filling up buckets of them, the man came out and asked me what I do with all the figs. I told him I had grand plans of making all kinds of things with them but that I mostly just stand at the kitchen counter eating them by the handful until I feel sick. He laughed and said I sounded just like his wife!
Even after sharing with friends I still managed to freeze a lot of them in vacuum sealed bags and am using them here and there. In an attempt to figure out what in the world to do with ALL THESE JALAPENOS, I decided that fig jalapeño jam sounded like the perfect treat.
This stuff is delicious! If you resist just eating it will a spoon out of the jar, you can put them on a cracker with cream cheese, add it to a turkey sandwich, make a marinade out of it or pour it over pork chops or chicken. If you mixed some in some olive oil, you’d have a zippy salad dressing with a nice kick! I was thinking I might even add a table spoon of it to some cranberry sauce and see how that goes! Let me know if you come up with other creative ways to use it!
If you are new to canning, please consult a trusted source for safe canning procedures.
This is a water bath canning recipe.
Fig Jalapeno Pepper Jam
Equipment
- water bath canner
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 2 cups figs
- 2 cups bell peppers red, green, yellow, or orange will do
- 1 cup jalapeños diced seeded if you want them less spicy
- 1 pkg Sure-Jell
- 1 tsp butter
- 7 cups sugar
Instructions
- In a food processor add the figs, bell peppers, and jalapeño peppers and pulse until desired consistency. I like to leave mine kind of chunky.
- Pour the mixture to a large pot and add the vinegar, Sure-Jell and butter.
- Bring to a boil for a couple of minutes
- Add the sugar, stir, and bring back to a rolling boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and ladle into sterilized jars.
- Wipe rim of jar, add lids and rings, and place in water bath canner.
- Process 10 minutes for 1/2 pints and 15 min for pints.
- Remove from canner and allow to cool.
- Once the lids are sealed, occasionally gently shake jars to make sure your the pieces are distributed throughout the jar instead of all staying at the top.If you miss this step that isn't a problem. Just mix the jar with a spoon when you open it.
Happy Homesteading!