We’re back for round 2 of 2014’s Jelly of the Month Club. This month, fresh off the disappointment that was January’s garlic jelly, we were pleased to find a jar of jelly in one of our Penn’s Corner CSA farm shares.
However, after last month’s kind of sketchy odd-jelly-flavor experience, we were a little hesitant when we saw the selection:
Hot pepper jelly. Not exactly your typical jelly!
Although we like to be purists about how we enjoy each jelly (to make for an even comparison), I decided to go outside of the norm for this one. I followed a suggestion from the Penn’s Corner blog and paired the hot pepper jelly with some of the chevre we got from Riverview Farms in the share, and piled them both on top of some Trader Joe’s brioche toasts. And then, for completion’s sake, we also tried it on a plain piece of toast.
The plain piece of toast was a little iffy, but with the chevre? WOW. This stuff was perfect! It has a little kick, but it’s not overwhelming. The spicy pepper flavors are just the right complement to the creamy goat cheese. And if you’re not eating those Trader Joe’s brioche toasts like every day, you’re just missing out. We also served the jelly later in the week with our Cheese of the Month charcuterie plate, but more on that to come.
color: 4 – it’s like a jelly kaleidoscope!
flavor: 4 – it doesn’t stand as well on its own, but paired with cheese, it’s just perfect.
jelly-ness: 4 – it’s a little more colorful and chunky than most jelly, but still jelly-like.
jar presentation: 3 – no-nonsense here: it’s a Penn’s Corner jelly and it’s hot-pepper flavored. There you have it.
awesomeness: 4 – more please! this was a good example of how a non-traditional jelly flavor really worked.
We’re believers for sure. If you’re looking for something a little different to spice up your charcuterie plate or your late-night cheese snack, this is a great option. Apparently, you can alternatively bake the chevre in the oven (check out the details here) and in theory, make a chevre/hot pepper jelly pizza. The possibilities are endless (we’ll report back, of course, if we try any other recipes).
“In the U.S. and Canada Jelly refers to a clear or translucent fruit spread (jam) made from sweetened fruit (or vegetable) juice and is set by using its naturally occurring pectin, whereas outside North America Jelly refers to a gelatin-based dessert.”
Not really jelly if you can’t eat it on toast and it’s not really sweetened. Maybe jelly-ish, jelly-like, pseudo-jelly, but not really jelly.
Well, if that’s all it takes to make jelly, then it’s in! 🙂 It meets those criteria based on the ingredients listed on the jar: Fresh jalapenos, sugar, apple cider vinegar, powdered pectin. It just doesn’t shine alone on the toast like it does with the goat cheese.
Wow, hot pepper jelly. What will they think up next?!