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ottawapepper

Whoo Hooo! Its Turkey (and pepper) Day!

ottawapepper
14 years ago

Hey folks, for you non-Canadians out there, itÂs Thanksgiving weekend up here above the 49th.

How does this relate to Hot Peppers itÂs a great reason to break out a fresh jar of my Habanero Cranberry Jelly! A nice tangy treat that gives you a good kick. Makes turkey (even cooked ones) dance ;-))

HereÂs a shot of our bird fresh out of the oven posing with a jar or tangy heat. I think I'm going to use some of my Bhut harvest this year to make a Ghost Cranberry Jelly for xmas.

Bill

Comments (8)

  • naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
    14 years ago

    Nice looking bird and sauce. I'm down below....43 north latitude. Another month plus before I cook a whole turkey. What other foods are your traditional Thanksgiving fare? A few things we don't have most of the year but always have on Thanksgiving day are sweet potatoes (yams), cranberries, and pumpkin pie. I haven't tried any of those with hot peppers....yet. Are your holiday food "must cooks" similar?

  • vic01
    14 years ago

    Yummy that looks awesome. Do you have a recipe to share?

  • rdback
    14 years ago

    Bill,

    When the hell is fresh cranberry season??? LOL

    As I recall, your recipe calls for fresh cranberries. I've been looking for fresh cranberries for months! Have you ever tried frozen cranberries? What about Craisins (dried cranberries)?

    I really want to make a batch of this jelly for Thanksgiving THIS year lol.

    Rick

    P.S. Mixed up another batch of your Caribbean BBQ Sauce and used it on some slow-grilled babyback ribs this past weekend. Brutal good!

  • ottawapepper
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Naturegirl_2007, IÂd say for the most part, the Canadian Thanksgiving tables are very similar to American ones. Turkey, ham, lots of root vegetables (mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, brussels sprouts, carrots etc.). Apple or Pumpkin pie for desert.

    I guess the main difference between American and Canadian Thanksgiving is what we are giving thanks for. I understand that in the US your holiday celebrates the arrival of the Pilgrims. Up here ours celebrates our harvest. Ours is earlier than yours due to our climate our growing season comes to an end long before most areas in the US.

    Vic01, IÂd be happy to share the recipe. I will state however that it is not a "tested canning" recipe (ie. from a food lab). It is a customized version of a similar tested recipe and has been vetted by some of the experts over on the Harvest Forum. Here you go.

    Habanero Cranberry Jelly

    Ingredients:
    3/4 cup cider vinegar
    3/4 cup white vinegar
    2 cups 100% unsweetened cranberry juice
    1/2 cup finely diced habanero pepper *
    1/2 cup finely diced red onion *
    1 3/4 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
    1 pkg liquid pectin
    5 cups sugar

    *note: you can adjust the heat by increasing or decreasing the pepper to onion ratio as long as you adhere to 1 cup total pepper and onion.

    Procedure:
    Finely dice peppers and onion and coarsely chop cranberries
    In a large sauce pan, combine cranberries, pepper, onion, vinegars, and juice
    Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low
    Simmer 15 Â 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend and to soften up cranberries
    Add sugar and return to a hard boil for 1 minute
    Remove from heat and stir liquid pectin in well
    Add jelly to hot sterilized jars
    Wipe rim of jars with a clean damp towel
    Position lids as per usual instructions
    Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes
    Remove jars and allow them to cool
    During the cooling, periodically "gently" invert jars to distribute solids.

    Yield 7 or 8 - 250ml (1 cup) jars

    rdback, LOL. I wouldnÂt get hung up on finding fresh cranberries. IÂve made it with both fresh and frozen. I guess IÂm lucky to live close to a cranberry farm so fresh is not difficult to find here. IÂve also used sweetened cran-apple juice in a pinch. IÂve never tried Craisins.

    IÂm glad to hear youÂre enjoying the Caribbean BBQ Sauce. I gotta make a fresh batch myself. I canÂt eat pulled pork without it!

    Bill

  • ottawapepper
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    rdback, sorry I should have said "IÂve also used sweetened cran-apple juice instead of fresh sugar free juice in a pinch". Substituting cran-apple juice for cranberries just wouldn't cut it ;-))

    Bill

  • sandpebbles
    14 years ago

    delicious looking turkey. loved your bbq sauce, will try this cranberry sauce next. looks like you've got a following...LOL. good thanksgiving.

  • naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
    14 years ago

    rdback, Around Michigan we start seeing fresh cranberries in the stores in Novemeber. They are either in plastic bags sorta like small prechopped cole slaw mixes or else in plastic boxes similar to those used in packaging strawberries. A nearby specialty market has them for sale already this year, earlier than I remember in the past. By the end of December they are gone. I usually buy a few extra bags and toss them in the freezer with only a freezer bag added around the plastic bag they come in. They keep well and can be used in any cooked recipe as if they are fresh. They don't retain the crisp texture so they aren't exactly the same as fresh in uncooked recipes. I'm generally okay with the results even when substituted for fresh, though.

    Ottawapepper, I may have to try adding brussels sprouts or rutabagas to our Thanksgiving dinner. Never had them for Thanksgiving before. Our extended family has alway celebrated Thanksgiving as a day of reflecting on all we have to be thankful for....family, enough food and good shelter, good health, etc. We often attend a church service focusing on giving thanks and helping others. We do hear about the Pilgrims but more in the way that they gave thanks for a good harvest and we will celebrate our blessings as they did, by thanking God. Maybe we ought to be a bit more thankful for our harvest and food than we have been though. We've spent alot of our time sharing thanks for family relationships and jobs we enjoy. Perhaps we take our food for granted a bit too much.

    We're traveling across country this year to spend Thanksgiving with a daughter. Wonder if she would like Habanaro Cranberry relish? Maybe we'll try a small batch and go light on the heat.....we're beginners :)

  • neohippie
    14 years ago

    I didn't even know anything about Canadian thanksgiving. How interesting. The Pilgrims are overrated anyway. Ok, maybe not "overrated", but I've read/heard so much about how our traditional Thanksgiving story is, well, wrong (or at least mythical, if you want to use a less harsh term), that I much prefer focusing on harvest and giving thanks anyway, though I do like the emphasis on foods native to the Americas (turkey, cranberries, pumpkin, sweet potatoes), and since chili peppers fall in that category, I think it's very appropriate to include them!

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