What the dickens is "left-over wine?"

My favorite kind of project. Making something for the people I love.

My dear friend Becky Sue Cook gave me this idea. She can bake me under a table and is a terrific example of someone who cooks poor, eats rich. Plus she's a fellow WHS RAM. Kudos love!

Most of you know that I make a little jar of something for gifts at Christmas. The brilliance of this project is it combines two of my favorite things. Hockey and Doctor Who...no, wait I meant COOKING and WINE. Yeah, those two.

Great use of any leftover wine. Simple stuff. Nothing you haven't seen before, I've done at least one jar project every year.

Wine jelly

MISE-EN-PLACE

3 cups dry wine. Red or white. I picked a nice fruity Merlot from Washington. Just about one 750ml bottle.

4 cups sugar

1 3.78 ounce package of Pectin. They used to be labeled straight 4 ounces...bastards. It's ok, it works.

One big pot for sterilizing jars and lids

One pot for jelly process.

Pair of tongs

Ladle.

And yes, they do sell special equipment just for processing jars. Do you need it? Well, no. I'm a professional and I don't. I'm not the kind of person who spends money on stuff I'll only use once a year.

Anyway....

Put all jars, lids and rings into your large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil. Sterilization. Just let it go. Make sure your tongs and ladle are in there too.

 

In your other pot over high heat dump in the wine and pectin. Stir gently until it comes to a boil.

Dump in all the sugar. Stir until dissolves. Keep stirring and boil hard for one minute. Lower to simmer.

Now you're going to notice a wacky, foamy scum gathering on the surface. You'll want to remove that. Just use a small spoon and dump it.

If you want to test your batch, easy. Grab a small plate or bowl. Dribble some onto it and count to 10. Turn it upside down. If it's perfect it will set and not drip.

 

 

Ok? All good? Time to process.

Using the tongs, grab one jar and fill where the ring screws on. Wipe rim with a paper towel dipped in the hot water, this will insure a tight seal. Grab one lid (that's the flat one) place on top, grab one ring and screw it on tight. I use a clean cloth towel.

ONE

TWO

As each jar is filled, put them on a towel out of the way.

Once all jars are filled and lidded. GENTLY lower them standing back into the hot water and let it come back to boil for 5 minutes.

Remove, dry and let stand until cool. Out of any cold drafts, we don't want anything to crack.

I know! Easy right? You'll get 6-8 oz jars of yield. That's a pretty fair return for little effort.

Wine jelly is a terrific condiment for savory cheeses, goes terrific with bagels and cream cheese, rye crackers...etc. Be your family's gourmet this holiday!

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Have a joyful season y'all

Cooking poor, eating rich

Ciao

 

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