Mint Jelly

Mint jelly is an essential with roast lamb.

It's equally good with plain sausages, liver or bacon.

It's an easy way of preserving mint for out of season use.

Jelly can be a bit of a fiddle. The main thing to bear in mind, is don't hurry the straining process.

Use a muslim bag suspended from the upturned legs of a stool. Leave it to drip into a bowl overnight.

Don't squeeze the bag as the jelly may turn cloudy.

Mint Jelly
3 lbs cooking apples
2 1/2 pints (1.7 litres) water
small bunch of fresh mint
sugar
handful chopped fresh mint
green colouring - optional

Wash the apples. No need to core and peel.

Cut into quarters and place in a preserving pan.

Cover with water and add the bunch of mint.

Simmer until the apples are pulpy.

Pour into a muslim bag and strain overnight into a bowl.

Measure the juice and allow one pound of sugar to one pint of juice.

Put the juice into a pan.

Add the sugar and stir until it's dissolved.

Boil rapidly until setting point is near - about 8 minutes.

Add the chopped mint and optional colouring then boil until setting point.

Setting point is reached around 220 F.

Bring the pan from the heat.

Have a cold saucer and put a spoon of jelly on the saucer.

It should cool and the surface set. Push the surface with your finger. If it wrinkles, then you're there, if not, boil another minute and test again.

Allow the jelly to cool and transfer into very clean hot jars and cover with waxed discs.

Allow to cool completely before sealing the jars.

Label and store the jelly.

For an explanation of gardening terms that you might not understand, please check out the Growers Dictionary section.
I found that I was either skimping on explanations or giving too much information on the individual pages so I have posted all relevant terms in one section - if there's anything you need to know, please drop me an email.

Mint Jelly - to Preserving Herbs