Herby Purple Hull Pea Jelly

We have had a very productive summer as far as preserving goes.
More watermelon rind and sweet pickles were put up.

That brings the sweet pickle count to about 7 gallons!  Holy smokes!  Our cucumbers have been incredibly prolific this summer; for which, I am thankful.

I have also made a little over two gallons of sandwich slice dill pickles.

Hear that tomatoes?  Your buddies the cucumbers are smokin' you guys on production!  Time to pick up the pace before I have to pick up the Pace!...please don't drive me to canned salsa...>blech!<

I've pickled okra and hot peppers, made Mexican relish and fig preserves, as well as blackberry, strawberry, and raspberry fig jam.  Engineer made 3 gallons of fig wine with more of the bounty from the tree in our backyard.

I had a bushel of peaches to deal with and managed to get 3 1/2 gallons of sliced peaches in honey and 2 1/2 gallons of spiced peaches from them.  Plus, I made around 1 1/2 gallons of peach jelly from the pits and Engineer made 3 gallons of wine from the peels.

Speaking of Engineer, he also made 5 gallons of pale ale.  I guess he was starting to feel a little left out with all the time I was spending in the kitchen and decided to do a little cooking too.

My sweet friend (and D-I-Y Mom) Mindy picked a mess of the summer delight which is purple hull peas.  Later that evening she texted to see not if I wanted some shelled peas, but rather if I would like some juice from the hulls.  Yes, I said the juice from the hulls.

Not one to shy away from weird foods, I said sure.

Mindy assured me that the juice from boiling down the hulls makes a very pretty jelly that has a subtle grape flavor.  She was right.

It has a nice flavor by itself, but it also makes for a solid backdrop for herbs from the garden and homemade extracts.  I tweaked her recipe slightly to accommodate my insatiable need to fiddle with recipes.

Thank you Ms. Mindy for the juice and the idea.  :)

I love it when I can get every possible use out of something - nothing wasted.

To get the juice for the recipe, wash the hulls and put in a big pot.  Cover with water and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes before cutting off the heat.  Cover the pot and leave on the stove for several hours before straining.

Herby Purple Hull Pea Jelly

4c. Purple Hull Pea Juice
6 Tbs. Classic Pectin
1 Tbs. Citric Acid
1 Tbs. Extract (Mint, Lavender, Lemon, etc.)
4c. Sugar
1 1/2 - 2 Tbs. Coordinating Herbs, chopped (Mint, Lavender buds, Lemon Zest, etc.)

Bring juice, pectin, citric acid, and extract to a full boil.
Add sugar and herbs.
Return to a full boil for 1 minute.
Skim foam and ladle into sterilized jars.
Put the lids on and put in a water bath for 5 minutes.

This recipe can be doubled easily.

This is part of FPT.