Unlike pickles, where an acid environment keeps the produce from developing toxins, the strawberries in this jam provide sufficient acidity, plus the sugars produce a sugar-saturated environment that pulls the liquid from the peppers to further ensure safety.

Ingredients

• 5 cups chopped strawberries
• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup finely chopped habaneros (seeded and deveined first, if desired)
• 1 pack pectin
• 1⁄2 tablespoon butter (optional—used as an anti-foaming agent)
• 7 cups sugar

Directions
1 Place all but the sugar in a nonreactive pot and bring to a strong rolling boil. Add the sugar, return to a rolling boil (if making a double run, add half the sugar, return to the beginning of a boil, and put in the balance), time for 2 minutes while watching for jelling after 1 minute.

2 When ready, ladle into jars, seal, and invert for 2 minutes only.

Canning Notes
• This is an acidified, sugar-saturated, hot-pack recipe.
• pH testing is not required.
• This recipe makes 8 half-pint jars; half-pint jars are best suited for this recipe.
• This recipe can be doubled but not halved.

Serving suggestions
More people than imagined use this “Hotter than Hades” fruit spread over vanilla ice cream. For me, I’ll keep my ice cream cool; but as a spread over a chicken breast, not only does it brighten up the colourless meat, it livens up the eating, turning plain chicken into a heated debate. Often people dribble a bit of hot sauce on eggs, so why not use it when making an omelet with a chunk of Brie cheese? Once the two eggs have begun to firm, plunk the cheese in the middle and ladle 2 tablespoons of the red hot jam over it. Don’t forget my discussions interspersed within this book about sweet and meat. Experiment by using this jam with pork, white fish, and even duck. I’ve tried them all. This heat-adverse writer must tell you that the jam is without fault except straight out of the jar.