Mint Jelly

This summer I have a mountain of mint in my garden, taking over about a quarter of the space I have! I planted a sprig left from a supermarket pot a couple of years ago and it has thrived so that it's now about 100 times the size it was to start with. It is luscious and fragrant and just begging me to use it, so I made it into a jelly that I can store and use all year through.

Mint jelly is just to die for if spread on lamb chops before grilling them. The flavour permeates the meat, tenderising it as it cooks so the result is not just flavoursome, but succulent and tender at the same time.

When making mint jelly, use tart apples like Granny Smiths or Bramleys. The tarter the apple, the more pectin it has. If you are using home picked apples, picking early in the season is best, and smaller apples will have proportionately more pectin as well. Don’t peel or core the apples as most of the pectin is found in the core, and almost all the rest is found in the peel.

Ingredients:
1.8-2 kg tart apples, unpeeled, chopped into big pieces, including the cores.
375-400ml fresh mint leaves, chopped and lightly packed.
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
500ml water
500ml white wine vinegar
875-1000ml sugar ( about 220ml for each 250ml of juice).

Method:
Combine the apple pieces with lemon zest, lemon juice, water and mint in a large pan. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Add the vinegar and return to the boil. Simmer covered for another 5 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash the apple pieces to the consistency of thin apple sauce.

Spoon the apple flesh into a clean tea towel in a colander or large strainer over a large bowl. Leave to strain for several hours. Most cooks say not to squeeze, but I do squeeze very carefully to get the last of the juice out of the apple mash without getting any of the pulp in the syrup. Note, if your apple mash is too thick you can add about 100-125ml more water to it. You should have between 1000-1250ml of resulting juice.

Measure the juice, then pour into a large pot. Add the sugar ( about 220ml for each 250ml of juice) and heat gently, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves and does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Bring to the boil and continue to boil for about 10-15 minutes, using a metal spoon to skim off the surface scum. Continue to boil until a jam thermometer shows that the temperature has reached 105°C or 220-222°F, not quite at the thread stage. Additional time needed for cooking can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on the amount of water, sugar, and apple pectin in the mix.

If you don’t have a jam thermometer, test by putting a small amount of jelly (half a teaspoon) on a chilled plate (chill the plate in the freezer in preparation for testing). Allow the jelly to cool a few seconds, then push it with your fingertip. If it wrinkles, it’s ready.

Pour the jelly into sterilised jars almost to the top of the jar and seal. This makes about 8 x 100ml jars.