Wine Jelly

I cannot even describe how fantastic this jelly is. It practically sings with grape, wine, and sweet goodness. It's like grape jelly for grown-ups. I made this with a fairly inexpensive bottle of Syrah, Smoking Loon, if you really care, and it has everything I like about the wine--lots of fruit, beautiful color, along with a healthy dose of sugar, which makes it palatable for a jelly. The picture doesn't show it, but it really sparkles in the jar, like a garnet.

It's also the simplest jelly I've ever made, as well. Usually, the most difficult part of making jelly is extracting the juice from whatever fruit you've chosen. With wine jelly, though, this has already been done for you! If you're a beginner at the whole preserving game, I'd start with jam (much more forgiving), but if you're ready to move to jelly, I'd start with this. It produced a sparkling, clear, easy-set jelly. My enameled cast-iron pot also came in really handy with this recipe: it kept the jelly hot while I ladled it into the jars. This is really important, because if you've made it right, the jelly should start to set (and get a skin on top of the liquid) as soon as you start putting it into the jars. Having the hot pot helped delay that process a bit.

You can use any wine you want, but I'd pick something fairly cheap. Do choose something you'd be willing to drink, but save the really nice stuff for, well, drinking. I'd love to try this with a nice French Sauvignon Blanc next (not a Sancerre--that's one I'd save to drink). If you're wondering how to serve it, there are several ways I can think of: first, with cheese on crostini, for an easy and elegant hors d'oeuvre. It's sweet enough that I could just use it as a regular jelly on toast. It could also be used as a glaze for meat, especially meatballs or a roast with the red.

Wine Jelly
(Adapted from the Ball Blue Book, which you should all buy if you're at all interested in canning)

3 1/2 cups wine (a whole bottle, sadly)
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)
1 pkg powdered pectin (I would use the Ball pectin--it has a little more pectin in the box by weight)
4 1/2 cups sugar

Put lemon juice and wine in nonreactive saucepan (again, I highly recommend an enameled cast-iron pot here); add powered pectin and stir to dissolve. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently so it does not stick to sides or bottom of pan. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to rolling boil, stirring frequently to avoid sticking (and burning). Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim foam. Move quickly! Ladle hot jelly into hot jars; process 10 minutes in hot water canner.