Spicing Up Cold-Weather Gatherings

(NAPSI)-When temperatures drop, you can add some heat to your get-togethers by serving up spicy green pepper jelly. The zesty treat can be spread across sour cream corn bread, dolloped on cheddar cheese biscuits or spooned on top of cream cheese and gourmet crackers. The key is to find taste combinations with enough bite to satisfy guests but that are light enough to not interfere with a meal.

The recipe below is made with fruit pectin to help create a delicious jelly that captures the freshness of green and jalapeño peppers. You can find fruit pectin in original and liquid varieties, sugar and no-sugar-needed varieties and a no-cook freezer variety from the Ball® brand. Try using the products to preserve fresh fruits year-round.

Green Pepper Jelly

Yield: about 6 half-pint jars

7 sweet green peppers

1 jalapeño pepper

1½ cups cider vinegar, 5% acidity, divided

1½ cups apple juice

1 box (13/4 ounces) Ball® Original Fruit Pectin

½ teaspoon salt

5 cups sugar

Green food coloring (optional)

Stem, seed and cut green and jalapeño peppers into ½-inch pieces. Puree half the peppers and ¾ cup vinegar in a food processor or blender. Repeat with remaining peppers and vinegar. Combine puree and apple juice in a large bowl; cover bowl and refrigerate overnight. Strain pureed mixture through a damp jelly bag or several layers of cheese cloth. Measure 4 cups strained juice.

Combine 4 cups juice, pectin and salt in a large saucepot. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return mixture to a rolling boil.

Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Stir in a few drops green food coloring, if desired. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Adjust 2-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

As a final tip, try preparing the jelly in Ball® 4-ounce jars to give to your guests as take-home party favors.

For more recipes, tips and comments, visit FreshPreserving.com FreshPreserving.com.

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Dried fruit and prune juice add flavor and depth to holiday stuffing

(ARA) - Whether you call it stuffing or dressing, one thing's for sure - no holiday meal is complete without it. Sometimes savory, often sweet, but always delicious, stuffing is one of the most anticipated dishes on the holiday table.

Stuffing is an easy-to-prepare, versatile holiday dish that can include succulent meats, sweet fruits and savory herbs. Incorporating both dried and fresh fruit into stuffing is a California tradition, adding depth of flavor.

"Dried fruits, such as cherries or prunes, are a great addition to any holiday meal," says Chef Victoria Comfort, executive chef of Black Kite Cellars in California's Wine Country. "I enjoy adding them to stuffing because they add moisture, sweetness and texture to the dish and pair beautifully with a succulent roasted turkey."

One of Chef Comfort's surprise secret ingredients is prune juice. Made from plump, juicy California prunes, prune juice can help retain moistness in the stuffing and can also be a great base for sauces and glazes. This holiday season, Chef Comfort has shared her recipe for Country Sausage, Apple and Cherry Stuffing. This dish pairs Italian sausage with prune-juice plumped dried cherries, striking the perfect balance on the palate of sweet and savory.

"Cooking is about a balance of flavors. Sunsweet Prune Juice is one of those ingredients that contributes a complexity to many recipes," Chef Comfort says. "In the Country Sausage, Apple and Dried Cherry Stuffing, the prune juice is used to counter balance the tartness of the dried cherries. The subtle fruitiness and sweetness of prune juice makes it the perfect flavor enhancer."

Sunsweet Growers, the world's largest handler of dried tree fruits, offers several stuffing recipes using dried fruit on its Web site, www.sunsweet.com.

"Every holiday season we get a flurry of consumer requests for recipes from everything from stuffing to quick breads," says Stephanie Harralson of Sunsweet Growers. "While many people think of Sunsweet products as naturally powerful snacks, they can also be fantastic ingredients. We always get rave reviews for our stuffing recipes."

Chef Comfort's recipe for Country Sausage, Apple and Cherry Stuffing along with other delicious holiday recipes, can be found at www.sunsweet.com.

Country Sausage, Apple and Cherry Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 1/2 yellow onions, diced
5 celery stalks, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Sunsweet cherries
3/4 cup Sunsweet prune juice
5 cups French bread, cubed and dried
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup parsley, washed and chopped fine
2 eggs
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a skillet, brown the sausage; remove excess fat and add the vegetables and garlic. Cook briefly, about two minutes, and set aside. Put the cherries in a saucepan with the prune juice, bring to a boil and set aside. Put the bread cubes, sausage, vegetables, apples and parsley in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs and chicken broth together, and pour over the bread mixture, mixing until everything is well distributed. Drain cherries and add to the stuffing mixture, tossing again. If the mixture is too dry, add more broth 1/4 cup at a time. Place in a lightly greased 13 by 9 inch pan and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake 10 minutes to crisp. Serve warm. Makes eight to 12 servings.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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