Any of my friends will tell you that I appreciate a nice glass of red, hell I’ve been known to hoover up many a not-so-nice red as well. We’re talking red wine here folks of course…
One’s red wine consumption is of course curtailed to the socially accepted wine times of the day. If out and about with friends one can sometimes enjoy a glass with lunch and then when the sun goes over the proverbial yardarm the clock strikes wine and all is well with the world.
Red wine in the kitchen…
Like most folks who play with food in the kitchen I cook with wine, you can get the great grape into many a meal from gravy to sorbet, I’ve tried them all.
But how can one legitimately enjoy the odd bit of Bordeaux at breakfast without having the health and addictions police battering at your door?
Why jelly of course, red wine jelly!
Red wine jelly puts a whole new spin on the old PBJ sandwich, it livens up the humblest slice of toast and doesn’t even bother if you are crass enough to introduce it to sliced white instead of the preferred baguette.
It goes just as well with savouries and fairly dances on to a cheese board to shimmy with the brie.
I’ve even served my red wine jelly slightly warmed and drizzled over seriously good plain vanilla ice-cream. Give it a swirl and you have a grown up ripple to rock the senses and give Hagen Daas a run for their money any day.
I came up with this recipe really as an experiment to use up a bunch of red grapes and ramp up the flavour a bit by using something that is very often to hand in my kitchen – red wine, there are apples too for their pectin content and a little bit of sweetness, juice of a lemon and good old granulated sugar.
This is an overnight drip job so have a bit of patience please and check out my page on how to make jelly and how to sterilize jars to keep you on the right track. I made one large jar with this recipe, of course you can double things up to make more.
This is a delightful jelly that looks as good as it tastes, simply stunning and the best possible way to enjoy your favourite tipple any time anywhere straight from the jar!
Karon x
PS I made this jelly and renamed it Bordeaux Jelly for my Christmas Hamper entry when I was a finalist in 2017 on Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas TV show. This recipe also features in my Ebook Naughty and Nice Foodie Gifts For Christmas.
- 500g/1lb 2oz red grapes
- 500g/1lb 2oz apples
- Approx ½ cup water
- 300ml/1/2 pint red wine
- juice of 1 lemon
- 300g/11oz sugar
- Place the grapes and roughly chopped apples (don't bother to peel or core them) into a pan and add water.
- Simmer the fruit until tender and mash with a potato masher.
- Pour this mash into a jelly bag (muslin lined sieve) and set aside to drip into a jug overnight. Resist any temptation to squeeze the bag to get more out, if you do this you'll make the jelly cloudy)
- Make the juice in the jug up to 500ml by adding the wine.
- Pour this into a pan and add the lemon juice and sugar and heat gently till sugar dissolved.
- Raise the heat to boiling point for approximately 20 mins until you have reached the setting point (see jelly making page).
- Carefully pour into a sterilised jar and pop on the lid.
So simple, yet so good. I love giving wine jelly as a gift.
Thanks for the comment Sean, you are so right, wine jelly is perfect gift so friends can enjoy the best tipple at any time of day!
Kx
We often joke about “a nice breakfast wine.” 🙂