Rhubarb Orange Jelly

CountryLady's Note:

I've made this slightly tart jelly twice since the recipe appeared in the June 2006 issue of Canadian Living magazine. I used an orange from Africa with red pulp & the red portion of my rhubarb - hence a nice red jelly. I topped up the liquid with Grand Marnier but you could also use orange juice. We love it on toast but I'm going to try it as a glaze on a pork loin roast!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 6 cups

• 1 orange
• 10 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (49 g) package fruit pectin crystals
• 3 1/4 cups granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Halve & squeeze juice from orange into a large Dutch oven; cut rind into wedges & add to pot.
2. Add rhubarb & water and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally; reduce heat, cover and simmer until rhubarb is tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Mash any chunks with a potato masher or immersion blender.
4. Wet & wring out jelly bag and suspend over large measuring cup or bowl; fill with rhubarb mixture and let drip, without squeezing the bag, until the juice measures 2 cups, about 2 hours.
5. If you don’t end up with 2 cups of liquid, top up with orange juice or orange liqueur.
6. Mix pectin crystals with ¼ cup of sugar and stir into the rhubarb liquid in a large, clean Dutch oven or preserving pot.
7. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, add the remaining sugar & return to a full boil, stirring with a wooden spoon; boil hard, stirring, for a minute.
8. Remove from heat, skim off any foam with a large metal spoon and fill hot 1 cup (250ml) canning jars, leaving ¼ inch head space.
9. Remove any air bubbles, wipe rims & cover with prepared lids; screw on bands until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight.
10. Boil in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Reviews

[Chef #1269563]

This is absolutely delicious. After I strained my 2 cups of juice for the jelly, I removed the orange rind from the remaining rhubarb pulp, added 2 cups of sugar to the pulp, and made 4 pints of rhubarb orange sauce in addition to the 5 cups of jelly from the juice. I processed the pints of sauce in a hot water bath for 15 min.

[~Leslie~]

We were lucky enough to have the Chef herself give us a jar of this terrific jelly! Heaven in a jar....really! This is the best jelly I have ever had. My DH, the poor man, stooped to hoarding it and telling our overnight guests we had no jam/jelly while hiding this in the back of the fridge! Then he gave them some of my homemade jam, keeping this stuff all to himself! ;) Thanks for a wonderful jelly, not too sweet with just the right amount of sweet/tartness!