Why Your Chili Needs Some Pepper Jelly
Earlier this week I made a hot chili pepper. I mixed up the chile powder with ancho chile powder and poured a quarter cup of crushed ancho chile into the pot with simmering tomatoes and ground tenderloin. It was good, but it was powerful.
To fight the heat, I started looking for sweets. I already added some brown sugar to the pan, but I didn’t want it to look like molasses. I opened the refrigerator and looked at its contents, shuffling cans and plastic soup containers until I found a nearly empty can of Trader Joe’s pepper jelly—very soft—hanging in the back.
It was what I needed; I was sure of it. I tossed about three remaining tablespoons of pepper jelly into the pot, stirred it, and tasted it.
The pepper jelly didn’t quite soften the heat, but it did take away from it, which was almost as good. It added sweetness, yes, but it also added astringency and a brighter, less smoked pepper flavor to balance out the darkness of the ancho. This gave the chili a more rounded flavor profile, which was exactly what it needed after I went overboard with this very specific flavor.
Luckily, you don’t have to add 1/4 cup powdered ancho chili to the chili to also add pepper jelly to the chili. You can take advantage of the sweet and tangy brightness of pepper jelly no matter what kind of chilli you’re making. Just add it a spoonful at a time until your chili is slightly sweet, slightly spicy and balanced. Heat levels will vary from jelly to jelly, so give it a little taste so you know what you’re getting before you start mixing it. quite a push.)