I made jelly from the hulls of purple hull peas today!
I know this forum is full of people like me who can't stand to waste anything, so I figured I'd share what I just learned. If I'm the last person in the world to know this, then just humor me.
When I was looking for recipes for things to make with the peas besides Hoppin' John, I kept stumbling across references to this jelly, and that it tastes like grape jelly! Well, I had to try it.
Verdict: Well, it DOES taste like grape jelly! Kind of. I mean, the flavor isn't nearly as intense as if you'd used actual grapes, but then, you're not using real juice to start with. You're boiling the "essence" out of the hulls (like making tea, kinda), and then using that liquid (strained) as your "juice." I added a little lemon juice, then just the sugar and pectin.
When it was done, I had my husband taste it, and he said, "That's good!" I asked him what flavor he thought it was, and he tasted again, thought about it, and said, "Grape?" Success!
So, anyway, here's a use for something you might normally throw out on the compost heap. I pretty much packed a pot full of the hulls, then covered them with water and boiled. The recipe I used called for 4 cups of the hull "tea," 5 cups of sugar, a box of Sure-Jell, and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice (I used closer to 3).
