Ham with Blackberry Chipotle glaze

Now that fall is upon us, I’m breaking into all those canned goods I put up throughout the summer and rejoicing in my hard work. After an adventure picking blackberries, and not finding very many great recipes for canning blackberries, I decided to get a little adventurous and come up with my own.

I love a slightly savory jam, something with a lot of acid or a little heat, that you can serve with cheese and crackers. My friend Cynthia makes a really great apricot habenero jam, so I decided to do a twist on that and make a blackberry chipotle one.

This recipe makes enough to can about five 8-ounce jars, or you could halve it and make enough to glaze one big ham.

Blackberry Chipotle Jam
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
4 cups crushed blackberries
1 pouch liquid pectin

Finely chop the peppers, getting as close as possible to a puree. Combine blackberries with peppers and 2 T of the adobo sauce.

In a deep saucepan, combine fruit and sugar. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. While boiling, add pectin, and boil for another full minute while constantly stirring.

If canning, ladle into clean hot jars, leaving 1/4″ of headspace and processing for 10 minutes.

Otherwise, pour into a storage container and let cool on the counter for a few hours. When cool, store it in the fridge.

To use as a glaze, pour the jam over precooked ham. Roast the ham in the oven until heated through.

This would also be great with chicken or a pork loin, or even lamb. Or of course with cheese and crackers. It’s a nice change to have blackberries in a way that’s not overly sweet, and the smokiness of the chipotle goes wonderfully with them.