Cooking with Chef Jo: White Clover and Honey Jelly

One of the many hats I wear is for herbalist & aromatherapist. Yes, those are two of the sheepskins, I'd wallpaper my walls with if I ever got 'round to it. I believe in being an observer of life and a forever student.

When I was a research and development coordinator for a herbal products company, I created a recipe for an tea which alleviated symptoms of colds and flu aptly I dubbed it "Cold Caught Me Tea," My daddy always said, A cold caught me because nobody in their right mind would ever want to catch a cold." A marketing company decided to change the name of it and the company decided to go with their suggestion. You may still see it on some supermarket shelves today twenty years after I created the initial recipe. But enoigh tooting my own horn on to today's recipe.

With the changing of seasons come cold season. That's the inspiration behind this recipe. Some people just make it and eat it because its mild apple like flavor. I'll eat or drink it whenever I feel I have a scratchy throat or when I begin to feel under the weather. It's my go-to other than kimchi to circumnavigate a cold catching me.

In the spring, I gather white clover heads and dry them. When I have about 1/2 a pound of clover, I'll save any overages for the next batch. I'll make this up and store it for when I need it. It's historical uses for this humble weed include coughs, fever reducer, cleanses the blood, expectorant, and antiseptic. It also reduces pain and swelling of arthritis.

And, you thought they were only an obnoxious weed. :oP  You want full blossoms not the spindly sparse ones like is pictured on the right bottom. If you pulled some clover leaves, it's all good too. On to the recipe...


White Clover and Honey Jelly
A jelly that alleviates and boosts your basic electrolytes when you feel like a cold is coming on.

What you'll need

1 cup white clover blossoms, fresh or dried
3 1/2 cups of boiling water

3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup honey, raw if you can get it
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed, bottled if you have to
1 box fruit pectin
1 TBS butter

Putting it all together

 

For all you visual learners out there

• Steep clover in boiling water for 8 hours, loosely covered.
• To a heavy bottomed saucepan, add the clover infusion.
• Add remaining ingredients except for the pectin.
• Bring to a rolling boil. A hard boil that can't be stirred down.
• Add pectin, stir until dissolved and bring mixture to a boil.
• Stir constantly for one minute.
• Turn off the heat.
• Ladle into hot, sterilized jars.
• Wipe your rims, lid and ring the jars.
• Flip jars lids side down on several layers of towels.
• Wait 10 minutes. Flip jars right side up snd let cool.
• Check the deal, wash the jars, and label. 
• Store in cool, dark place.

To serve-spread a tablespoon of jelly onto s piece of toast or stir a tablespoon into 6 oz of boiled water. For optimum
benefit, do this 3 times a day.
WARNING- Ingesting too much clover is hard on the kidneys.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Jo