Ingredients for 4 cups marmalade:
1 large red bell pepper
1 navel orange
1 lemon
Water
4 cups sugar
Optional seasoning: 3 slices fresh ginger
Night Before
Wash off and dry the pepper. Holding it upright by the stem, cut the sides from the fruit, leaving behind the core of seeds and membrane. Thinly slice these “side” pieces into thin julienne strips.
Scrub, rinse, and dry the orange and lemon. Cut the orange into 8 pieces, and quarter the lemon. Finely chop the citrus by hand or with repeated pulses in the work bowl of your food processor.
Measure the combined pepper slices and orange-lemon mixture. Pour this base, an equal volume of water, and the optional ginger slices into a heavy, non-reactive 5-quart pan. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and simmer for 15 minutes. Let mixture cool to room temperature, cover, and let sit overnight.
Next Day
Bring marmalade base to a boil and reduce volume to 4 cups. Stir in the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, returning the pan to a boil each time before adding more sugar. Continue to boil until it reaches the jell point, which is 8 degrees above the boiling temperature measured on your thermometer. This will take 10 - 12 minutes. Maintain a boil for a full minute after reaching the jell point.
Pour the marmalade into a 2-quart measure and let it sit for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the ginger pieces (if used), and stir down the pepper pieces. Pour the marmalade into hot, sterilized jelly jars to within 1/4 inch of the rims. Wipe the rims clean, attach new lids, and screw caps on tightly. Invert jars briefly to vacuum seal or process in a boiling water bath, submerged by 1 inch, for 10 minutes.
