Prickly Pear Jelly

While I was in Graham last week, went up on the hill where the Gratex Oil and Gas Refinery once stood (this refinery was built in 1927 by my grandfather, G.O. Cozart and my father, W. O. Cozart). 

Anyway while up there---I saw a large Prickly Pear Catcus filled with fruit (which are called "tunas". )  Picked about a gallon, but not without getting teeny tiny stickers in my fingers.  After returning home I scrubbed the rest of the stickers off the "tunas", peeled them, cut them open and removed the seeds which are black and as hard as granite,  They take up most of the "tunas",  leaving  very little flesh. Put seeds in a seive and saved all the juice that came out and put the flesh and juice in a bowl with some sugar (although the flesh is really sweet).  Ate a few of them for breakfast one morning and today will be putting them in a large pan with about a cup or more of water to just cover and a lemon   or lime juice and cook till the flesh has released the rest of the juice.  This will then be strained thru a coffee filter, and made into "Prickly Pear Jelly". 

I will save some of the juice to make a Margarita which will include lime juice, tequila and Triple Sec and put into blender with ice--makes slushy drink--- WOW--you've not seen anything to compare this with--it is a beautiful dark red with a hint of pink and delicious.  Although I don't drink anymore, I will make just ONE for old times sake. Ha! Ha! 

RECIPE FOR PRICKLY PEAR JELLY---my grandmother's recipe.

1 quart cactus fruits (tunas)  (Just as they come off the cactus--not cut in two like I did)
1 package powdered pectin (NOT LIQUID)
3 tablespoons Lemon or Mexican Lime Juice
3 1/2 cups sugar
Sterilized jelly glasses
Melted Parafin.

Scrub fruits with a vegetable brush (I use one of those yellow plastic scrubbers.)  Wash and place in a large pan with just enough water to cover.  Boil until tender and soft.  This is necessary to extract all the juice.  Press through cheesecloth or coffee filter and dicard the pulp and seeds.  Set juice aside so sediment will settle to the bottom.  Pour off the clear juice and discard sediment.  You should now have about 2 1/2 cups juice.

Add powdered pectin and bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Add lemon or lime juice and the sugar.  Bring again to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down and boil for 3 minutes Timing is important to get a product that will jell.  Remove from heat; skim any foam and pour into sterilized glasses.  Cover with a layer of parafin.

Makes 6 half-pints.
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NOTE:
Since I've already cleaned mine up...and removed the seeds, I will chop the fruits into small pieces before cooking and use the flesh and juice to make Prickly Pear Preserves instead.

1 tablespoon of either the jelly or preserves has only 32 calories and no fat or cholesterol, and only 1 mg sodium.
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Now about those hard as granite seeds.  Nothing goes to waste with the cactus fruits.  I've dried them completely.  They will then be lightly toasted in either a dry skillet or in the oven at a very low temp--cooled off and ground into powder in a coffee grinder.  What I have should produce about 1 cup.  Will make muffins with part of this cactus seed powder, adding it to the flour.  It will give the muffins the same taste as the fruit has.

This old West Texas Woman has a lot of these old recipes that the pioneers, or just the poor, used when food was not readily available.  They lived off what God had provided them on the land around them.