Corn-Free Mint Jelly

These two jars of mint jelly are identical
except that the one on the left contains
a fraction of a drop of green food coloring 

     Mint jelly is delicious with lamb (as is mint gelatin), but grocery story mint jelly generally contains quite a lot of corn syrup.  If you need to avoid corn, you can make your own jelly using beet or cane sugar. Be aware that most "fruit pectin" contains corn: if you need to avoid corn very stringently, use Pomona's Universal Pectin, which is corn-free. (The recipe here is based on the one on this page. That recipe allows for the use of apple juice in place of the water; note that bottled juices can contain traces of yeast or mold, if that is an issue.) 
     I don't know whether my food coloring contains corn or not. I am all right with one drop of it in a batch of jelly. 
     This mint jelly is less sweet than most, even if you use the full cup of sugar. In my opinion this is actually desirable for a condiment to be eaten with meat.

      1 cup tightly packed mint leaves (preferably without the stems: they aren't 

           as tasty) See Produce in the Glossary
      1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (See Juice in the Glossary)
      2 tsp. calcium water (The calcium for this comes in the package with the 

           pectin.)
      1/2 c. to 1 c. sugar (See Sugar in the Glossary)
      2 tsp. Pomona's Universal Pectin
      (optional) 1 drop green food color
          
     First make a mint infusion. Chop the mint leaves, add 2-1/4 c. water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to steep for 10 minutes. Strain. Using 2 c. of this infusion, follow the directions on the package insert from the pectin to make jelly and can it.