Pickle Relish

With an overabundance of cucumbers this year I'm making relish.
This is a hot dog style pickle relish but can be used on anything, it’s that good.  As for hot dogs, we usually don't eat them, unless we find the all-meat, nitrate free ones, which are delicious I have to say.  Did I mention this relish won a 1st Place Blue Ribbon at our County Fair?

About the ingredients:

The results are best if you use fresh from your garden produce or from a local farm market.  Store purchased is bland compared to home grown and fresh, which will affect the flavor of the relish.

And because of that, summer is the best time to make enough pickle relish to last through the winter. I use mostly red bell peppers in this recipe as I find green bell peppers have an overpowering flavor. 

You may want to use half red and half green.  

Use a mixture of red and sweet onions, not only for flavor but also for color.

Ways To Use Relish:

• Mix with mayonnaise and mustard for a mustard relish
• Mix with mayonnaise for quick tarter sauce
• Add to potato salad or macaroni salad
• Serve with fresh grilled chicken or pork chops
• Add to deviled eggs
• Great addition to sandwiches and wraps
• Cover a block of cream cheese with relish and use as a dip
• Add to tuna or egg salad
• Use it to make Thousand Island dressing
• Give as gifts!

Sweet Pickle Relish

Makes 7 half pints

 

Ingredients:

6 to 8 medium cucumbers

3 green and/or red sweet peppers

6 medium onions

1/4 cup pickling salt

3 cups sugar

2 cups cider vinegar

2 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

2 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Directions:
Wash cucumbers and peppers. Chop, discarding pepper stems and seeds. 
Seeding cucumbers; I don't worry about getting all the seeds out but do try to get most.
Measure 6 cups of cucumber and 3 cups of peppers.

Peel and chop onions; measure 3 cups.

I sometimes use an electric chopper for the cucumber and onions. 

Just make sure not to chop them too small!

If you have farm animals, feed the vegetable stems and seeds to them as a yummy treat.
If you do not have farm animals, put vegetable stems and seeds in your compost bin or pile.

Combine vegetables in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt; add cold water to cover. Let stand, covered, at room temperature for 2 hours.

Pour vegetable mixture into a colander set in the sink. Rinse with fresh water and drain well.

In a 4-quart pot combine sugar, vinegar, celery seed, mustard seed, and turmeric. Heat to boiling.

Add drained vegetables; return to boiling.  Reduce heat and cook over medium heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until most of the excess liquid has evaporated.

Ladle relish into hot, clean sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space.

Wipe the jar rims; adjust the 2 piece lids. If relish is still a little watery, simply use a slotted spoon to remove relish from the pot to the jar.  Then use just enough juice to cover the relish.

Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner; cool jars on racks.  The recipe is best not doubled.  Make one batch at a time.

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Soon the weather will turn chilly and leaves will  start to turn.  August is Back to School month so hope you have most of your school shopping done. 

Do you look forward to Autumn or will you hate seeing summer go?

Elizabeth

Other Canning Recipes:

Orange Marmalade

Homemade Grape Juice

Chicken Stock