Relish

Relishes are usually made with cucumber but I have found that a relish is a condiment, which is something we use to flavor or compliment and thru just looking through books they can be made with all kinds of veggies.

This year I have made a couple of relishes from veggies that I had extra but didn't want them to go bad.

I used cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers mostly for now, but you can make chutneys which from what I can tell is another name for a relish but with fruit added.

The two relishes I have made this year are from zukes that were bigger than you would want for a stir-fry but not to big that the seeds were developed to much. I suppose you could use ones like that as well just not the seedy part. The cucumbers I used were ones that I didn't have enough to justify making pickles but I didn't want to go bad.

It is hard sometimes to use every single thing that pops up in our garden and sadly some things can and do go bad before we have enough to make a batch of something or we go out of town etc. A relish is something that is quick I made my 2 kinds while I was also making dinner.

The first is zucchini relish it has a sweet aroma that we all loved.

2 cups chopped zucchini

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped sweet green pepper 

 1/2 cup red sweet pepper

2 T salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp mustard seed

1 cup apple cider vinegar

Combine first 5 ingredients and cover with cold water. Let stand for 2 hours. This smells heavenly while it is soaking. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Combine remaining ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to boil, add veggies; simmer for 10 minutes. Pack hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/4 headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Dill Relish

8 lbs  pounds pickling cucumbers chopped

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp turmeric

1 qt water

Place this in a bowl and let stand for 2 hours then drain and rinse thoroughly

1 lb yellow onions peeled and chopped

 add cucumbers and onions together along with 1/3 cup sugar, 2 T dill seed and 1 qt white wine vinegar into a large pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/4 in headspace. Remove air bubbles adjust caps and process 15 minutes in a boiling water-bath canner.

The dill relish some of the chopped cucumbers were chopped zucchini to round out the 8 lbs. It all turned out yummy smelling and now I am waiting a couple of weeks to let them pickle and then we will see how they taste.

Blessings,

Erika