A tasty condiment that is the perfect hotdog, and hamburger topper, AND is the secret ingredient to many a great recipe.
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Sweet Relish made with Garden Fresh Cucumbers
Cucumbers are super easy to grow, and if you’ve ever grown them, you have also likely found yourself with a bounty so large, you weren’t quite sure what you were going to do with them.
Well, get out your canning supplies, and your cheese grater, and get the recipe below.
Homemade Sweet Relish
Ingredients
- 16 cups of grated cucumbers
- 3 onions, chopped
- 3 sweet bell peppers, chopped
- 3 tbsp. pickling salt
- 2 tbsp. celery seed
- 2 tbsp. mustard seed
- 4 cups vinegar
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp. curry powder
- 2 tbsp. pickling spices ( your own blend or prepackaged)
You’ll also need:
8-10 500 ml canning jars, large canning pot, ladle, jelly bag or cheese cloth, and a cheese grater. I have included some (affiliate) links at the bottom of this post for your convenience.
Directions
1. Grate your cucumbers and finely chop your peppers and onions and mix them together with the salt, celery and mustard seeds. Put this mixture into a colander and let drain in the fridge overnight.
2. Prepare your jars and lids – wash all jars well, and lids ( disks and rings). Place clean jars into large canning pot and fill with water and bring to a boil. Keep these jars hot until ready to use. Put the discs into another pot of hot, but not necessarily boiling, water and keep these hot until ready to use as well. Keep the rings clean and out of the way.
3. Put the vinegar in a large heavy ( or stainless steel) pot, bring the vinegar to a boil.
4. Put the pickling spices into a jelly bag and tie in a knot ( you’ll be putting this into the vinegar and will want to fish it out again later, without losing any of the contents) see the image below.
5. Add the sugar .and spice bag to the boiling vinegar, and stir in the drained cucumber mixture. Heat through
6. When your jars are boiling, and your lids are near boiling , and your relish is starting to simmer as well – it’s time to start filling your jars.
7. Use large tongs to remove the jars from the water. Place a large mouth funnel in the jar, and ladle the relish into the jar to about 1/4 inch down from the rim. Wipe the rim of the jar clean with hot water, and place a hot disc on the jar. Screw on a ring, but don’t overtighten (fingertip tight is good). Don’t handle with your bare hands – it will be HOT.
8. Repeat step #7 until all relish is packed into jars, and all lids are on. Using long tongs again, place the filled jars back into the large canning pot. Make sure there is about 1 inch of water covering the jars. Put the lid on the pot, bring to a boil, and boil the filled jars for 20 minutes. (Canning processing times vary by altitude, so be sure to double check this here)
9. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and wait for boiling to stop before carefully removing the jars (keep them upright – and they are HOT!) You’ll hear the lids ‘pop’ to indicate they are sealed. (press down on the centre of the disc and if it moves you will need to either reprocess, or have hotdogs for supper, and use the unsealed jar first!
Looking for more garden fresh recipes? Check here and find something yummy for dessert here. Looking to grow your own vegetables? Visit our Gardening Page for all kinds of helpful stuff.
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