It took me two weeks, and not a little bit of research, but I finally worked my way through my $10 Mystery Bag of veggies from a local farm.
So far, I’d made Green Tomato Chow Chow, Red Cabbage Chow Chow, sweet Chop Pickle, and Zippy Green Beans; but I still had some cucumbers to use up!
What to do?
Why, dill relish, of course!
I found a couple of interesting options on line, but was a little ticked about the ingredients list in some. How many cups, please is “three pounds of cucumbers?”
I finally took a couple of recipes and added and subtracted as I thought might work, and measured everything.
The result? A very good, and just a touch spicy dill relish.
The only caveat I would have is, do not judge the flavor of this relish the day you make it. Process the jars and let ’em rest for about a week before sampling, the flavor will be much better.
INGREDIENTS
•10 cups diced cucumber
•2 cups diced red pepper
•1/4 cup diced jalapeño
•2 cups diced onion
•1/4 cup pickling salt
•3 cups white vinegar
•2 cups cider vinegar
•3/4 cup sugar
•3 tbsp minced fresh garlic
•3 tsp dill seeds
•2 tsp mustard seeds
•2 tsp celery seeds
•1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
•2 tbsp cornstarch
•1/2 tsp turmeric
Chop the cucumber, red pepper, jalapeño, and onion and toss together in a colander with the pickling salt to blend well.
Set aside to rest for one hour in the sink or with the colander set into a bowl.
Rinse the veggies well under cold water, tossing with your finders to rotate, then allow to drain and rinse again.
Press down on the veggies to remove excess liquid, and set aside while you get your pickling liquid together.
Stir the sugar together with the white and cider vinegars, then add the garlic, dill, mustard, and celery seeds, and the crushed red pepper.
Bring to a boil then add the rinsed and drained veggies and bring back to a boil.
Simmer for nine minutes, stirring often, then stir some of the pickling liquid into the cornstarch in a small bowl until you have a smooth, thick, slurry.
Stir this into the pot and continue simmering for another minute or two, or until the relish has thickened a bit.
Remove from the heat and stir in the turmeric until nicely blended in.
Transfer the relish into prepared canning jars and process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes.
I got ten half pint jars out of this batch; more than enough to enjoy and share with friends.