Today, in part two of my “building phase” to make Holidaze Barbecue Sauce at the end of the week, I am making pepper relish.
Pretty common where I am from in New England, and dead delicious on top of a cottage cheese topped cracker (do not knock it if you haven’t tried it), this relish also turns out to be flexible in other ways…
One of my niece’s scoops it up with corn chips, some friends will spoon it over cream cheese or Brie, and, of course, I am making
a barbecue sauce.
Note: because I was planning on using this batch for another canning project, I processed this batch in quart jars. Normally, for gift giving and daily use, I process in half-pint jars; of which, this recipe should yield an even dozen.
INGREDIENTS
•11 cups chopped sweet peppers
•3 cups diced sweet onion
•2 cups sliced jalapeño peppers
•3 cups sugar
•1-1/2 cup cider vinegar
•1-1/2 cup white vinegar
•3 tbsp pickling salt
•Boiling water
Note: most of the pepper relish I can buy at stores in New England is made with all red peppers and it makes for a beautiful jar of relish; but, I cheat and buy four one pound bags of frozen mixed sliced peppers from Trader Joe’s. The relish isn’t that beautiful, bright red; but it still tastes the same.
Place your chopped peppers, onion, and jalpeño in a large bowl or pot and pour boiling water over to cover.
Drain well, then add to a large non-reactive pot and add the sugar, cider and white vinegars, and the pickling salt.
Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring often, for 30 minutes or so.
At this point, I use my immersion blender to chop the relish up a bit, but that is totally up to your personal taste.
Transfer to sterilized jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for half-pint jars, or 25 minutes for quarts.
Remove the jars to a rack and let cool.
You should hear the jar lids “pop” indicating that they are sealed. You can double check the seal by pushing down in the center of each cooled jar’s lid. If the center is “down” or “clicks down” and stays that way; you are good. If the center pops back up after pressing, try re-processing those jars.
Note: I very rarely have any issue with the jars sealing, and you probably won’t, either.
Enjoy your pepper relish, share amongst your friends and family, or stay tuned, tomorrow, for the last step before making Holidaze Barbecue Sauce.