Chow Chow Relish

adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserves 

Ingredients
2 cups coarsely chopped English cucumber (or other unwaxed cucumber)
1 ½ cups chopped seeded red bell peppers
1 ½ cups chopped cabbage
1 ½ cups sliced onions
1 ½ cups chopped cored green tomatoes 9 cups water, divided
1 cup canning or pickling salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. mustard seeds
2 Tbsp. celery seeds
1 Tbsp. ground turmeric
1 ½ cups diced green beans, blanched
1 ½ cups diced peeled carrots, blanched

Steps

1. In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumber, red peppers, cabbage, onions, and green tomatoes. Add 8 cups of the water and pickling salt. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 12 hours, or overnight. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink and drain thoroughly. Rinse with cool water and drain thoroughly again. Using your hands, squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside.
2. In a stainless steel saucepan, combine remaining 1 cup water, vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add drained cucumber mixture, green beans and carrots and return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened to the consistency of a thin commercial relish, about 40 minutes.
3. Ladle hot relish into prepared jars, leaving ½ inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot relish. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to “fingertip-tight”.
4. Place jars in canner and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars.

From the recipe collection of:
Hillsdale Farmers’ Market Chef Kathryn Yeomans
The Farmer's Feast
http://thefarmersfeast.me/

Zucchini-Pepper Relish

adapted from the blog “Simple Bites”

yields about 10 half-pint jars

Ingredients
6 cups/890 g chopped green bell pepper (about 6 whole peppers)
6 cups grated green or a mix of green & yellow zucchini (about 2 ½ -3 pounds zucchini)
2½ cups grated onion (about 2 large onions)
4 cups/960 ml apple cider vinegar, divided
2 cups/400 g granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery seed
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Steps

1. Sterilize five 1-pint or 10 half-pint jars. Prepare a waterbath for canning.
2. Combine the chopped bell pepper, zucchini, and onion in a large, nonreactive pot. Stir in 2 cups/480 ml of the apple cider vinegar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until the vegetables have cooked down, about 30 minutes.
3. Drain the vegetables and return them to the pot. Add the remaining 2 cups apple cider vinegar, plus the sugar, salt, mustard seed, celery seed, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Ladle the relish into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch/12 mm of headspace. Gently tap the jars on a towel-lined countertop to help loosen any bubbles before using a wooden chopstick to dislodge any remaining bubbles. Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
5. When the processing time is up, remove the canning pot from the flame and remove the lid from the pot. Let the jars sit in the pot for an additional 5-minutes. This helps to prevent the relish from reacting to the rapid temperature change and bubbling out of the jars.

From Chef Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans