Pass the pickles please! This tasty relish stores well and is great with fish, on burgers or, if you're a Cape Bretoner, on the side of any dinner plate.
Fall is the time of year where most homes smell like pumpkin spice or apple cinnamon, but not the MacAulay household. My mom, Lisa, has been making her pickled relish every year around this time for as long as I can remember.
Jars in cold storage should last about a year and the jars in your fridge will keep texture and taste for weeks - if it lasts that long!
The smell of vinegar and mustard seed is thick throughout the house, a comforting smell that brings me back to my childhood. I remember arriving at school, thinking I was going crazy because I could still smell the pickles only to realize the aromas had permeated my backpack and was treating my friends to an air freshener à la pickle.
Before you start
Before making your relish you'll want to make sure you have enough mason jars to store your pickles. This recipe will make roughly fourteen 8 oz jars, but my mom has always liked to mix and match sizes. She collects jars throughout the year and saves them for her pickles. The smaller jars are perfect for bringing to friends' dinner parties or giving away as holiday gifts.
Start preppin'
Halve the garden cucumbers and cut in fourths lengthways then deseed by scraping away the seeds with a spoon. Slice green peppers, red peppers and onions in fourths. Use your food processor to chop all your veggies without blending - we want pickled relish, not pickled paste! Once all your veggies are chopped, pour them into a roast pan and let them soak in brine overnight.
Get cookin'
Drain your veggies and add turmeric, celery seed, white vinegar, mustard seed and white sugar - stir. Mix cornstarch with a bit of cold water to make a slurry and stir into the veggie mixture. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring often to avoid sticking to the bottom.
Put a lid on it, would ya?
Now, there's a proper way to seal canning jars and then there's my mom's way... In order to ensure your food does not spoil I would recommend following New York Time's steps to sealing jars. With that said, my mom has been canning pickles longer than I can remember and a jar has never gone to waste so, I'll be sticking with her method.
Bring water to a boil and fill your clean jars about halfway. Let the water sit for a few minutes until the veggie mixture is ready. Fill jars 3/4 to the top and press the sealing ring into the jar and screw on the cover. Let jars sit overnight until they are cooled to room temperature.
Store and enjoy!
Store your room temperature pickled relish jars in cool storage until the next family get-together, or the next meal-time! Once opened, store relish in the fridge. Jars in cold storage should last about a year and the jars in your fridge will keep texture and taste for weeks - if it lasts that long!
Prep-time: 20 minutes | Cook-time: 10 minutes | Clean-up time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Veggies
8-12 large garden unpeeled cucumbers
3 green peppers
2 red peppers
2 lbs onions
Brine
1/2 cup salt
8 cups hot water
Pickle juice
4 cups white vinegar
6 cups white sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp celery seed
Instructions
Chop veggies or combine in a food processor
Let stand overnight in brine
Drain veggie mixture
Add pickle juice ingredients
Mix cornstarch with a bit of cold water to make a slurry and add to veggie mixture
Bring to a boil
Heat clean jars
Fill jars 3/4 to the top
Seal and enjoy!