Email to Cat      

Pickle Relish

Source of Recipe

"The America's Test Kitchen Do-It-Yourself Cookbook"


Recipe Introduction

"When we buy a hot dog at a baseball game or from a street-cart vendor, it's pretty hard to pass up pumping on a good pile of yellow mustard and bright-green sweet pickle relish. It feels like the right thing to do and, hey, in the moment it tastes pretty good. But employ a squirt of squeeze-bottle relish on a dog or burger off your home grill and somehow all the flaws seem more clear. The relish is gloppy, too sugary, and a strangely unnatural color. So we came up with a from-scratch version that balances sweet and tart, and it is as fresh tasting and crispy-crunchy as a summer cucumber relish should be."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 pounds pickling cucumbers, cut into 1-inch pieces
â—¦ 2 green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
â—¦ 1 onion, chopped coarse
â—¦ 2 tablespoons kosher salt
â—¦ 5 to 7 cups ice cubes
â—¦ 2 cups distilled white vinegar
â—¦ 1 ½ cups sugar
â—¦ 4 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
â—¦ 2 teaspoons celery seeds



Recipe

In two batches, pulse cucumbers in food processor to coarse mixture (chopped fine into â…›- to ¼-inch pieces), about six pulses; transfer to large bowl. Pulse peppers in food processor to coarse mixture (chopped fine into â…›- to ¼-inch pieces), about six pulses; transfer to bowl with cucumbers. Pulse onion in food processor to coarse mixture (chopped fine into â…›- to ¼-inch pieces), about 10 pulses; transfer to bowl with cucumbers and peppers. Stir in salt until well combined.

Cover vegetables with single layer of ice cubes and refrigerate for 3 hours. Discard ice, transfer vegetable mixture to clean kitchen towel, and squeeze to remove excess liquid until almost dry.

Bring vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, and celery seeds to boil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add vegetables, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until cucumbers and onions have turned translucent and mixture has thickened slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer relish to jars with tight-fitting lids; let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. Relish can be refrigerated for up to two months.

To process for long-term storage:
Transfer relish, while still hot, to hot, sterilized 1-cup (half-pint) jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace at top. Processing times depend on your altitude: 10 minutes for up to 1,000 feet; 15 minutes for 1,0001 to 6,000 feet; and 20 minutes for above 6,000 feet. Store in cool, dark place for up to 1 year.


Makes four 1-cup (half-pint) jars