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Sue’s Zucchini or Cucumber Green Relish
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There’s no such thing as just enough zucchini. You either have none or too much – WAY too much. There’s a limit to how much zucchini coffee cake anyone can make, eat or give away. This recipe was developed to deal with an over abundance of zucchini one fall many years ago. It quickly became our favorite relish and I have even had to (on occasion) purchase zucchini in the grocery store to make it. Yes, it’s that good.
This works particularly well if you have a canner, but a boiling water bath will do nicely as well. I’m not providing details on how to do either of those processes. If you’re making a batch of relish, you already know how to use your canner & boiling water bath process!
Ingredients
2 med-large zucchini and/or cucumber, seeds removed
2 medium white onions
3 peppers – green, red and yellow/orange
1/8 C coarse salt
1 C white sugar
1 C white pickling vinegar
1 T pickling spice mix
1 t mustard seed
Instructions
This recipe makes between 2-3 pints of relish.
In a food processor, pulse to coarsely chop the zucchini and/or cucumber (whatever your garden or neighbor has gifted you with). Measure chopped amount. It should be 3-4 C. Chop the onions and peppers together to the same consistency as the zucchini. Measure for equal quantity, 3-4 C. Do not over process.
Combine vegetables and place in large bowl or pan. Sprinkle with 1/8 C coarse salt. Cover with cold water. Let sit several hours or overnight to soak at room temperature.
Drain vegetables into clean linen towel or cheesecloth. Rinse several times with cold water to remove excess salt. You will notice that the quantity has reduced quite a bit with the extra water removed from the salt soak. Continue to twist, squeeze and drain. I usually tie a knot in the towel/cloth and hang several hours to drain well. You can leave overnight without a problem.
In a medium pot, mix 1 C sugar, 1 C pickling vinegar and heat to just below a boil. Then add 1 T pickling spice. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Strain the syrup to remove the spices and return the syrup to the pot. Add the drained vegetables to heat through over low heat. Do not boil. At this point, I like to stir in 1 t mustard seed, but that is optional. Taste to adjust any seasonings or check if you need to make more syrup.
Fill your preserving jars with the relish, seal and process in a canner (10-15 lbs pressure – 0 minutes) or boiling water bath (10-15 minutes). Refrigerate when cooled and sealed. Only gets better as it sits, so try not to use it up all at once!