Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Cucumber Relish


We had an overabundance of cucumbers this year (they went a little nuts in our greenhouse), so aside from doing pickled cucumbers (we had a bit of a glut left over from last year as I couldn't bear eating them during pregnancy - I know, go figure!), I had to find something else to do with them. Along came this great cucumber relish recipe, which worked really well for us.

Cucumber Relish

6 lbs (about 10 cups chopped) cucumbers (we used a mix of Cool Breeze, Lemon and Suyo Long)
1 cup chopped white onion
4 cups chopped red bell peppers
3 cups chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped celery (about 4 ribs)
1/2 cup pickling or Kosher salt
3 1/2 cups pickling or cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 tbsp mustard seed
2 tbsp celery seed
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground turmeric

Place all vegetables into an enamel lined or stainless steel pot and stir in salt. Cover & let stand 4 hours at room temperature.
Put vegetables into large colander and drain. Rinse with cold water, using hands to squeeze out excess liquids. Repeat rinse & squeeze.

Combine vinegar & spices & sugar and bring to boil. Cook for 10 minutes. Add drained vegetables and stir to blend. Bring back to full boil, reduce heat & simmer 10 minutes. Fill hot, scalded half-pint or pint jars to 1/2" headspace and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes (up to 1000 feet altitude).

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