Relish recipes - please post your favorite

The internets says:

“ It's a preserve that contains finely chopped vegetables, fruit, or sometimes both in a vinegar mixture. “

I wanna add that there seems to always be sugar in that mixture?

The ones I made in the past were really good, but I feel there is a whole world of possibilities out there. Hmm, peach and something relish. Jay mentioned green tomato relish. Yum!

Post here if you make some that you really love.

This time of year, with all the abundance from the garden, I am looking for new to me ways to use all this goodness.

Thank you for taking the time to do this!

I agree that so many of the relishes/chow-chows have a high amount of sugar.  I am looking for a southern-style chow-chow recipe that has is safe for water bath canning, but has less sugar.  I know, I know...southern = sugary!  I'm from there and grew up with it, but now hoping to lessen the sugar factor.

Liv, I canned a peach salsa this year that turned out yummy.  Are you interested in salsas? or strictly relishes?

Angela Wilcox wrote:I agree that so many of the relishes/chow-chows have a high amount of sugar.  I am looking for a southern-style chow-chow recipe that has is safe for water bath canning, but has less sugar.  I know, I know...southern = sugary!  I'm from there and grew up with it, but now hoping to lessen the sugar factor.

Liv, I canned a peach salsa this year that turned out yummy.  Are you interested in salsas? or strictly relishes?

Yes, please post it, peach salsa sounds yummy!

The vinegar is added to make it acidic enough that it can safely be water bath canned. The sugar is added to negate the taste of the vinegar (sometimes extra added for flavor.) I have made unsugared in the past, but I used a pressure canner, not water bath, which made it so I didn't need the acid to start with, so needed to add no sugar.

Perhaps borrow a pressure canner so you can make unsweetened?

What about using lemon (or other citrus) juice, in place of the vinegar?

My understanding was that vinegar and sugar were the  preserving ingredients.  We call it chutney in the UK from the Hindi word chatni, thanks to the great British Empire!  Although true Indian chutneys are usually fresh and not made to last more than a few days, the addition of sugar and vinegar in the westernised versions was in order to preserve them.

I have made many relish/chutneys in my time: green tomatoes, tomatilloes, apple&pears, figs, etc but I have never pressure or water bath canned any of them.  It is sweet, it's true, but the vinegar cuts through and usually is eaten in small quantities.  They have kept in perfect condition for 3, 4 and even 5 years.

Of course, if sugar is a no-no, than canning would be necessary.

Pearl Sutton wrote:The vinegar is added to make it acidic enough that it can safely be water bath canned. The sugar is added to negate the taste of the vinegar (sometimes extra added for flavor.) I have made unsugared in the past, but I used a pressure canner, not water bath, which made it so I didn't need the acid to start with, so needed to add no sugar.

Perhaps borrow a pressure canner so you can make unsweetened?

Thank you, Pearl. I do have a pressure canner and will look into this.

Olga Booker wrote:My understanding was that vinegar and sugar were the  preserving ingredients.  We call it chutney in the UK from the Hindi word chatni, thanks to the great British Empire!  Although true Indian chutneys are usually fresh and not made to last more than a few days, the addition of sugar and vinegar in the westernised versions was in order to preserve them.

I have made many relish/chutneys in my time: green tomatoes, tomatilloes, apple&pears, figs, etc but I have never pressure or water bath canned any of them.  It is sweet, it's true, but the vinegar cuts through and usually is eaten in small quantities.  They have kept in perfect condition for 3, 4 and even 5 years.

Of course, if sugar is a no-no, than canning would be necessary.

Olga, I would be interested in some of your recipients if you are willing to share? Shelf stable chutney sounds like a delicious winner for me.

What about a dill relish?  The ones I have tried do not seem sweet at all.

Liv Smith wrote:

Angela Wilcox wrote:I agree that so many of the relishes/chow-chows have a high amount of sugar.  I am looking for a southern-style chow-chow recipe that has is safe for water bath canning, but has less sugar.  I know, I know...southern = sugary!  I'm from there and grew up with it, but now hoping to lessen the sugar factor.

Liv, I canned a peach salsa this year that turned out yummy.  Are you interested in salsas? or strictly relishes?

Yes, please post it, peach salsa sounds yummy!

Okie-dokie, Liv, here is my fav peach salsa recipe:

Fresh Peach Salsa
Yield: 5 pints

Ingredients
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
6 cups peeled and chopped peaches
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
2 jalapeno peppers seeds removed, finely chopped
2 hot yellow wax peppers seeds removed, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed finely chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

In a large pot, combine vinegar and peaches. Add onion, peppers, cilantro, honey, garlic, and cumin. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, boiling gently and stirring often, until slightly thickened, around 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Note: I use 3 teaspoons of cumin, am not to fussy about finely chopping the cilantro, and sometimes use all jalapeno peppers instead of the yellow wax peppers, and I wear gloves when seeding and chopping hot peppers so I don’t burn my hands.  Leave in some seeds from each pepper if you want it hot.  If you take out all of the seeds, the salsa is not hot at all.

In NZ most people don't "can" their preserves, like Olga, we follow the UK system. Fruit and low acid vegetables are usually bottled and water bathed in an open pan or just in a bain marie in the oven.

A good friend has four golden queen peach trees in their garden and every year, I get invited to pick as many as I want.  The peaches are a cling stone and the unblemished ones get sliced and bottled, the damaged ones are chopped, bagged and frozen to make chutney through out the year.  Each time I make a batch, i return several jars of chutney to them.

Here's my favourite peach chutney recipe that I've adapted by reducing the sugar by 1/2, increasing the quantity of peaches to up to 2 kg and increasing the heat with fresh ginger, lots more garlic and chilis.  

The piccalilli recipe has evolved over the years, my mother used to make it when we were children. It works really well with vegetables that have been dehydrated too - carrots, swedes, cauliflower, marrow etc.

I usually seal jars of chutney with preserving wax which helps to prevent the vinegar from corroding the lid of the jars and allow the chutney to keep for several years without spoiling.

Liv Smith wrote:The internets says:

“ It's a preserve that contains finely chopped vegetables, fruit, or sometimes both in a vinegar mixture. “

I wanna add that there seems to always be sugar in that mixture?

The ones I made in the past were really good, but I feel there is a whole world of possibilities out there. Hmm, peach and something relish. Jay mentioned green tomato relish. Yum!

Post here if you make some that you really love.

This time of year, with all the abundance from the garden, I am looking for new to me ways to use all this goodness.

Thank you for taking the time to do this!

I love this recipe. I make it with a quart jar, but it's just as good in a can or jar. It's so versatile!

I like to put the vinegar mixture in a bowl, then add the onions and garlic and toss until well combined. Then I add my cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro and green onions.

I like to use this mix up for sides or as an appetizer before dinner!