Green relish isn’t expensive or hard to find. So you may not feel it’s worth it to make your own. But when I buy a jar, it’s not nearly as good as mine. Here’s an easy recipe for basic cucumber relish for hot dogs, to add to potato salad, or whatever. It’s from Cottage at the Crossroads. My changes are in italics.
Ingredients
• 8-10 medium pickling cucumbers (4 large field cukes) washed and finely chopped.
• 5 medium sweet onions (2 medium red onions, 2 medium white hot onions) finely chopped
• 3 large green peppers (red, purple and yellow sweet pepper, 1 jalapeño) washed, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup pickling salt
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 3 cups sugar (I used about 2½ cups)
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 2 tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• (2 tsp dry mustard powder)
Instructions
1. Combine chopped cucumbers, onions and peppers in a large bowl. (I do the cukes in a food processor and the rest by hand.)
2. Sprinkle with pickling salt and stir to distribute the salt throughout the mixture.
3. Add enough cold water to cover the vegetables.
4. Cover and allow to stand for 2 hours at room temperature.
5. Transfer vegetables to a colander set in the sink.
6. Rinse with cold water and allow to drain.
7. In a large stainless-steel or nonstick pot, combine sugar and vinegar.
8. Heat to boiling, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
9. Add mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric (and dry mustard) to the solution along with the chopped vegetables.
10. Return to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
11. Ladle the hot relish into hot, sterilized canning jars, leaving a ½ inch headspace.
12. Wipe the rims, add the lids, and screw bands.
13. Process the filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
14. Remove the jars from the canner, place on a dry towel, and allow to cool overnight.
Notes
If you do not want to process the relish, store the jars in the refrigerator after they have cooled and use within a few weeks.
So, in light of this suggestion, I guess you can use the relish right away, without needing to leave it 4-8 weeks as you do with other pickles. The first time I made this, I got 7 pint jars. This time, I got 4 pints.
