Relish and Pickle Making
Vidalia Onion Relish
We had a great time making onion relish in class the other night and tasting several different pickles. This was the last of my canning series at Wildwood. We covered how to make sweet pickles, dill pickles and crock pickles. For the hands-on part of the program we made a batch of the Vidalia Onion Relish from So Easy To Preserve. We sampled some with bread and cheese. Here are a couple of pictures from the class – the recipe follows.
Filling the jars
In the canner
Vidalia Onion Relish
6 qts. ground Vidalia sweet onions (14 to 16 med. onions)
½ c. canning salt
1 qt. cider vinegar
1 t. turmeric
1 t. pickling spice
1 t. pimento, chopped
4 ½ c. sugar
Grind enough Vidalia onions to yield 1 1/2 gallons. Add 1/2 c. salt and let stand thirty minutes. Squeeze juice from onion salt mixture and discard juice. Wash canning jars. To onions, add vinegar, sugar, spices, and pimento. Bring to boil and cook for thirty minutes, stirring often. Pack both onions and cooking liquid to cover in hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Yield: About 8 pints.
Source: So Easy To Preserve
Note: I always make this relish in half pint jars and process for 10 minutes. I will get about 16 jars that way.
Easy Onion-Pepper Relish
Easy onion and pepper relish
Tasty doesn’t have to be difficult. I was attending a friend’s birthday party and wanted to take along something to add the the appetizer table. I looked at what I had and came up with a simple fresh relish. I started with onions and sweet peppers and rounded it out with apple cider vinegar, a little brown sugar, smoked paprika and hot sauce. It went very well with the crackers, cheeses and smoked meats that were being served. Everyone liked it and I promised to post the recipe-so here it is. Happy Birthday, Tom!!!
Tom’s Birthday Onion-Pepper Relish
oil
1 sweet onion, diced
1 sweet pepper, seeded and diced
2/3 c. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 t. hot sauce
2 t. dried parsley
1/2 t. smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in skillet and cook onion over medium heat until tender. Add peppers and cook another couple of minutes. Add vinegar, sugar and seasonings and cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has cooked off. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings, if needed. Serve with bread or crackers, cheeses and smoked meats. Makes about 2 cups.
