Crossfield Collection Recipes

You are here: Home / Archives for Pickles and Relish

Pickles and Relish

Sweet Pickle Relish

by Leave a Comment

Ingredients
3 to 4 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, unpeeled, finely chopped ( (6 to 8 cups)
2 cups finely chopped onions (2 to 3 medium)
3 tablespoons pickling salt
2 to 3 cups of ice cold water
1 1/2 to 3 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you like your relish)
2 cups cider vinegar at 5% acidity
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, layer the cucumbers, onions, and salt. Add enough cold water to completely cover the vegetables. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

2. Drain the vegetables in a large fine-mesh sieve or colander lined with a single layer of cheesecloth. Rinse well and drain again, pressing out the excess liquid.

3. IN a 6 to 8 quart stainless steal pot, combine the sugar, vinegar, mustard seeds, celery seeds. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. About 5 minutes.

4. Add the drained vegetable to the syrup and return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Remove from the pot from the hear. The mixture may look watery but that is okay. Ladle the relish into hot pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. I also use half pint jars so I have smaller jars when opened. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, dampt paper towel. Apply hot lids and screw bands.

5. If you are simply stashing the relish in fridge, refrigerate the jars of relish for up to a few weeks.
If you are properly canning the pickle relish, process 8 ounce jars in a water bath canner according to recommended directions and time. 10 minutes for pints and 15 minutes for quarts. 10 minutes for half pint jars.  Remove from water bath canner and let cool for 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals and remove the screw bands. Store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to one year.

2023 – made in half pint jars

 

 

Pickled Banana Pepper Rings

by Leave a Comment

Banana Sweet Peppers – 1 pound with stem removed (approx)

Brine Ingredients:
3 cups white distilled vinegar
2 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons canning salt
1 tablespoon sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Prepare canning jars for water bath canning and keep sterilized  jars hot.  Use new canning lids and rings. (don’t reuse canning lids). Follow recommended USDA method for water bath canning of pickles.

Wash, de-seed and slice banana peppers into rings into desired thickness. Can add hotter pepper varieties if desired for a mixture of hot and mild pickled peppers. If using hot peppers be sure to wear gloves for protection from the oils in the hot peppers.

You don’t have to be concerned about getting all of the seeds out but try to remove as many as you can along with the white sections from the pepper. Keeping all of the seeds in is a personal preference. I just try to cut down on the amount of seeds in the jar and so I have more peppers than seeds in jars.

Make pickling brine using proportions above to pour over peppers and use prepared pint canning jars.

Bring the vinegar, sugar, salt to a rolling boil in saucepan. Keep brine hot as you fill each jar with rings and brine. Make more brine as needed depending on number of jars to be processed.  Brine can be refrigerated and reheated as needed if you are small batching depending on quantity being processed.

  1. Add one glove of garlic (crushed to release flavor) in bottom of each jar (optional )before packing with prepared pepper rings.  Optional is one teaspoon of chopped garlic if you don’t have fresh cloves.  The garlic is totally optional.
  2. Pour hot brine over peppers to within ½” of the top. Pack tightly since rings will shrink when processed. Leave 1/2 inch headroom in each jar.  Remove air bubbles from jar.
  3. Wipe off the rim and put lid and ring on.
  4. Process pints for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.
  5. Cool completely for at least 12 hours and check for a good seal. Remove band from jars, wash and label jars. Use within one year for best quality and flavor.

 

TIPS FOR MAKING PICKLED BANANA PEPPERS:

Follow proper canning procedures and then process in a water bath canner. Follow the USDA guidelines for proper sterilization and timing. Be sure to verify that the lids have completely sealed before storing on the shelf.  Make sure your banana peppers are fresh and have been rinsed well.

  • Keeping the seeds in or not is personal preference. I usually get most of the seeds out but there are always a few that stay in there and it doesn’t affect taste at all. I don’t fuss too much over that.
Instructions
Bring the vinegar, sugar, salt to a rolling boil in a saucepan for making the brine for the pickles.
  • Pour hot brine over jars filled with the pepper rings  to within ½” of the top.
  • Wipe off the rim and put canning lid and jar ring on. Get as many air bubbles out as you can. Only tighten jar ring to ensure lids stays on jar. Do not over tighten.
  •  Follow proper canning procedures and then process filled jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Follow the USDA guidelines for proper sterilization and timing.

Notes

  • Keeping the seeds in or not is personal preference. I usually get most of the seeds out but there are always a few that stay in there and it doesn’t affect taste at all. I don’t fuss too much over that.
  • This recipe makes 2 pints.

Mustard Pickles

by Leave a Comment

INGREDIENTS

6 cups washed and diced pickling cucumbers
2 cups diced onion
1 cup canning/pickling salt
8 cups water or enough to cover the cucumbers and onions for the salt water soak
4 cups vinegar you can use apple cider or white vinegar but make sure it’s 5% acidity
4 Tablespoons sugar You can increase to 1 cup sugar if you prefer a sweeter flavor
2 Tablespoons ClearJel® optional, but produces a thicker relish
6 Tablespoons dry mustard
2 Tablespoons dry turmeric
2 teaspoons celery salt you can use regular salt, but the celery salt adds to the flavor
½ cup water

INSTRUCTIONS
Place cucumbers and onions in a large stainless steel or glass bowl.
Mix 1 cup of pickling/canning salt with 8 cups of cold water (double this as needed if doing a larger batch of pickles). Pour over top of cucumbers and onions, add more cold water if necessary to cover the tops of the cucumbers. Use a clean plate and place on top of the cucumbers to keep them under the surface of the ice salt water.
Fill a pint sized Mason jar with water (use a lid) and set it on top of the plate to act as a weight. Let soak for 1 to 2 hours on the counter or put the bowl in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours.
After soaking cucumbers and onions, pour out salt water and rinse thoroughly with cold water and allow cucumbers to drain.
Prepare water bath canner and begin warming the water.
In a large stainless steel pot, combine sugar, dry mustard and turmeric, celery salt, and ClearJel®, then pour in a ½ cup of water, whisking until combined and smooth. Pour in vinegar and bring to a full boil while stirring.
Once it’s reached a full boil, lower heat to a simmer and stir until it thickens up, then add the cucumbers and the onions and bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil with the vegetables added, keep at a low boil and cook for 5 minutes, stir as needed.
In jars just washed in hot soapy water and rinsed, pack the relish/pickle mixture to a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and add more product if needed to keep the ½ inch headspace. Clean the rim, put on lid and bands, and screw down to finger tip tight. Place filled jar into your water bath canner. Make sure at least 1 inch of water covers the top of the jars.
Bring water to a full boil, once water is boiling, process pints for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat, remove lid, and let jars sit in canner for 5 minutes. Then remove from canner and let cool and seal on a folded towel.

NOTES
You may safely sub in zucchini in place of cucumbers in this recipe per Ball Book of Complete Home Canning.
You can use either apple cider or white vinegar, just make sure it says 5% acidity (no homemade apple cider vinegar for canning recipes)
You may increase the sugar to taste, Great-grandma’s recipe only called for 4 Tablespoons sugar but if you prefer it sweeter you can add more sugar.

This old-fashioned mustard pickle recipe is straight from Great-Grandma’s kitchen and is delicious on sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers and in salads. A must make when the summer bounty is on!

Source: https://melissaknorris.com/wprm_print/15551

How to Make Mustard Pickles – Great-Grandma’s Recipe