Corn Relish with Sweet and Hot Peppers

This is a recipe that began with Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, and brought me to Helen Witty's fantastic preserving book Fancy Pantry (there is an updated version, called The Good Stuff Cookbook, as well). I have reduced the sugar, increased the vinegar, added hot peppers to the mix, and eliminated the celery. This is a delicious relish on hot dogs, hamburgers, cold cut sandwiches, if you add some cooked beans to it, it makes a lovely side salad or summer main dish, as well. It is quite fine mixed with mayonnaise and sour cream and chopped, cooked, meat to make a salad (to fill sandwiches or tomatoes or avocados). You can eat it with any roasted meat, like a chutney, and it makes a wonderful addition to the relish tray for Thanksgiving or New Year's Day. We usually make double this amount for our yearly supply. If you want to reduce the hot peppers, you can increase the sweet peppers instead.

6 cups cooked corn kernels (from about 10 to 12 ears)
2 cups diced onions (red are pleasant)
1 cup cored and seeded sweet peppers, chopped
3/4 cup finely diced hot peppers
4 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons fine non-iodized salt
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottomed preserving pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Lower heat and simmer, partly covered, until it has thickened slightly, about 20 - 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Ladle the boiling relish into hot, sterilized pint canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims, and place a new lid on the jar, holding in place with a clean ring, tightened to finger tightness. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Let the relish mellow about three weeks before serving. These jars will last for years.

Labels: Homemaking, Preserving the Harvest, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 7:41 AM