Pepper Relish

[b54red]

We have had such an abundance of bell peppers along with cayenne and jalapeno that we made a bunch of relish with different combinations. I like the ones with about half onion and a good bit of tomato in them the best. Wow are they good on fresh peas and I'm sure they will be a hit on dried peas and beans in the winter. A couple of good scoops in potato salad is also a treat. Can't wait to try them on other things like hot dogs and various sandwiches.

The relishes are fairly easy to make and then water bath to keep them a long time. It is amazing how much hot pepper it takes to make them really have a bit of burn because after they cook in the vinegar and sugar the hot just mellows out so much. One batch that I tasted just before cooking was so hot I thought it would be inedible but once done it had just a nice little burn that was perfect. May try using some green tomatoes at the end of the season in a relish instead of the ripe ones that we used in the last couple of batches. Tried following a few recipes but ended up adjusting the flavors to our liking by adding different spices and sugar and vinegar ratios and it worked out pretty good.

Bill

[KarenO]

nothing better than home grown goodness and being able to save some to enjoy in the winter is fantastic.
KarenO

[AlittleSalt]

That sounds so good Bill.

[Salsacharley]

You know what's right for you and you are doing it. I wish I was so certain with a very large batch of super hots coming along.

[Worth1]

Salsa cruda.
Worth

[b54red]

We are going to try canning some salsa if my tomatoes keep putting out. We froze some the last two years but didn't like the consistency or the taste that much when it was thawed out. We will definitely be leaving the cilantro out and just add fresh when we open the jars. I find that cilantro is far better added fresh just before eating. Seems to me that cooking and freezing it alters its taste and not in a good way. Maybe it's just me.

Bill

[Rajun Gardener]

Originally Posted by b54red

We are going to try canning some salsa if my tomatoes keep putting out. We froze some the last two years but didn't like the consistency or the taste that much when it was thawed out. We will definitely be leaving the cilantro out and just add fresh when we open the jars. I find that cilantro is far better added fresh just before eating. Seems to me that cooking and freezing it alters its taste and not in a good way. Maybe it's just me.

Bill

You won't be sorry using Mrs. Wages Mild Salsa Tomato Mix. You better freeze it because you'll eat it all the time if you just can it. It's better than any restaurant and store bought mixes.
https://www.mrswages.com/recipe/salsa-mix/

[b54red]

We put up 11 pints of salsa without cilantro in it. Now I have to see if it will be cool enough to grow my own cilantro this fall or if I will have to buy it. Tried putting a pack of fruit pectin in the salsa to see if it would thicken it a bit. I won't know if that worked until I open a jar. Right now I am still getting some tomatoes so fresh salsa is all we are using and saving the canned salsa for when the tomatoes and peppers are long gone from the garden.

Bill

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by b54red

We put up 11 pints of salsa without cilantro in it. Now I have to see if it will be cool enough to grow my own cilantro this fall or if I will have to buy it. Tried putting a pack of fruit pectin in the salsa to see if it would thicken it a bit. I won't know if that worked until I open a jar. Right now I am still getting some tomatoes so fresh salsa is all we are using and saving the canned salsa for when the tomatoes and peppers are long gone from the garden.

Bill

lemon or lime basil makes a great substitute for cilantro.

[b54red]

Pappadews are really coming in nicely now and I have cooked down about 5 gallons of them for making my red Pappadew hot sauce. Now I am going to attempt making a relish out of them so let the experiments begin. They are so mild this year due to the rain that it will take quite a bit of cayenne peppers added to get some heat or a few Malaguetas. I am so afraid of the Malaguetas because just a couple too many and it could end up being way too hot. In my hot sauce I use a lot of brown sugar for the flavor and even some molasses but I'm thinking that will turn the relish too brown because I used about half brown sugar on my last relish and it turned out really dark. Oh well I guess I better get busy cutting off the meat of the peppers because I don't want so many seeds. The seed to meat ratio in a Pappadew is probably at least 50/50 and that would make a terribly seedy relish. If this relish works we won't be giving much of it away.

Bill

[Worth1]

Sabor de Pimienta.
Condimento de chilie.


Worth

[b54red]

Wow! It is a lot of work cutting the meat off those Pappadews. We will see if it is worth all that work.

Bill

[Salsacharley]

When you say you are cutting the meat off those Pappadews, are you just trying to remove the skin from the meat, or is there more to it. I'm visualizing trying to cut the meat off of Hatch type chile peppers and it just wouldn't work. So, I'm wondering if you can't treat the Pappadew like a Hatch type and roast the peppers, let them steam in their own heat (ie. in a baggie) for a few minutes, and then just peel the skin off the meat? I don't know anything about Peppadew peppers so I might be way off in how they are structured.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

When you say you are cutting the meat off those Pappadews, are you just trying to remove the skin from the meat, or is there more to it. I'm visualizing trying to cut the meat off of Hatch type chile peppers and it just wouldn't work. So, I'm wondering if you can't treat the Pappadew like a Hatch type and roast the peppers, let them steam in their own heat (ie. in a baggie) for a few minutes, and then just peel the skin off the meat? I don't know anything about Peppadew peppers so I might be way off in how they are structured.

I am not trying to peel off the skins. I am trying to cut off the good edible parts of the peppers and leave most of the seeds and pulp. Since the peppers are fairly small and there are a lot of them it just takes a lot of time. I got it done but it was a chore.

Bill

[Salsacharley]

Well, now that you're done you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.