By Dana Jacobi
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Old-fashioned relish, the kind made from an old family recipe handwritten on a time-yellowed index card, or from a cookbook whose pages are splashed and well-worn, need not be a forgotten joy.

Using the bounty from your garden or the farmers' markets, you can make tangy relish from scratch. This time-honored treat can easily fit into today's time-pressured, sugar-laden lifestyle. You can do it even if your kitchen skills are sketchy. If you can chop a tomato, you can turn out this spiced Green Tomato Relish, which calls for just a quarter cup of sugar and conjures up visions of grandma or great-grandma's kitchen as it perfumes the house with its spicy aroma.

The first secret is cooking small batches. This recipe, which produces four cups, enough for one or two people to enjoy generously, takes less than one hour from start to finish. (If you have a larger family, batches can be doubled.)

The second secret is that old-fashioned canning is optional. Stored in a plastic container in the refrigerator, this relish will keep for a month. For a more authentic aura, you may divide it among four half-pint glass canning jars, if you like. I find, however, that actually canning it, using what is known as the open-kettle method, takes remarkably little time and effort.

For open-kettle canning, glass jars and their two-piece metal lids are sterilized by boiling. Bring water to a rolling boil and sterilize jars and lids for 10 minutes. Using tongs and a spoon that have also been sterilized, fill the hot relish into the jars and seal the lids. As the relish cools, it usually creates a vacuum. (To be safe, I store the relish in the fridge anyway.) I set everything to boil when I start chopping the ingredients. Using enough water to submerge everything by at least two inches, as recommended by canning manuals, this allows sufficient time, and the sterile jars are ready and waiting when the relish is cooked.

If finding green tomatoes is a problem, the rock-hard, pale red ones found at most supermarkets can do nicely. Cherry tomatoes may be used as well.

Green Tomato Relish

Makes 4 cups or 8 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 3 green tomatoes (or firm, unripened red tomatoes), chopped
  • 1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 rib celery, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. salt

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients in a large stainless steel, enamel-lined, or other non-reactive pot. Bring to a full boil, reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  2. Allow mixture to cool slightly. Ladle relish into storage containers, preferably glass, with tight-fitting lids, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (If liquid seems excessive, drain some off, as desired.) Cover tightly. Let stand until completely cool.
  3. Store in refrigerator until ready to use, up to 1 month.

Per serving:
45 calories,
less than 1g. fat (0 g. saturated fat),
11 g. carbohydrate,
1 g. protein,
1 g. dietary fiber,
285 mg. sodium.

Dana Jacobi is a culinary professional and writer whose food appeals to everyone interested in eating well - deliciously and for good health. She has written several cookbooks, including The Best of Clay Pot Cooking and The Joy of Soy. A James Beard Award Finalist (as The Natural Kitchen: SOY!) this book redefined cooking with soyfoods in dishes for everybody. This article appears courtesy of AICR.


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