Sweet Pepper Relish

So I “shamed” you into to learn to preserve?

Come on, Erma, you know it all has to do with that German great grandmother of yours. I’ll bet she never wasted as much as a crumb.

You are right. That was my Tomato Ketchup recipe.

Did you really make that much ketchup in the oven and not have to stand over the stove constantly stirring the mess?

My family is like yours. They LOVE home made ketchup, and it is such a mess to make. Not to mention standing in the steam of a boiling kettle of tomato pulp for hours.

All the recipes coyly say, “cook down until halved,” or “Cook for an hour until thick as you want.” Yeah, right. One hour’s boiling and you don’t even have spaghetti sauce, let along ketchup.

I must try this. And it doesn’t stick or scorch? THIS I must try.

What a pair we are, Erma. You were making ketchup, and I was making Sweet Pepper Relish. And yes, it was over a hundred in the kitchen. With high humidity which was not improved by boiling pots of water to sterilize jars and stirring up the relish itself.

Sweet Pepper Relish must be one of the earliest relishes that women made. Could any recipe be simpler? Just red peppers, green peppers, and onions. Some of my oldest cookbooks call this Christmas Relish, I suppose due to the red and green color?

This is the original recipe my grandmothers used. Naturally I have “improved” upon it over the years.

First off, one making of this is hardly worth getting out all the pots, so I make larger amounts. About all the difference is that you cook it a little longer, like maybe 30 minutes instead of 15.

The batch I made yesterday was 15 Chocolate Peppers (no, they don’t taste like chocolate, they are chocolate colored), 14 green bell peppers, 30 plus yellow sweet banana peppers (some of which were turning red), 18 green paprika peppers, and 12 red bell peppers, and 8 huge onions. This made 12 pints of relish, and it was a lovely mahogany color.

This relish mixed with mayonnaise and a bit of other seasonings, makes a decent Thousand Island Dressing. A couple of teaspoons of this mixed with sour cream and mayonnaise really dresses up coleslaw. Gives it a sweet and sour taste and a bit of red color.

Probably the hardest thing about this relish is getting the ripe, red peppers. You have to keep people from eating them raw!! You know, I wonder how many people realize that we eat peppers unripe? Green peppers are not ripe. They are ripe when they are red. It is surprising how many people have never eaten a ripe red pepper.

Sweet Pepper Relish:

12 green peppers
8 red peppers
8 medium sliced onions

Grind the peppers and onions in a food mill on a medium blade. You do not want a mush, but distinct pieces if you use a food processor.

Place in large bowl and cover with 2 ½ tablespoons canning salt. Let stand 3 minutes. Pour boiling water to cover and let stand 3 more minutes. Rinse and drain well. There should be almost no liquid left with the peppers.

Place the peppers in a large kettle. For a sweet relish use 2 ½ cups white sugar, however I use 2 cups as we like it a little tarter than most people. Add enough white vinegar to barely cover the peppers, and that is after you have stirred in the sugar which makes a lot of liquid. Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes or until thickened. Pour at once in hot, sterilized pint and half pint jars.

This amount makes about 4 to 5 half pints.