Today I explored bold new territory – making relish and mustard. My new book on small batch preserving (The Canning Kitchen) had a couple recipes that intrigued me. The first mix of the day was hot dog relish, which is sort of a blend between relish and mustard. The second mix was a lemon dill mustard.
Because the relish had to sit and drain for a bit I got it going first. Here it is in the first stage, with the cucumber, onion and red pepper all mixed together.
Because the relish had to sit and drain for a bit I got it going first. Here it is in the first stage, with the cucumber, onion and red pepper all mixed together.
While it was draining I (thankfully) reviewed my recipe for mustard and realized that oops! The mustard seeds need to soak for at least two hours. I got that going right away. I also discovered that I had bought the wrong size jars from Wal-Mart. (No wonder they seemed like such a good price.) Instead of 250mL, I had picked up the 125mL. However, all was not lost. The 125mL jars were not only super cute but also a nice size for the mustard. Since everything needed to soak or drain, I had time to dash over to Home Hardware and pick up some 250mL jars for my relish.
With every crisis averted, I was able to continue on with my relish. This was stage two – mixing the cucumber blend with the mustard powder and other seasoning:
With every crisis averted, I was able to continue on with my relish. This was stage two – mixing the cucumber blend with the mustard powder and other seasoning:
During the whole process, the house was smelling amazing and I was hoping that the relish would taste as good as expected. Especially since – holy crap – it made way more than I was expecting. The recipe said it would make 3 pint jars, so I thought that would give me 6 of the smaller jars. It actually made 9 jars total. I took a tiny taste test and it seemed to be okay but it’s hard to tell when the relish is hot how the flavour will set up.
With the relish out of the way, the next step was the mustard. Again, it made way more than expected. (Which is the opposite of jam, which never seems to make as many jars as I expect!) Although there were a few glitches along the way, it felt very nice to see my finished product on the counter:
With the relish out of the way, the next step was the mustard. Again, it made way more than expected. (Which is the opposite of jam, which never seems to make as many jars as I expect!) Although there were a few glitches along the way, it felt very nice to see my finished product on the counter:
They both need 24 hours to set the seals, and then the mustard will need at least an extra week to mellow. So still in suspense for a bit longer!