GAD ZUKES!

Yup, they're taking over the kitchen.....Zucchini!

Last week, I opened the last pint of Zucchini Relish from the batch I made in 2012. I panicked.....really.....I did. I panicked because my zucchini plants had done nothing but drink water since May. Not a thing. Not the green one, anyway. The gold zucchini had put forth a few fruits. Not a lot, though, and not very fast. 

Where was I going to find enough zucchini to make relish?

I went off to my sewing day, thinking about zucchini. While there, I mentioned my dilemma. What was I thinking?

By the end of the afternoon, I had all the zucchini I needed! One should never forget that, while one's own zucchini may not be fruiting out, someone else might be having the opposite problem. TOO MANY ZUKES!

So, next day, the saga of Zucchini Relish began.

My friend, Laura, gave me a box of zukes, including these giants. For relish, small zucchini are lovely and easy but the big ones, which not too many people want, are really great.

I sliced the biggies in manageable lengths and trimmed off any scars or discolorations. These were fresh from the garden, which I recommend, when canning.

I cut the smaller ones in the right size for our grinder.

The large ones....

....needed seeding....

....with a tablespoon.....

....to get them ready.

All set.

I had two big kettles of zucchini.

Aren't these gorgeous?

Peppers all cleaned, trimmed and cut, ready for the grinder....

....with the onions.

I attached the grinder to the Kitchen Aid mixer.

And my DH, did the grinding for me. It goes really fast. You can use a hand grinder, too, or a food processor.  Mix the veggies with salt, at this point, to help the product release water.

Here it is, in our biggest stainless steel bowl, lined with four layers of cheesecloth.

Cover it with plastic wrap.

Let it stand for 2 hours. Then, I transferred it to a very large collander....

....to rinse well....

....and squeeze.....

and squeeze.....

....until it's almost dry.....

....ready to cook.

Mix up the vinegar, sugar and spices in your largest stock pot....

......and mix in the veggies, well.

 

Bring it almost to a boil and simmer 10 minutes until all is steamy and lucious yummy. By now, even the neighbors two houses away know you are making pickles.

Wash your jar lids in hot, soapy water.

Sort out your rings.

Inspect your jars and toss out any with nicked rims or cracks or chips.

Here's my assembly area with a plate to fill the jars on and a canning funnel to make filling easier. I use the damp, clean cloth to wipe the rims before placing the lids and rings.

All set to go.

Here are the filled jars in their rack at the boil.

Cover and process ten minutes. I always add a little vinegar to the canner water to keep the jars from gathering lime during processing.

They come out quite clean and pretty. Whew! I don't have to do that for another couple of years.

Here's the recipe:

Zucchini Relish

Grind fine:

2 c. chopped zucchini (about 3 medium)

 1 c. chopped onion (about 1 medium)

1/2 c. chopped sweet green pepper (about 1 small)

1/2 c. chopped sweet red pepper (about 1 small)

Mix well in a very large bowl and sprinkle with

2 T. salt

 Mix well again and cover with cold water,

Let stand 2 hours. Drain; rinse and drain thoroughly. 

Measure the product and add, for every 4 cups of product:

1 3/4 c. sugar

1 c. cider vinegar

2 t. celery seed

1 t. mustard seed

Combine remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Add vegetables; simmer 10 minutes.

SPECIAL NOTE
If the product doesn't seem wet enough, add another mix of the vinegar/sugar/seasoning recipe to it and cook it again. You don't want it too dry for fear the veggies won't get pickled properly. Better a little too wet, than too dry. If too wet, you can adjust it as you fill the jars.

Pack hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner. Yield: about 4 half-pints.

Obviously, I used a lot more zucchini. I had about 16 cups of product  (zucchini, onion and peppers), after soaking and rinsing, so I multiplied the recipe for the vinegar mix accordingly.  My effort yielded 15 1/2 pints of relish.

Time to Preserve - Pickles and Onions

It's that time of year, again.  Time to make the house fragrant with vinegar and herbs and spices.  I made 7 quarts of Garlic Dills and 13 pints of Sweet Spears today; plus I started another two crock pots full of onions to carmelize.

The Sweet Spears were made with a recipe from my dear departed mom-in-law and here it is:

Sweet Spears - For 7 Pints of Pickles

4# cucumbers 3-4 inches in length

Boiling Water to cover

4 c. White Sugar

3 3/4 c White Vinegar

3 T. Pickling Salt

4 t. Celery Seed

4 t. Turmeric

1 1/2 t. Mustard Seed

Wash, pick over and quarter lengthwise all of the cucumbers.  Place in a large stainless steel or glass or plastic bowl and pour boiling water over to cover.  Let stand 2 hours.  Drain and fill jars with spears, laying the jar on its side to arrange the cucumbers vertically.  Fill in the top with smaller spears or cut pieces.  Meanwhile, heat the remaining ingredients together in a large stock pot to boiling.  Fill to within 1/2" of the top, wipe rims, place lids and rings.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath; 15 minutes for quarts.  Pickles should be ready to eat in 2 weeks.

This is how they look coming out of the canner.  I let them set with the rings on until they are cool; then, wash them well in soapy water, rinse and dry.  I label them with the name of the pickle and the date and down they go to the basement to await their fate.......aha.......an accompaniment for a good sandwich and an honored spot on the Thanksgiving table!

Garlic Dills

For each jar:

Place a head of fresh Dill upside down with the stem sticking up

Add 1-3 cloves fresh Garlic

Place medium, whole Cucumbers vertically in the jar until filled to within 1/2 inch of the top

Add 2 t. Pickling Salt and 3-5 whole Peppercorns

Heat a solution of:

1 1/2 c. Vinegar

3 quarts Water

For 7 quarts of pickles

Bring to the boil and pour over the cucumbers in the jars to within 1/4" of the top of the jar.  Wipe rims, place lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

 Whole peppercorns

 It's starting to look like a cannery in my kitchen.

This is how the dills look, coming out of the canner.  They will be ready to eat in about 2 weeks.

Preserving Onions

On our trip to Walla Walla last week we picked up 70 pounds of Walla Walla Sweet Onions.  These onions are wonderfully flavorful and not hot; you can eat them like an apple, really.  We make onion and butter sandwiches and a salad with cukes, sour cream and a little balsamic vinegar.  Yum.

Here they are in their bags.

Another arrival that day were some large summer squash that grew while we were away.

Aren't they lovely?

For Carmelized Onions, I slice them and put them in a large crock pot.....

with a half cup of butter....

for 10 hours or until they turn a.....

lovely, rich, brown color and smell sweetly delicious.

Then, I bag them up......

Label, and freeze them.  When I need them, I keep a package in my freezer in my kitchen.  I just take them out of the bag (where they have been frozen into a rather flat square), cut off what I want with my chef's knife, and return the remainder to the freezer.  A few minutes in the microwave will thaw them, or I can add them straight into the frying pan for added flavor to meat or veggies.  We love these, all through the year.  For three of us, about 6 quart bags (frozen flat and thin as possible), are enough.

I also mince them and freeze them raw for use later as I go along cooking away for my family. Of the 70 pounds of onions, we froze about 24 quarts raw.  They work very nicely.  I also chop and mince sweet bell peppers and freeze those for use later in the year.

The large summer squash, I am grinding up and freezing to make Sweet Zucchini Relish, later.  I'll show you the recipe when the time comes.