In this section:
Beet Relish
Bread and Butter Pickles
Christmas Pickles
Corn Relish
Green Tomato Relish
Lazy Housewife Pickles
Marion's Dills
Mrs. Siefkas' Sweet Pickles
Piccalilli
Pickled Beets
Refrigerator Pickles
Stella's Dills
Beet Relish
1 qt cooked beets, sliced and chopped
1 qt green cabbage, sliced and chopped
1/3 to 1/2 c GF prepared horseradish
1 1/2 c white granulated sugar
1 t non-iodized salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 1/2 c apple cider vinegar
In a
bowl, combine all ingredients [except vinegar]. Toss and mix to
combine. Pour vinegar over beet mixture. Ladle into jars with
lids. Does not need to be sealed. Does not need to be
processed. Will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. 
Bread and Butter Pickles
Choose young cucumbers that are about 6-inches in length. If tiny white onions are available, they are excellent in this recipe as well. On the farm, there will likely be a patch of "winter onions" [Egyptian onions] available at the same time the cucumbers are ready. Wash, clean, and remove spines from cucumbers.
6 c thinly sliced cucumbers
1 lb white onions [or three onions cut into crescent slices]
1/4 c canning or kosher salt, never use table or iodized salt
Place and mix together in a crock or non-metal container and let stand for 3 hours.
For the pickling solution, prepare the following mixture:
2 c GF brown sugar
1/2 t turmeric [can be omitted if you prefer]
1/4 t cloves, ground
1 T mustard seed, left whole and not crushed
3/4 to 1 t celery seed
2 c apple cider vinegar
Combine and heat on simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Move to Medium High heat and boil for 5 minutes.
Add the cucumbers and
onions to the pickling solution and bring back to just the boiling point.
Remove from heat. Pack cucumbers and onions into hot, sterilized pint
jars. Pour solution over cucumbers and onions to within one half inch from
the top of the jar. Seal with rubber jar rings and Mason jar lids [lids
with glass inside the top of the lid].
Christmas Pickles
This is actually a refrigerator pickle [or back of the counter]. You can leave on the counter for the week to ten days it will take to finish this recipe. This recipe is a substitute for sweet dills and is much simpler to get to a finished product.
1 gallon jar dill pickles
Optional: small bottle of GF Tabasco sauce [if allowed]
3 cloves garlic, chopped, minced
1 5-lb bag while granulated sugar
Drain all the juice from pickles and discard. Rinse pickles and jar. Slice pickles lengthwise and place back into jar. Add Tabasco sauce and garlic and about one third of the sugar.
Screw lid back on tightly, so no juice will leak out. Gently tip jar back and forth several times [each time you wash dishes] to allow sugar and spices to mix with pickles. Leave on counter at room temperature for about a week.
As sugar dissolves, add more until all sugar has been used. Gently tip jar back and forth daily to allow sugar and spices to mix.
When all
sugar is absorbed, pickles will be dark green and crispy. Serve on a
platter with sliced vegetables.
Corn Relish
When the second patch of sweet corn began to get too hard for table use, it was time to make corn relish. We used field corn for relish if the sweet corn was in short supply or if the patch had had a visit from a family of coons.
18 ears of corn, shucked and silked, cut off the cob
1 sm bunch of celery, chopped into small pieces
1 sm head of cabbage, without core and large leaf veins, chopped
4 onions, cut into small crescent slices
2 green peppers, chopped
Place vegetables into large pot. Mix the pickling solution in a separate container and add to the vegetables for cooking.
2 c white granulated sugar
1/2 c canning or kosher salt, never iodized salt for canning
1/2 t mustard powder
1/4 t cayenne
1/2 t turmeric
1 qt apple cider vinegar
[can add celery or mustard seeds if desired]
Heat
on Medium High to boiling point. Reduce heat to low simmer and cook for 40
to 45 minutes. Ladle mixture into pint jars. Seal with Mason jar
lids [glass in top of lids] and with rubber jar rings. Makes about six
pints. Relish is ready in 3 to 4 weeks.
Green Tomato Relish
Mix together 2 quarts of chopped green tomatoes with 3/4 to 1 cup canning or kosher salt, never use iodized salt in canning. Cover and let stand 24 hours, drain well.
Place tomatoes in large cooking pot and add the following ingredients:
1 t black pepper
1 1/2 t GF mustard powder
1 1/2 t GF cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1 1/2 t cloves, ground
1/4 c white mustard seed
1 qt apple cider vinegar
2 red or green peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Bring to simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Raise heat to Medium High and boil for 15 additional minutes. Stir 2 to 3 times during cooking.
Ladle
into hot, sterilized pint jars. Seal with rubber jar rings and Mason jar
lids. Allow at least one half inch of head space at the top of each
jar.
Lazy Housewife Pickles
Choose 3- to 5-inch cucumbers. Wash and clean and remove spines. Cut lengthwise and pack into quart jars. In the bottom of each jar place two slices of onion and two slices of a garlic clove. Pack in the cucumbers and add two slices of onion and two slices of a garlic clove to the top of the jar. In addition, add a pea-sized piece of powdered alum to the top of each jar. [one half teaspoon of minced onion and a few pieces of minced garlic may be used as a substitute]. Prepare the following pickling solution:
4 c white granulated sugar
1/2 c canning or kosher salt, never use iodized salt for canning
1 qt apple cider vinegar
1 pt tap water
2 1/2 t celery seed
Simmer
slowly for 6 to 8 minutes. Then boil over High heat to a rolling
boil. Stir with a wooden spoon. Pour over cucumbers packed in quart
jars. Be sure to allow one half inch head space in the top of the
jar. Seal with a Mason jar lid [with a glass top inside] and a
rubber jar ring. Store in a dark, cool area. Wait 3 to 4 weeks
before using.
Marion's Dills
Same recipe as Stella's Dills, but has the addition of a pea-sized lump or powdered alum for the pickling solution.
I
personally like the addition of alum for the additional preserving quality and
especially the crispness of the finished product. For these dill pickles,
I split each cucumber in half and packed the cucumber halves loosely in 2-quart
jars.
Mrs. Siefkas' Sweet Pickles
This recipe uses two pickling solutions, but the finished product is excellent.
2 T canning or kosher salt, never use iodized salt for canning
1 1/2 t mixed pickling spices
1 t powdered alum
2 c apple cider vinegar
Choose 3- to 5-inch cucumbers. Wash and clean; remove stems; remove all spines. Pack cucumbers into quart jars. Have available Mason jar lids and rubber jar rings for sealing. Pour heated pickling solution over cucumbers in jars. Fill to one half inch from the top of the jar. Seal.
Store in dark, cool area for 3 to 4 weeks. Open jars and discard solution. Cut each cucumber lengthwise and return to jars. Prepare the following solution.
2 c white granulated sugar
1 c apple cider vinegar
1 c tap water
Heat
solution to boiling. Pour over cucumbers in jars. Seal with Mason
jar lids and a new rubber jar ring. Can be stored in the refrigerator or
in a cool place for 3 days to one week. Then, sweet pickles can be
used.
Piccalilli
I use a food chopper [a hand grinder] with the coarse blade for cutting up the vegetables for this recipe. Piccalilli, along with salsa, chili sauce, four to five different relishes, and catsup are "end of the garden" productions. They are the sauces served with meats or used in favorite recipes.
Put through a chopper or food processor:
5 green tomatoes
5 green peppers
2 sweet red peppers
5 onions, peeled
1 sm head of cabbage, quartered
1/4 c canning or kosher salt
Place the vegetables in a crock or non-metal container. Sprinkle with the salt and allow to stand [covered] overnight. In the morning, drain and rinse with cold water. Make the following solution, add the vegetables and cook.
3 c GF brown sugar
1 1/2 t celery seed
1 T mustard seed
1 T whole cloves
1 2-inch cinnamon stick
1 T allspice berries [or, whole allspice, mixed]
2 c apple cider vinegar
Cook
to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes; raise heat to Medium High and cook to the boiling
point. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Ladle into
hot, sterilized pint jars. Seal with Mason jar lids and rubber
rings. Makes four pints. Ready for use in 3 to 4 weeks.
Pickled Beets
Wash and clean beets with roots left on and with the tops [stems] cut about one inch above the beet. Place beets in large cooking pot. Cover with water. Boil beets for 15 minutes with the 1-inch stems and all of the root left on. [Test a beet with a sharp knife inserted. Knife should easily go all the way through a fully-cooked beet]. When finished cooking, trim off roots and stems and slip off skins. Pack small whole beets or beets cut into halves or fourths into hot, sterilized jars.
Choose one of the following pickling solutions.
#1: 1 qt apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 c white granulated sugar
1/2 t allspice berries
1 t whole cloves
Heat to simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Heat to boiling and pour solution over beets packed into pint jars. Seal with rubber jar rings and Mason jar lids.
#2: 1 qt apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 c white granulated sugar
1 1/2 t celery seed
#3: Same as above, except substitute dill seed and/or a half head of dill weed for the spices.
#4: 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup
water. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over sliced beets which have been
packed in pint jars. Seal with a flat and jar ring. Process for 12
minutes in hot water bath.
Refrigerator Pickles
4 c white granulated sugar
4 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c non-iodized salt [kosher or canning salt]
1 1/3 t turmeric
1 1/3 t celery seed
1 1/3 c mustard seed
3 medium-sized onions
Cucumbers, sliced thin, 1/4-inch or less
Combine sugar, vinegar, and spices in a bowl or pitcher. Do not heat. This is a cold preserving syrup. Wash and sterilize three large peanut butter jars or alternate quart jars. Slice an onion into each jar. Slice enough cucumbers to fill each jar. Stir syrup and pour over cucumbers and onions. Screw on lids to almost tight. Refrigerate for 5 to 6 days before using. Best at 10 days to 2 weeks.
Always
store in the refrigerator. Will keep from 8 to 9 months with this
syrup.
Stella's Dills
This is a "neighborhood recipe" that works well. Choose medium-sized cucumbers, clean and wash enough to remove spines. Trim off vine if still adhering to the cucumber. Use whole cucumbers. Use either one quart or two quart jars. Best to use Mason jar lids with glass tops and jar rubbers [rubber rings] for canning all cucumber pickles.
4 c tap water
2 c apple cider vinegar
1/3 c canning or kosher salt [never iodized]
1/2 c white granulated sugar
one dill head and one garlic bud for each jar
Combine water, vinegar, salt, and sugar in large pot or saucepan. Heat on
Medium High to boiling. Pack cucumbers in jars. For quarts, put in
one head of dill and one clove of garlic split into two or three pieces.
For two quart jars, put a head of dill and a clove of garlic in the bottom of
the jar and at the top of the jar. Pour pickling solution over cucumbers
in jars. Allow one half inch of "head space" at the top of the
jar. Seal with rubber jar rings and Mason jar lids.