This Dame Cooks A Collection of Recipes from Alaska to the South Pacific and Caribbean

What do you do with all the zucchini your garden grows every year?  Especially the ones that are left on the vine until they’re 18-inches long, hollow as a pumpkin and tough as hides.  Well, support your local pig farm with those, that’s for sure!  Zucchini relish is best made with mature squash, no more than 8-10 inches long, not overgrown squash that are as hard as a gourd.  You’ll need a grinder with a large die (disc with holes) to grind the zucchini skin and flesh along with the onions and bell peppers in this recipe.  Manual cast iron grinders are available at most stores that carry culinary supplies, even Feed and Grain stores.   Grinding attachments are available for your Kitchenaid mixer and can be ordered on line.  Check out Amazon.com for food grinders, or borrow your Mom’s or Grandma’s.

Heirloom doesn’t refer to non-genetically engineered zucchini seeds but rather the recipe itself.  This pickling recipe is probably from the early 1900s though relishes and chutneys have been around a few centuries to say the least.  The first step in pickling vegetables is to remove as much water as possible from the vegetables so as not to dilute the acid and salt combo which actually preserves the veggies.   The first 8-12 hours is for sweating the veggies.  Plan on a day and a half to make a large batch of relish, about 12 cups or 6 pints.   You’ll also need a boiling-water-bath for sterilizing jars and processing the filled jars.

While living in Colorado during the 70s, my good friend, Arlene, and I made batches of zucchini relish every summer.  We used this relish just like pickle relish in potato salad, devilled eggs, on hot dogs and hamburgers, and in tuna pasta salad to list a few.  It has the sweet and sour taste of bread and butter pickles with a little kick from the chilies.  Don’t forget to include a jar of zucchini relish in a gift basket of your homemade preserves.  Friends and family will love it.

Step 1 – preparing vegetables:

• 10 cups of ground zucchini
• 5 cups of ground onion  
• 1 large green bell pepper
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 2-3 jalapeno chilies
• 5 Tbsp sea salt (Kosher or canning salt)

1. Grind all vegetables with large die.  Sprinkle salt over and mix.  Cover and let stand overnight in refrigerator. 
2. Transfer ground veggies to a large colander.   Rinse under cold water for 5 minutes and thoroughly drain until the colander no longer drips.
3. Place in a heavy bottomed stock pot or large enamel Dutch oven.

Step 2 – adding syrup and seasoning:

• 2-1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 3-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp dry mustard (or 2 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds)
• 2 tsp celery seed
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground allspice

1. Add all syrup and seasoning ingredients to the prepared vegetables.  Stir well.
2. Cook over medium high heat to a boil, stirring ocassionally.  Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes until zucchini is translucent and syrup has thickened. Stir more often taking care not to scorch the bottom.
3. Pack sterilized jars to 1/2-inch from top of jar.  Clean rim of jar, place lid on rim and seal with ring.
4. Process jars in boiling-water-bath for 10 minutes.  Jars should be under 1 inch of boiling water.
5. Remove jars from boiling water.  Set in a draft free area until cool.  Refrigerate any jars not sealed.  Store sealed jars in a dark, cool pantry.  Refrigerate once opened.