Anyone got an abundance of cucumbers and a deep desire for the most perfectly sweet, tangy, flavourful hamburger relish imaginable. I do! I do! Full of cucumbers, onions, celery and peppers, spiced with turmeric and mustard, after tasting this relish, you’ll never go back to store bought. A perfect companion to my burger patty recipe!
Ingredients:
- Cucumbers (8 cups ground)
- Onions (4 cups chopped)
- 1/4 cup Pickling Salt
- 3 Red Peppers
- Celery (6 cups chopped)
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 1 Tbsp. Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp. Dry Mustard
- 2 Cups Vinegar (divided)
- 4 Cups White Sugar
- 2 tsp. Mustard Seed
Method:
The night before making relish, ground the cucumbers. In a food processor, pulse the unpeeled cucumbers. Make sure to not “over pulse” the cucumbers, it should be in chunks, not a paste. Ground 8 cups total and add to a large mixing bowl.
In the food processor, pulse the peeled onions to a fine dice. Add the 4 cups of chopped onion to the bowl with the ground cucumber.
Add 1/4 cup of kosher salt to the cucumbers and onions and mix well to combine. Cover and let sit overnight.
The following morning, drain the cucumber and onion in a strainer or colander.
Dice the three red peppers and add the peppers to the drained cucumber and onion.
Chop six cups of celery and add to a separate bowl.
In a glass or metal bowl, combine the dry ingredients: 1/2 cup of flour, 1 Tbsp. turmeric and 1 Tbsp. dry mustard. Note that if you mix the turmeric and mustard in a plastic bowl or with plastic or wood utensils, it will stain.
Add 2/3 cup of white vinegar to the dry ingredients. Mix well with a whisk until there are no lumps.
Add 2 tsp. of mustard seed to a reusable tea bag/tea ball or a sachet of cheesecloth.
To a large pot or dutch oven, mix 1 1/3 with 4 cups of white sugar. Add the tea bag of mustard seed and bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat.
Add the dry ingredient, vinegar mixture to the pot and continue to boil, lowering the heat to medium, until thickened. At this point if there are still lumps in the vinegar and spices mixture, use an immersion blender to remove any remaining lumps.
Add the cucumber, onion, and red pepper to the vinegar and spices. Return to a boil and add the celery. Simmer the relish for thirty five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Ladle the hot relish into hot, sterilized jars, topping with sterilized lids.
Process the jars in a water bath or a canner for ten minutes. If you don’t have a canner with a rack, be sure to put something such as cutlery in the bottom of your pot to ensure your jars don’t touch the bottom of the pot. Another note, if you have hard water like I do, add a bit of vinegar to the water, otherwise your jars will be cloudy on the outside.
If any jars do not seal, store in the refrigerator and consume within one month. Sealed jars are shelf stable for one year. Yields 8 500ml jars.
Garden Hamburger Relish
Equipment
- 8 Jars 500 ml
Ingredients
- 8 Cups Cucumber unpeeled, ground
- 4 Cups Onions finely chopped
- ¼ Cup Pickling Salt
- 3 Red Peppers diced
- 6 Cups Celery chopped
- ½ Cup Flour
- 1 Tbsp. Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp. Dry Mustard
- 2 Cup Vinegar divided
- 4 Cups White Sugar
- 2 tsp. Mustard Seed
Instructions
- The night before, pulse the unpeeled cucumber in a food processor until you have 8 cups total of ground cucumber. Finely dice the onions in the food processor. Combine the cucumber and the onions and sprinkle with pickling salt. Mix well and cover, allow to sit overnight.
- The following morning, drain the cucumbers and onions in a large strainer or colander.
- Chop the red peppers and add to the cucumber and onions. Chop the celery and add to a separate bowl.
- Combine the flour, turmeric and dry mustard in a glass or metal bowl. Add ⅔ cup of vinegar and mix well until there are no lumps.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, combine the remaining 1⅓ cups of vinegar and 4 cups sugar. Fill a reusable teabag/tea ball or cheesecloth sachet with the mustard seed. Add the teabag of mustard seed to the pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Add the spice/vinegar mixture to the pot and continue to boil until thickened ensuring there are no lumps.
- Add the cucumber, onions and peppers to the pot and return to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the celery, simmer for 35 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Ladle the hot relish into hot sterilized jars and top with sterilized lids.
- Process the jars in a water bath or a canner for ten minutes. Store any unsealed jars in the fridge and consume within one month. Sealed jars are shelf stable for one year.
