26th Jul 2010
Putting Food By
All the great vegetables and fruits at the farmers market these days means it’s time to start putting food by. When we lived in cooler climes, canning was my food preservation technique of choice but here in the Sacramento Valley where it’s only slightly cooler than the bowels of hell, I like to freeze foods.
This weekend’s trip to the market had me buying a few pounds of Roma tomatoes and a bunch of hot Italian peppers. The tomatoes were peeled, sealed, and put in the freezer; the peppers were roasted and then frozen. I’ll do this several more times while tomatoes and peppers are in season and then use the veggies up over the winter. There is nothing quite like eating those tomatoes in the dead of winter…it’s like summer in your mouth!
Alas, I have no pictures of those beautiful tomatoes or peppers to share so here is a recipe for all you gardeners wondering what to do with all that zucchini you grew!
Note: this is an old recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box.
Zucchini Relish
6 lg. zucchini (about 4 lbs.)
4 lg. onions, peeled
1 green bell pepper, seeded
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded
1/2 c. pickling salt (if you can’t find pickling salt, the best substitution would be kosher salt)
1 c. water
3 c. sugar
3 c. vinegar
1/2 c. water
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp celery seed
Cut ends off zucchini but do not peel. Chip zucchini, onions, and peppers finely by hand. Place vegetables in a large bowl; sprinkle with salt. Cover with ice water; let stand for one hour. Drain then rinse well under cold running water. Drain thoroughly.
In a saucepan, boil together sugar, vinegar, water, turmeric, & celery seed for 3 minutes. Add vegetable mixture; bring to a boil then simmer for 10-15 minutes or until of desired consistency. Spoon hot relish into hot, sterilised jars; seal at once. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes.
Makes about 8 pints.
All the great vegetables and fruits at the farmers market these days means it’s time to start putting food by. When we lived in cooler climes, canning was my food preservation technique of choice but here in the Sacramento Valley where it’s only slightly cooler than the bowels of hell, I like to freeze foods.
This weekend’s trip to the market had me buying a few pounds of Roma tomatoes and a bunch of hot Italian peppers. The tomatoes were peeled, sealed, and put in the freezer; the peppers were roasted and then frozen. I’ll do this several more times while tomatoes and peppers are in season and then use the veggies up over the winter. There is nothing quite like eating those tomatoes in the dead of winter…it’s like summer in your mouth!
Alas, I have no pictures of those beautiful tomatoes or peppers to share so here is a recipe for all you gardeners wondering what to do with all that zucchini you grew!
Note: this is an old recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box.
Zucchini Relish
6 lg. zucchini (about 4 lbs.)
4 lg. onions, peeled
1 green bell pepper, seeded
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded
1/2 c. pickling salt (if you can’t find pickling salt, the best substitution would be kosher salt)
1 c. water
3 c. sugar
3 c. vinegar
1/2 c. water
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp celery seed
Cut ends off zucchini but do not peel. Chip zucchini, onions, and peppers finely by hand. Place vegetables in a large bowl; sprinkle with salt. Cover with ice water; let stand for one hour. Drain then rinse well under cold running water. Drain thoroughly.
In a saucepan, boil together sugar, vinegar, water, turmeric, & celery seed for 3 minutes. Add vegetable mixture; bring to a boil then simmer for 10-15 minutes or until of desired consistency. Spoon hot relish into hot, sterilised jars; seal at once. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes.
Makes about 8 pints.
Posted by jen under 
Food, glorious food 
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