There are lots of relish and chutney recipes in the Leesa's Greatest thread (see the Condensed version).

We made this one this year and love it tho it may be hard to get summer squash now.

Squash Chutney
(Source: Preserving by Oded Schwartz, DK Publishing, 1996)

2 pounds summer squash, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used a mix of zucchini and yellow crookneck)
2 tablespoons canning salt
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
about 5 carrots, grated (cut back by one carrot if you add the garlic and extra peppers)
3 1/2 ounces crystallized ginger, coarsely chopped
1-2 fresh red chilies, finely chopped (I used one red cayenne and a few super chilies!)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced, optional
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon celery seed, optional
1 tablespoon coriander, optional
1 teaspoon black pepper, optional
3 cups cider vinegar
1 cup sugar (I used half white and half brown sugar)

Put the squash in a colander and sprinkle with half the salt. Let stand for one hour. Rinse and dry. Put in a non-corrosive saucepan with all the ingredients, except the sugar and remaining salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are just soft.

Add the sugar and salt and simmer for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until most of the liquid evaporates and the chutney is thick. Ladle into hot jars, then process in a boiling water bath (10 minutes for half-pints, 15 minutes for pints). It will be ready in one to two months.

Makes about 3 pints

I forget who posted it originally as I forgot to add a note to it.

Dave

Yes, Leesa's thread is where I got the caponata and onion relish recipes, but never having made anything like that before, I'm kind of nervous. Like since I don't like onions I'm wondering will people like "Carmelized Red Onion Relish?" and BWB eggplant, well I'm just very nervous about that. I would have more confidence if I knew someone here had made it, eaten it and lived to tell the tale, lol!

That yellow squash recipe sounds very good. I can still get out of season yellow squash from somewhere at the green grocer here. But would it be good on bruschetta?

I would have more confidence if I knew someone here had made it, eaten it and lived to tell the tale, lol!

All the recipes in the Leesa thread have already been well vetted by folks here as safe. Carmelized Onion Relish is very popular - always gets rave reviews.

Dave

Dave, I dont mean to be pedantic, but how do you know they have been "well vetted." They've been posted on this forum. It's not just safety, I am kind of kidding here, I was just chatting and asking for feedback from someone who might have made these recipes. I can scan cookbooks and Web sites for recipes on my own too.

If safety is your primary concern then by "well-vetted" I mean read, reviewed, debated if relevant and discussed by the regular participants here, many of whom are well experienced in and/or trained in home canning safety.

You may have noticed that many of us here are very quick here to point out flawed recipes, dangerous recipes, recipes/ingredients which do not conform to the safety guidelines, etc. just to avoid being 1 more site or cookbook that passes on unsafe recipes and canning instructions. This is not to say we are authorities by any means - NCHFP and their guidelines are the recognized authority, not us.

So for ultimate safety, one should use only recipes found in BBB, NCHFP, So Easy to Preserve, freshpreserving.com, bernardin.com, and the 4 or 5 other approved books, rather than ANY online cooking site or cookbook.

On the other side of the safety issue, chatting with someone who made the recipe and "eaten it and lived to tell the tale" is no certainly no assurance of safety. Nor is one person's taste preferences a guarantee that others will like the taste.

But at least here the reader can be assured that experienced canners have reviewed the recipes posted. The reader can then choose to recognize the quality of the advice/recipes here, or not.

Hope this helps clarify the help I was trying to give you with your original question.

Dave

Dave I have been posting here since 2003. I remember when you first started posting. I have been canning since 1993. You might note that some of the recipes in Lesa's Greatest Hits thread came from me. I've been busy this year and not canning as much. I just stopped by to chat about recipes. Isn't that what this forum is for? I have followed all the discussions too. If everything has been discussed, I guess no use posting here further.

Good heavens! Why so huffy? You asked for relish and chutney ideas and I directed you to a great source of them here as well as provided another. You want your nervousness resolved and the safety issues addressed then challenge the answers and question the safety of the recipes given. So if you feel you can't trust the info provided here, why ask for them here?

If all you wanted to do was "chat about recipes" rather than have your questions answered perhaps you should have sought out one of the many cooking forums or better yet worded your post very differently.

My apologies for trying to be of assistance. Feel free to "chat" away.

Dave

I'm sorry, that last post was snippy. The difference for me is between head and heart. Some history - way back when years ago I posted a question about whether there was a caponata recipe I could can/bwb and Linda Lou said no, no approved recipes for eggplant. That was before Ellie Topp came out with her book. Also, I posted way back when my chili sauce recipe that had maybe 2 TBLSP oil in it to sautee the onions in, and you said it wasn't safe, even though it came out of a book I have used and trusted for years, and even though my Ball Blue Book has a tomato sauce recipe in it almost exactly the same. No, you said oil had been deemed unsafe. And now I see recipes from Ellie Topp using oil, and OK it is safe because it is in her book. Because she tested it. BTW, I am a biologist and I get the science of preserving, and I also get the science of food testing. I think it's my responsibility as a canner to know the science behind what I'm doing, not take what any expert says just on face value that they are an expert or they have "tested" something. As has been discussed many times here, information even from Cooperative Extension offices around the country and even from research labs can be conflicting. I've been through the literature on enough other issues to know how hard it is to be definitive with science sometimes. So even though it is relatively reasonable for me to think these recipes are OK, I wanted to talk to and get reassurance from someone who has actually bitten the bullet and MADE them. Some practical "in the field" knowledge of these new recipes. Like somone saying, "Don't worry Lpink, I made that caponata and my dearly departed husband loved it!" Signed Lisa from atop her new villa on the Riviera.

And as I said, I am not an onion fan, so even if the recipe is safe and a "greatest hits" I wanted to know what someone who had actually MADE it had experienced when serving it. The oil/no oil and eggplant/no eggplant safe/unsafe arguement is all quite relative. I do know for sure that when I'm venturing into the waters of eggplant and oil, I am breaking relatively new ground in the canning field. These recipes are quite new. Also how can I be sure the recipe is copied correctly? I can't afford to get the Small Batch Preserving or newest edition of the Ball Blue book or believe me I would.

Your answer was very factual and to the point and I should have appreciated what you were trying to do. I on the other hand, was just kibitzing (meandering entertaining conversation) which probably wasn't evident from the typographical nature of a post here.

Mea culpa.

I have made the caponata and my group liked it a lot. As a matter of fact someone asked me today if needed eggplant. I have not made any more as it is a "fussy" recipe.

lpink, I have made Ellie Topp's caponata and it is delicious! However, I froze it rather than canned. My reasons for freezing were partially because it was late season and my produce was not at its peak and partially because, like you, I had a lingering nervousness about canning the eggplant. That said, if I were starting with optimal produce, I would probably can it now.

If you think you are going to do it, let me know and I will happily either type in or check the recipe you have as I do have her book. It really is a great recipe.

I'm not sure which red onion relish you are talking about but I have made a red onion jelly that was quite good.

How about Habanero Gold? I know you are talking relishes, but it goes so well on crackers with cream cheese, and would give you another color.

Hm, I might need to find the red onion relish you are talking about because I have a bunch of red onions.

I like your Mediterranean theme. It would be fun to have a red, a gold, and a green, in your trio. You've got the red. Gold could be Habanero Gold if you're interested. Green - hmm, that's harder for me. I'm not a fan of cucumber relishes myself. I'll look through Ellie Topp's book later today and see if I have any ideas for you.

I love trying to think of a themed gift such as this, thanks for starting the conversation.

Oh Prarie now you've got me going! I too can think of lots of red and yellow things, but green . . .
Cornichons would be perfect but I can't even find them in the summer!! I see them premade in the store though. If I get a garden next year I am going to try and grow them. I tried one year and got one bitter cuke.
Now that I think about it I might make like a chablis jelly or Dave's mustard pickle or a yellow onion relish for the middle one, and my pickled pepper recipe for the third. That one I used to make often when I was able to grow mixed peppers. I used yellow, red and green ones and it was so colorful. This year I didn't get my act together to grow peppers, I was sick all May.
Here's a picture of the peppers I used from years back. It looks kinds Christmasy doesn't it!

I broke down and got plums on sale today so I might do plum chutney for the red. Plum chutney, yellow squash relish and pickled jalepenos. That's one far out antipasta! I'd even do tomatillo salsa if I could find them. I didn't get any tomatoes this year for salsa and only have one jar of green tomato salsa left from last year. That stuff isn't very good plain to be honest. Awesome in guacamole though.
I made apple mint chutney once, the picture in the cookbook looked green but it turned out the most sickening brown color. Plus I didn't like it.
There's also beet relish for the red, but that didn't seem very Mediterannean. Not sure about beet relish on bruschetta either. On a corned beef on rye maybe . . .

Here's the onion recipe. It was posted in Aug. by June Lynn

This is from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving by
Ellie Topp.
Caramalized Red Onion Relish
The recipe yields 2 cups of finished relish (makes 1 pint or 2 half pints).
2 large red onions, peeled
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 c. dry red wine
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1/8 t. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slice onions into very thin slices. Combine onions and sugar in a heavy skillet. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for about 25 minutes or until onions turn golden and start to caramelize, stirring frequently.
Stir in wine and vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. If canning, ladle into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Add lids and rings, then place in boiling bath.
Process 10 minutes for half pint jars in boiling water bath.

Interesting to me because it has sugar and wine but very little acid. Although I don't know much about the acidity of balsamic vinegar. I imagine it varies greatly just as the taste does. I'll bet that stuff is reddish brown. I might try it because I have a bottle of merlot languishing in the fridge. Friends brought it to a dinner party at my house but I'm kinda allergic to red wine.

Hello lpinkmountain,

I have made Ellie Topp's Balsamic Onion Relish. It was fine as such things go, but I personally wasn't wild about it. I'm not sure how in gift-giving we account for individual differences of taste, but that's what it was. I've made a number of different onion relishes and haven't liked any of them, including one from CF very much praised. DH likes it, but I don't. I continue to make the attempt, but no luck so far.

I trust Ellie Topp's eggplant recipe (because I trust her) but personally it doesn't appeal, so I haven't made it. The tomato bruschetta is great, but it's too late in the season for that.

I wasn't quite clear from your original post if items must be canned. Obviously that's an issue for long-distance, not so much for geographically close gifting. For near I might suggest an olive tapenade, a sun-dried tomato pesto, an infused herbal oil (dried herbs or dried peppers if necessary) or compound butter, a cheese, the baguette and a bottle of wine. You probably have recipes for all those, but I do have some if you would like other versions.

For longer distances I might go scones instead of baguettes (including a homemade scone mix which calls only for the addition of whipping cream as the liquid and fat) or pre-made scones, and various preserves. Scones and preserves (including an autumn conserve) are far more do-able for gifting. They present fewer "issues" as such.

Something I would recommend as a "killer" recipe is a layered appetizer torte with a seasoned cream cheese interspersed with an olive tapenade layer, a pesto layer and a sundried tomato pesto layer accompanied by crackers.

The torte freezes beautifully. I freeze in mini springform pans (picked up at Walmart or such quite cheaply). I line the bottom between the pan and the clamp sides with saran for easy removal and freeze. I can pull one out and thaw in the fridge any time. I've never had a complaint yet and it makes a lovely appetizer dish with a bottle of wine.

Carol

Ciao lpinkmountain-

I can cases of 500ml jars of caponata every year. It's a Sicilian specialty and my family is known for it. It requires a fair bit of sous cheffing to chop all of the vegetables (I don't use a food processor for this as I'm picky about the pieces being uniform size..your call whether you care about that or not), but I scale up the batches so I can a case of jars at a time. I can post my recipe if you're interested.

I was planning on canning. I know how to do all kinds of fru fru relishes for the fridge, but not canning. Three wide mouth 1/2 pint jars is what I was thinking of making. This is kind of pushing the envelope of canning to attempt these sophisticated kinds of relishes. The ones I have experience with are pepper jelly and the roasted pepper spread. Oddly, I was thinking about tomato jam because there have been some good looking romas on sale at the farm market lately. I tried growing them this year and got bupkes. I also got plums for .99/lb. at the grocery store today, which I wasn't expecting to find.
I am kind of thinking to go the easy route of scones and jams. But I would really like to do an italian anti pasta basket.

lpink, what about just some pickled peppers?
small ones like cayenne, serrano or small jalapenos?
It would/could be your green.

Mmmmm...roasted red pepper relish, Hab Gold and pickled peppers. Wine, cheese. Mmmm.......
You've got mild, sweet and spicy. Should please most..

I wanna be on YOUR list!! GRIN

FWIW, I've made the Hab Gold with milder peppers. We actually like the jalapeno version best (we can eat more of it!!).

Be sure to take pictures of your baskets, they sound beautiful.

Oh. I'm not a fan of onion relish either. It's OK, but I never know quite what to do with it. Gift recipients 'might' feel the same?!?!
Deanna

I guess I have to come to the defense of good old onion relish! Serve with meats - most any kind - but especially roast beef. Great with pot roast, on burgers, and even onhot dogs tho brats are better.

And with spicy Italian sausages cooked on the grill and some sliced roasted peppers and onion relish on a big hogie bun with a beer and a football game - heaven!!! It's a man's meal. ;)

For green there is always the spiced apple rings made with the green food coloring instead of red, jalapeno lime pickles (they get green food coloring too but you need to use pickling lime for them), mint applesauce and mint jelly go great with any pork dish, and last but not least, Linda Lou's zucchini relish.

Dave

Ciao Carol-

I'd absolutely love that torta recipe of yours. After reading many of your posts, I can only imagine that you make the layers from scratch. I've never tried making torta but if it freezes well, it might be just the thing for a holiday appetizer.

Hey, L, I have a recipe for Tomato Butter from an old Farm Journal canning cookbook and it kind of reminds me of bruschetta. I'll post it if you like.

As has been mentioned by others, I'm not crazy for onion relish. (shrug) Craftyrn, from Cooking, sent me a pretty nice garlic jelly, I'm sure she'd be glad to give you the recipe.

And Shirley sent me some really good tomato relish, a Harry and David knock off, but I lost that recipe in the "great computer crash", along with a lot of other information.

That'll teach me to do back up disks.....

Hey, Carol, thanks for the reminder of that torta. The holidays are coming fast!

Annie

OK I realize now that this is not really a "harvest" question. I can for both reasons, to preserve, and also for gifts. For me, the best is when I can do both. Also, I cannot see paying $3.50 or higher for a jar of relish in the store when I could make a whole BATCH of it with 3-5 jars for the same cost. Oddly, I am seeing good looking tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, and all kinds of out of season produce at the farm market and grocery stores for prices that do not break the bank. I think it is due to the Thanksgiving Holiday coming up and people are more willing to buy something unusual.
The relish idea may be somewhat problematic as what kind of condiments you like may vary. I consider myself a pretty stalwart foodie, but garlic and onions I just don't like. But yet I know there are some people who LOVE them. I know for example, that my mom loves anything with onions. I used to give my pickled hot peppers to a coworker who was absolutely addicted to them, but I know some people would have run from them in fear! I guess I'm kinda going for the middle of the road here. But there may not be a middle road when it comes to relish, they are pretty assertive. Dave's idea actually sounds good to me, if I wasn't allergic to beer and a vegetarian, LOL! That's what my co-worker told me, he loved those hot peppers with beer!! Hot peppers, zuchinni and onion relish, a selection for those who like to live with gusto!!
Anyway, thanks ever so much for the tips and ideas!! I like to do these fru fru relishes because like I said, I can't afford them in the store, plus, having the right relish on hand can make cooking so easy. Like my picallili is my "go to" for quick and "gourmet" tuna salad and coleslaw. My tomatillo salsa ended up being the perfect seasoning mix for instant guacamole. Time will tell what I can crank out of the kitchen. Right now I have overextended myself in pears . . .
If only I had guests coming I could do pear cake. But I'm traveling by plane for Thanksgiving. I wonder if I can bring a cake pan as a carry on . . . .
I'll report back after Thanksgiving.
Enjoy the holiday everyone!

OK, Annie, thankfully my computer has not crashed (recently, LOL) so here's Shirley's recipe, for anyone interested. It's a golden oldie probably still back there on the Forum somewhere, but we all know how the search engine is:

Shirley's H & D Taste-Alike

"I used my Cuisinart to chop all the peppers. Tomatoes were peeled, seeded and diced very small. The onion was diced using the Julienne blade of my V-slicer."

12 med Red bell peppers
10 jalapenos
5 assorted green, yellow or red hot peppers
5 large plum tomatoes
1 large onion. Any kind will do.
2 cups white vinegar
3 cups granulated sugar

Remove seeds and white membrane from red peppers
Remove HALF the seeds from the jalapenos
Remove half the seeds from the other hots.
Chop peppers in food processor

Place in bowl with prepared tomatoes and onion. Sprinkle with 1 Tbls. canning salt. Let stand about 1 hour.
Drain off liquid. I use my quart capacity strainer with a handle. The holes are smaller than my colander. You don't want any of the small pepper pieces falling through.

Place peppers, onions and tomatoes in cooking pot and add sugar and vinegar. Cook over medium heat until thick as you like. Usually 30 or 45 minutes is plenty. You can almost tell by the texture.
Ladle into jam jars and seal.
Process 20 minutes in Hot water bath.

Zemmajs variation: 10 peaches in lieu of tomatoes and cider vinegar.

And, for the onion-lovers, here's a seasonal onion marmalade with notes from the original poster. The blog is credited at the end.

Quick Red Onion Marmalade
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving Copyright 2006

1 ½ cups thinly sliced halved red onion
½ cup finely chopped dried cranberries
¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 tsp grated orange zest
3 cups unsweetened apple juice
1 package (1.75 oz) regular powdered fruit pectin
4 cups granulated sugar

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.

2. In a skillet, over medium heat, combine red onion, cranberries, brown sugar and vinegar. Cook, stirring, until onion is transparent, about 10 minutes.

3. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine cooked onion mixture, orange zest and apple juice. Whisk in pectin until dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

4. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot marmalade. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

5. Place jars in canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Makes about 5 8-oz. jars
_____________________________

It was after I made this that I realized I needed to stop canning stuff since I had absolutely no idea what to do with this. I ended up using it with pork. I make medallions out of a tenderloin, seasoned them with salt and pepper, browned them, and removed them from the pan. I made a sauce/glaze out of this marmalade, some white wine, some white wine vinegar and salt and pepper. I added back the pork and pan juices. It was actually really good. I would make this again, although I have a few jars of this stuff, I need to think of other things to do with it. It's not quite 'gift' material since if I can't think of what to do with it, what will the recipient do with it?

I have enjoyed canning but there's a learning process, just like with everything else. It's just that every time you try a canning recipe, you're left with at least a few jars of whatever it is you've canned. That makes it a slower process (unless you don't mind buying a lot of jars and you have a lot of shelf space) but I'm glad I finally got started after just thinking about it for a long time.

http://cookbookjunkie.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-am-i-going-to-do-with-all-of-this.html

Carol

Lpink,
Get a VERY large "purse" (i.e. tote bag) and then you can take your cake pan! LOL
Of course, you may have to hold it on your lap or between your knees all the way there....
How long is your flight??? :-)

Deanna

L, I think you can take the cake as a carry on, but that metal cake pan is gonna set off all kinds of alarms, LOL, and you'll have to explain. I took homemade bread with me as a carry-on when we flew to California, but the security people did look at me kind of oddly....

Carol, thank you for that recipe. I lost a bunch of recipes, forum addresses, pictures. Boy, that's learning the hard way, and the stuff couldn't be resurrected. It seems I fried both the hard drive AND the mother board and there was no saving it. At least I do it well when I do it!

Annie

I made a balsamic pepper jelly from the Ball Complete book last year. I have a friend who really loved it. It was not terrifically pretty in the jar though.

I've made the Caramelized Red Onion Relish every year and it is a favorite in our house! It's great on burgers and hot dogs....sometimes we'll serve it with pork loin.

I usually double or even triple the recipe as the original only makes like 2 or 3 half pints and it's a lot of work to make. Our house smells like onions for days after I make it! LOL!

Ugh, I'm back from Thanksgiving, my kitchen is a mess from making cookies and stir fry the night before I left, and I have tons of work to do so no time for canning. I was in serious denial about the state of the pears in the back of the fridge. I had a bagful and after I cut out all the rotten brown parts I got about two pears worth, maybe. I still need to add more to my liqueur. So we'll see what I manage this weekend. I think the red onion relish, because I have merlot languishing in the fridge. Maybe the tomato jelly that Dave posted on the tomato thread. Then I'm not sure what. I think just mixed pickled peppers would round out the trio. But then I also have plums to use up which I am tentatively thinking about turning into jam. So we'll see what gets done this weekend and what waits. I have tons of apples too, for apple pie jam perhaps.

L, I tossed the seckel pears before I even talked to you on Thanksgiving, LOL. I still have apples in the garage and I've been roasting big pans of butternut squash every night and freezing the puree because my squash is getting moldy.

I've got beef bones simmering for stock right now and I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with the turkey stock I made Monday!

I think I'll just send it to you.....

Annie

Lpink! Plums. Katie C's asian plum sauce! Yum.

I can post the recipe tomorrow if you want. It's late, I've had 3 glasses of wine and I just don't wanna type it out from scratch. I have it electronically at work.

Lemmee know................

Deanna

Deanna I LOVE Asian Plum sauce. However, I also LOVE plum jam! Such a predicament. I think it is going to be the plum jam because I have a recipe that uses cherries and I have half a bag in the freezer to use up. I have made plum sauce before from the BBB recipe, was that ever good. But I have a backlog now in the kitchen--apples, plums, a half finished pear liqueur . . . not to mention the above relishes. So typical of me and my kitchen goings on. That anything edible makes it out at all is a testament to really how easy canning is!

I understand! We'll be waiting to see what you decide!!

Maybe you could just pile the fruit in a basket and give as a gift!! (just kidding...........I think).

Deanna

Anyone for plum jello? What a fiasco. The plums were a little underripe to say the least. Let's hope I have better luck with the relishes. The jam siezed up the minute I added the pectin. And yet when I TRY to get my pepper jelly to firm up it never does!

I know there have been a few votes against the Carmalized Red Onion Relish. I know when I taste it by itself, it is no big deal. Then, when put on hamburgers, or any meat, salads, sandwiches... it is to die for. I have to laugh at the person who wrote that house smells for days. That is so true. One day I was cooking the onions and my neighbor across the street made a comment that "someone was cooking onions". I laughed and said it was me. One thing about that recipe is that I find I have to cook it MUCH longer than suggested because I find it takes a lot longer to cook it down. I admit I just bought a larger pot to give me a greater surface area to help with the evaporation. Friends love the onions so much that I am looking into finding a way to sell them, but that is another subject.

Even though you may not like the onion relish, I vote for it... my friends will be getting that in the gift bag.
Good luck,
Teri