Cucumber and Green Tomato Relish

I ended up producing 5 jars of Cucumber & Green Tomato Relish

I never set out this year to make cucumber and green tomato relish . I have however ended up creating the relish out of necessity in order to use up several pickling cucumbers that because they had been hidden out of sight were able to grow quite large indeed . I also had to put some use to the green tomatoes that I had knocked off the vines in the tightly packed polytunnel on the allotment . 

 Firstly I shall list the required ingredients and then I shall describe the method used . 

 Ingredients

2 cucumbers ( I used a courgette too just to use up my weekly harvest of them .)

900g green tomatoes

4 onions

7.5ml salt (equivalent to 1 & a half teaspoons full)

350ml distilled white vinegar

350g granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of plain flour

half a teaspoon full of mustard.

Method

I washed the cucumbers and green tomatoes before dicing them into 1cm cubes .

The onions were then finely chopped.

The vegetables were layered in a colander placed over a bowl with a light sprinkling of salt between each layer .

The salted vegetables were then left to drain overnight .

The following morning the salty liquid was discarded whilst the vegetables were put in to a large heavy pan.

320 ml of the vinegar was added to the pan along with the granulated sugar .

The mixture was then slowly brought to the boil , stirring until the sugar had dissolved completely.

One the sugar his dissolved the heat was reduced and the mixture was cooked uncovered for a further 30 minutes.

In a bowl the remaining 30 ml of the vinegar was blended with the plain flour and mustard to create a paste . 

The paste was stirred in the vegetables in the pan and the whole mixture was simmered for a further 20 minutes until the mixture was very thick.

The relish was then poured in to warmed sterilized jars , covered and sealed .

The relish has to be stored in a cool dark place for at least a week and will keep for up to 6 months . Once opened the relish should be kept in the refrigerator and used within 2 months.

This has been my first attempt at this relish and I have yet to sample its taste but I will update once I've tried it . 

Thank you for reading, Paul. 

Weekly Update??

Weekly update indeed . I did say that I would try but it would seem that "life" got in the way of things . Not to worry and hopefully I shall try again . It is now midway through August and I returned from my holidays on July 22nd to see a polytunnel that was bursting with vegetation and outside on the allotment plants were starting to bolt in the heat of summer.

Jerusalem Artichokes growing well on the left.