Picadilly Relish

 

Green tomatoes in your garden? 

 

The relish recipe below is from Tim's Mother, Jeanne.   Jeanne passed away a few years back and one great way to keep her fresh in our memory is to make some of the awesome things she made for her family.  I have the original, hand written recipe for this relish, which is on the back of some sort of receipt.  It is stained and nearly falling apart.  

 

With that said, this relish tastes wonderful, utilizes garden produce and is not just for hot dogs and hamburgers.   In our house, this relish is also the 'secret' ingredient in potato salad and pasta salads.  The sweet sour flavor adds that little bit of 'what is that'.  You will never buy a commercial pickle relish again.

 

These are the vegies you will need:

4 cups ground onion

1 medium head cabbage

12 green peppers

10 large green tomatoes

12 sweet red peppers

 

Shred all vegetables using shredder in the food processor.  Each vegetable should measure approximately 4 cups each after shredding.    Mix together. Sprinkle with 1/2-1 cup of kosher sale and let stand overnight.

 

Rinse and drain.

 

Brine

 

6 cups sugar (yes, 6 cups)

1 tbsp celery seed

2 tbsp mustard seed

1 1/2 tsp Tumeric powder

4 cups cider vinegar

2 cups water

 

 

 

Heat until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over rinsed and drained vegetables. Heat to a boil and simmmer for 3 minutes.

Seal in hot sterilized jars in a water bath for approximately 5 minutes. 

 

Store in a cool dry place and refridgerate after opening.  A sealed jar and the vinegar will keep this relish usable for well over a year.

 

Thank you Jeanne, until we meet again! 

Margherita Pizza

 

 

 

 

Garden fresh tomatoes and basil, fresh mozzarella, what more needs to be said?

 

Several years ago when I made this for Tim, he saw my ingredients on the counter and asked where the meat was and if the pizza included tequila.   Tim is of Irish descent and his palate at the time was meat and potatoes.   Did I say meat and potatoes?  Any deviation to the meat and potatoes, such as pizza needed to have several types of meat on it.  I told him to relax and just give it a try.  He looked at me cautiously, made sure he had a back up of some sort of meat and dug in.     He was sold!

 

 

This is so simple and so tasty it should be part of everyones  summer menu.

 

I for one do not make my own pizza crust.  I purchase the dough or buy a crust from the store.   Thus making this pretty easy.   I do however make my own tomato sauce becaue I usually have an abundance of tomatoes in August, I love garlic and it freezes well,

 

Pizza Sauce

 

1 entire head of garlic, cloves minced

2 quarts peeled and chopped roma tomatoes

1 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp oregano

 

Saute garlic in olive oil for a few minutes until fragrant but not browned, add tomatoes salt and oregano.  Simmer for approximately 45 minutes until it reaches the desierd thickness.    Personally, I keep this on the thin side.  When cooled place in a blender until smooth.  Freeze approximately in 1 to 1 1/2 cup amounts for future use. 

 

Yield 4 -5 pizzas

 

Margharita Pizza

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

 

1 pizza crust

1 cup pizza sauce

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly

2 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced

1/2 cup sliced basil leaves

 

 

Spread pizza sauce over crust and arrange mozzarella and tomatoes atop.  Place in preheated oven and bake for approximately 16 minutes or until crust is golden.   Remove pizza, sprinkle with basil leaves. Let rest for 5 minutes, cut and enjoy!

 

Notes

 

Obviously make your own pizza dough if you so choose.

 

Roma tomatoes are very meaty, therefore a good choice for both the sauce and the pizza.   If you do not have romas, any larger tomato will do but they will need to be juiced and seeded to make sure the sauce is not water thin and the top of the pizza is not runny.