Sweet Corn Apple Relish

Well, for being freaking exhausted all the freaking time, I somehow managed to "find" some energy today - Dayum!!!

I mean, in addition to working my usual eight hours (bona fide work, even!), I managed to put up a batch of Peach Blueberry Jam... Hung out at the pool and blogged in the late afternoon... And THEN I got *all* freaking inspired and made a batch of Corn Relish!!!

I blame P for this. She is nothing but a big ol' TROUBLEMAKER! See? When we went to the Santa Clara Master Gardeners' Cool-Season Veggie Talk, she'd brought along a Better Homes & Gardens booklet all about Canning, right? I thumbed through it and expressed "mild interest," right?

Well, P said she'd get me my very own copy - for my belated Birthday Gift - and I was all, "Cool," right? (although - like I said - I was really only *mildly* interested b/c most of the recipes are far more "exotic" than anything I'd ever try)...

So... In the meantime, P has "planted the seed" for the South Bay Canning Club and I have - well *obviously* gone completely off the deep-end, right?!!

Fast-Forward to today... P stops by this morning and brings me my Very Own Copy of the BHG Canning Booklet:

"Thank you, P!"

Well, as we're chatting (and eating Peach-Blueberry Pie which was Orgasmically-Delicious thankyouverymuch!!!), I stumbled onto a recipe for sweet corn relish that looks *most* intriguing!

Nevermind that I never planted my corn (and even if I had, it wouldn't have amounted to sh*t. I *can't* grow corn!!!). But we *do* have the Farmstand down the road (with THE sweetest, most delicious corn in the valley!). And P happens to mention that Snob Hill (excuse me - Nob Hill, our local overpriced grocery store) has corn on sale - "and it's pretty good!"

So I ended up making a jaunt out to Snob Hill, this afternoon, to procure pint-sized jamming jars, assorted spices, and a metric ton of corn on the cob!

Corn that I then proceeded to mutilate beyond recognition:

Turns out that each ear yields just-shy of 1 cup of corn

(I bought waaaaaay more corn than I needed. "Oh, well!")

Okay, so anywaaaaay... After lazing at the Tiki Bar 'til after dark, this damned recipe kept "calling" to me and I ended up spending the entire evening making Corn Relish.

So as not to do any kind of "Copyright Infringement" I will go ahead and give credit where credit is due - Thank Goodness they've posted the recipe on the 'net here (and yes, it did take the better part of an hour-and-a-half to make)!

But I will also note that I definitely did "tweak" the recipe to make it more to my liking. And that's what I am posting now! :-)

Sweet Corn Apple Relish - makes appx 8 x pint-size jars of relish

Ingredients:

• 10 ears of corn - yields appx 8 cups after it's sliced off the cobs
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups Granny Smith Apples - peeled, cored and chopped (note: I wished I'd chopped mine into smaller pieces). I think I started with 5 small-ish apples.
• 3 cups chopped Celery (appx 5-6 big stalks)
• 2 cups chopped bell peppers (I used green, red and orange varieties)
• 1 chopped red onion (mine ended up being just over 1 cup, total)
• 2 chopped beefsteak Tomatoes
• 2-1/2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1-3/4 cups Sugar (I wanted to do 50/50 Sugar/Splenda - but I've run out of granulated Splenda :::gasp:::)
• 4 tsp Dry Mustard
• 2 tsp Fine Sea Salt (orig recipe called for Pickling Salt - but I couldn't find any!)
• 2 tsp Celery Seeds
• 1 tsp ground Turmeric
• 3 Tbs Corn Starch
• 3 Tbs Water

Okay, start by de-husking and de-hairing your corn cobs. Then grab a sharp knife and cut all the kernels off. I'm sure there are tools to simplify this process - but I just stuck with the sharpest knife I have (my meat cleaver!). Dump the kernels into a bowl (and stand back while the dogs feast on all the detritus that hits the floor, in the process!). Keep doing this 'til you've got 8 cups of corn kernels, like thus:

Yup. That's 8 cups!

Then dump 'em into a pot on the stove... You may, or may not, want to start cooking them slowly in 2 cups of water. I chose to hold off because I had a buttload of other fruits/veggies to chop up!

Corn in the pot. Waiting to start cooking...

(Sometimes, I'm a lousy multi-tasker!)

Chop up your celery. I measured out 3 cups, chopped. Chop up your bell peppers - 2 cups, chopped. Chop up your onion and try not to cry (one medium sized onion was just over 1 cup). Chop up your apples. I ended up with 4 cups (and - as mentioned earlier - I wished I'd chopped them smaller). I did end up drizzling just a little bit of lemon juice on the apples to keep 'em from browning... I also ended up tossing in a couple of skinned, chopped tomatoes (Brandywine and Kellogg's Breakfast) - just to liven things up a bit!

End up with a bunch of chopped stuff:

Chop-Chop!

Okay, *then* I started cooking the corn on medium-high heat 'til it was almost tender. Then I drained the water off. Then I added the chopped fruits and veggies to the pot.

Dayum that's a lot of stuff in there!!!

Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and spices and cook it on medium heat for appx 10 mins...

Then, in a separate bowl, mix up the Corn Starch and 3 Tbs water. Add it to the pot to thicken it... Cook it for a couple more minutes... Then ladle it into your hot, sterilized jars...

I ended up with 8 pints of relish!

Process in your canner for 15-20 minutes. Let 'em set for 24 hours, make sure they're sealed up and you should be Good-To-Go!

This is supposed to be excellent on Pork Loin or Salmon. No clue, yet! But what I sampled tastes Fan-Freaking-Tastic!!!

Okay, I am officially exhausted (Jeez, it's pushing midnight! No wonder!). So I am off to bed!!!