HOT PEPPER RELISH TUTORIAL 12/16/2009
 This is how my hot pepper relish looks after I have processed my peppers. The trick to getting good relish is HOW you process the peppers. First, you have to pick nice peppers. No blemishes, or wrinkled skin, and they need to be real clean.  As you can see...I have picked a variety of colors and degrees of sweetness and hot. What you need at the end is 4 cups of processed peppers per batch of relish. These are clean. I have my Grandma's turkey roaster pan holding these. That is lots of peppers. I would say about 10 pounds.  Then I sit down at my work station. First I cut off one end....  ...then I cut off the other end.  Then slice it down the side and open up That is when I cut it in chunks, take out the seeds, and take out the ribs. This is important because it is a more porous part of the pepper and will float to the top (and look ugly). To do a good job on the ribs (and the seeds in some of the peppers) I like to use a melon baller.  The baller has two sizes. I use the big side on the bigger peppers and the small on the small peppers. It just fits better. The round edge of the baller digs a little deeper and gets more of the rib out.  This piece is nice and clean...no white ribs.  Here is the top piece. See what it looks like?  This is what it looks like when you clean it good. No White stuff.  When I get to the hot peppers...I am a wuss...I put on gloves! I cut the stem end off and cut them in half. Then I scoop out the seeds and ribs.  This is not a perfect example...but it is still good. To be efficient I clean the sweet peppers first, put on gloves, cut the hot peppers and then seed them. It just goes faster to use one tool and then the other. Once they are clean...I run them through my old fashioned meat grinder. The kind with a crank handle. I have seen them at Wal Mart. I like this to chop up the peppers...it makes the texture nice. I use a hand grinder for most of my jams and relishes. Once it is ground up I strain it a little.  Then I drain off the juice. I think I started this to keep the sauce of the relish more clear. I put ALL the peppers in a bowl and stir them real well. You need to mix the hot and sweet Peppers so they are evenly distributed. At this point I sometimes measure out 4 cups per batch and store them in plastic bags. Not more than till the next morning...we want them fresh. Then it is made like the recipe on the pectin box. It doesn't set...it just gets thick. This is how I prep my peppah relish! This stuff is great. Or at least I hope you think so. |