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Project Vintage Recipes June Recipe: Great Grandma Stauber's Cucumber Relish

I found this refrigerator cucumber relish recipe tucked inside the pages of my great grandmother's cookbook "Table Home and Health" published in 1892.  I have cucumbers coming out of my eyeballs right now in my garden, so this recipe was a perfect feature for this month.  I love that you can store this in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks and it can even be frozen.  It saves me the trouble of canning when I don't have the time.  I love her use of horseradish in this relish!  It gives an unexpected kick to enhance the flavor.  I did change her recipe slightly.  She used a 1/2 cup pickling salt and that was a bit much for me.  Unless you want a lip puckering dose of salt, it was better to use a smaller amount.  It still turned out wonderful and was full of flavor.  I also added a half cup more brown sugar.  It was a bit too tart without the added amount.  You can serve this as a side dish, a topping for beans and rice or any other way that you love to serve relish.  I like mine chunkier, so I didn't chop the vegetables too small.  Sometimes, I want this in a bowl all by itself.  Enjoy~


Great Grandma Stauber's Cucumber Relish


Ingredients:
1 dozen large cucumbers peeled, seeded and chopped
4 green peppers, finely chopped
2 red peppers, finely chopped
4 large onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup pickling salt or kosher salt
1 cup horseradish
1 1/2 cups natural brown sugar
1 tsp celery seed
2 tbsp mustard seed
cold white vinegar to cover

Directions:
Peel, core and chop cucumbers.


Add 1/4 cup salt to chopped cucumbers.

The original recipe says to place in a sack and allow to drain overnight.  I put them in a colander over a large bowl, covered and allowed to drain overnight.  You will have a large amount of water in the bowl the next morning.  Drain and rinse cucumbers in an ice cold water, filling the bowl.  Drain well.  This helps to remove the excess salt. 
Chop peppers and onions.  Add to cucumbers.  In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, horseradish, celery seed and mustard seed.  Let sit at room temperature until sugar dissolves.  Add to cucumber mixture and then add enough vinegar to cover.



Bottle in your favorite jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks, freeze or give as gifts to friends. 

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