Small batch fruit relish

A delicious and versatile condiment!

I wonder if people who still use recipe cards write comments on them as my mother did? A red star drawn in the corner always means she thinks the recipe is excellent and editorial comments, often noting substitutions, can be found on many of the cards she wrote out for me. In the case of this fruit relish, her comment at the end of the instructions reads, “yummy with everything – maybe even on toast!” My husband I have taken this comment to heart as one of our favourite uses for fruit relish is on top of poached eggs (on toast), although we also enjoy it with pork, chicken and fish as well as with meat pies. If you like this recipe, you might also enjoy my small batch zucchini relish and my small batch spiced plum chutney.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe peaches, peeled
• 2 medium apples, peeled
• 2 medium onions, peeled
• 9 ripe Roma (plum) tomatoes, medium-sized
• 1 each red and green pepper, core and seeds removed
• 4 stalks celery
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 1/3 cups (265 g) white sugar
• 1 1/3 cups (315 mL) cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons pickling spice, tied in cheesecloth

Method

• Finely chop all the fruits and vegetables and place in a large pot. I like to do this by hand but you can pulse in a food processor if you like.
• Nestle the spice bag into the centre of the pot then sprinkle salt and sugar over top. Stir in cider vinegar.
• Cover pot and bring to a boil then remove lid and reduce heat so mixture is just simmering.
• Simmer for 2 1/2 hours, stirring often so mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
• If, when mixture is cooked, it is coarser than you prefer, you can use an immersion blender to pulse the relish in just a few places to make part of it smoother; stir afterwards.
• Discard spice bag and ladle the mixture into clean, hot canning jars. Seal jars and let cool.
• Refrigerate or process in a hot water bath for shelf storage.

Makes 7-8 one cup (250 mL) jars.