The Verdict

I finally got round to trying some of my preserves over Christmas and have to say I was extremely pleased with the results...

... tomato & pepper relish really did taste as good as something you could buy in the shops - I can't wait to try it on a burger.

... pickled green tomatoes were quite sweet, I was expecting them to taste more like pickles. They are lovely with both cheese and ham.

... pumpkin chutney was a total delight, I will definitely be making more of that next year.

... pickled cucumbers, once again are just as good as the ones you can buy. I will have to put more effort into growing onions for pickling next year.

The only thing left to try is cucumber and apple chutney, hopefully I will enjoy that just as much as the others.

Tomato & Pepper Relish

This was another new recipe for me and I used tomatoes that were just under ripe. This required:

2 lbs Tomatoes
1 lb Onions
1/2 tbsp Salt
1 medium Red Pepper
1/2 tbsp Mustard Seeds
4 oz White Sugar
8 fl oz White Wine Vinegar

This is what I did:

Peel and finely chop the tomatoes and onions (I didn't actually peel the tomatoes, but the recipe said to do that). Mix together in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and leave overnight (I left them all day rather than overnight).

Put the tomatoes and onions in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Drain well.

De-seed and finely chop the pepper. Mix with the mustard seeds, tomatoes and onions in a bowl.

In a pan, mix the sugar and vinegar, heat gently to dissolve the sugar then bring to the boil.

Add the contents of the bowl, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Decant into hot sterilised jars and seal. Store for about 4 weeks before opening.

I did try this and it tastes very nice now... I assume it gets better as it matures.