Making Corn Relish for the First Time

At this time of year one particular piece of produce gets really, really cheap. Corn! And I bought a nice bunch of it for under $2 and came home and thought, what the heck am I going to make with all this corn? I had already made corn bread, cakes and chowder… Then on Facebook Amy from Family Feedbag suggested I get out my pretty jars and make some corn relish! That felt right.

But where to start? I had made pickle relish before but corn? This was totally new to me. I got out my Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens cookbooks for inspiration. I found a recipe but it called for 18 ears of corn and I had four. Breaking the recipe down was going to be a bit of a challenge but that is what I live for! This is my version of this old recipe.

This is my personal favourite way to remove corn kernels from the cob. I get a tall and steep glass bowl and put a small bowl in the bottom upside down. I brace the cob on the little bowl and then cut off the kernels.

For the kernels that do eventually escape I put a clean kitchen towel down so they do not go bouncing away. I did this with four ears of corn.

I chopped up 1 onion, 1 peeled English cucumber and half of a large red pepper. I put everything through my food processor until it was finely chopped but not mush.

I whisked together 1 cup of vinegar (I used natural) with 2 tbsp of dry mustard, 1 tsp of turmeric and 1 tbsp of salt.

Put all the vegetables into a large pot and add 1 cup of sugar. Then pour in the flavoured vinegar. Stir together and bring to a boil

I turned down the heat and simmered for 15 minutes. It was a little runny for my liking.

I added a heaping tsp of cornstarch to a little bit of cold water, stirring well and then added to the relish. I stirred over medium heat until everything thickened.

Next time I would add a little less vinegar, live and learn! The slurry thickened the relish beautifully and did look so very lovely in my jars. This made two to three cups of relish which is more than enough for my household. I divvied up the relish in plastic bags and put them in my freezer.

Yes, I was going to properly can them but realized that canning vinegary foods is different than sweet and I am not ready for that yet. Soon!

How did it taste on my hot dog? Exactly like relish! I mean, like pickle relish. I had never had corn relish before so I was surprised there was not a huge difference in flavour but it was yummy. Relish is a condiment that really brings food to life.

Right now corn is so inexpensive and this would make a wonderful treat in your home and a perfect gift, if you know how to properly preserve the relish. And I will. Soon.