Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Red Pepper Relish





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The horror! Local berries of all sorts, have simultaneously appeared on the shelves of our farmer's markets and roadside stands. The berries are fully ripened and need immediate attention if their wonderful flavor is to be captured and preserved. I've pushed the raspberries and blueberries to the side for the time being, but I'm up to my elbows, literally, in flats of strawberries. My hands look like those of a surgeon in a trauma unit and words can't begin to describe the chaos that is currently my kitchen. I've been known to chuckle, sometimes discretely, at young managers who measured their own importance by the size of their staffs. I escaped that trap when I was working, but I've succumbed to ego in my kitchen. Forgive me, just this once, as I report my "body count." That would be 18 pints of freezer jam, 12 (1-gallon) bags of flash frozen berries, eight pints of raspberry syrup and five glorious desserts that I'll be sharing with you over the next few weeks. I was making strawberry salsa when I remembered this recipe that is based on one originally developed by Michael Symon. It is a sweet, deliciously spicy relish that can make eggs and sandwiches feel important. It's also great as an alternative topping for burgers or fish. For the record, the only thing it has in common with the strawberries is its glorious red color. I was thinking red today, and it made sense to make this before I restored order to the kitchen. Here's the recipe for a wonderful and uncommon relish. It will keep for a month in the refrigerator.

Red Pepper Relish ...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, inspired by Michael Symon

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup finely diced red onion or shallot
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
Kosher salt
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and finely diced
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced
1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1) Add olive oil to a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and warm until oil begins to shimmer. Add onions, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook until onions begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add red peppers and jalapenos and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add corainder seeds and cook for 1 minute longer.
2) Add sugar and vinegar to pan and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Add orange juice and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid has completely reduced, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Add cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate. Yield: 2 cups.

You might also like these recipes:
Blueberry Salsa - One Perfect Bite
Watermelon, Black Bean and Corn Salsa - One Perfect Bite
Thai Cucumber Relish - One Perfect Bite
Corn Relish - SlashFood
Green Tomato Relish - Mommy's Kitchen
Mango, Red Pepper and Cilantro Salsa - Cook Sister
Mango Chutney - Ciao Chow Linda

60 comments :

RamblingTart said...

You are a whirling dervish of productivity, Mary!! I can just see you covered in red juice and grinning proudly at the rows of preserves you've done. :-) Love it! This relish looks so good with such lovely rich colors. :-)

Sarah B. said...

looks and sounds delicious!

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

Another fantastic recipe! I'm getting a big folder of recipes to try just by visiting here. :o)

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

This sound refreshing and good. Wish you have a nice day.

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

Your busy happy kitchen must spell delicious. Wish I could pop in and be your sous chef. Many hands, do make light work.

Enjoy the fruits (literally) of your labor.

My Little Space said...

This relish recipe looks wonderful and easy to make. And I love red pepper. Thanks, mary. Hope you're having a wonderful day too!
Blessings, Kristy
p/s Your grandson looks as adorable as ever. Errr... I wanna pinch him on his face, just if you allow to! haha....

Monet said...

This looks like it would be perfect on a grilled cheese sandwich. I have a loaf of bread just waiting to be adorned with something as special as this!

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Goodness, whirlwind indeed!! The relish sounds lovely.

Unknown said...

That relish looks amazing. Can't wait to try it.

Deb in Hawaii said...

I miss Oregon berries! Nothing is better. You have been so productive with them too. The relish looks really good--love the bright, deep color.

Priya Suresh said...

Beautiful and flavourful relish, am ready to have some..

Dream It Up Cookies said...

You are amazing Mary!

Alessandra said...

Uh, I would love to see all those berries, so lovingly prepared! The relish also sounds delicious :-)

Anonymous said...

RamblingTart- LOL. Mary you are a whirling dervish indeed, how productive! I had to laugh at the amount of preserves you had! If I have a glut of peppers I usually just roast them and keep them in a jar covered by oil to have as tapas now and then...I like this relish idea though!

Rettabug said...

Oh Mary...if anyone is entitled to have a bit of "ego" in their kitchen, it is YOU!
This fantastic photo is making my mouth water & its only 5:30 AM!!! It reminds me of a pepper relish my Mom made but I don't remember her using jalapenos.

I have lots of catching up to do with your beautiful blog. I was AFKeyboard for awhile due to a sliced finger (dern mandoline!) Talk about "hands look like those of a surgeon in a trauma unit" Ugh!

Ana Powell said...

Another fantastic and vibrant recipe.
Your work is so perfect ♥

Martha said...

Gosh, Mary, you have been busy! At one time, ladies measured success by the sheer number of jars in their fruit cellar!

We like pepper relish but I've not made it often --

still drooling over that lemon slaw -- it was sooo good!

Carol at Serendipity said...

I am going to make this for the weekend! I love pickles and relish. This year I am going to make green tomato relish - another favorite.

Have a great 4th, Mary.

Carol

nancy at good food matters said...

Great work! I have to laugh at your trauma unit analogy...but one must act quickly, once the lovely droves of berries and such come in. I wouldn't call it ego, either, Mary----it's doing what you love.

Diane said...

You sound as if you are rushed off your feet. This relish though sounds just amazing, but when all is ready in my garden, I need recipes that last for at least 12 months once bottled. We eat the summer produce from France in the UK during winter.Have a good day. Diane

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I sometimes long for the day when I used to make salsa, pickles, etc. This relish sonds incredibly good.

Salsa Verde said...

Hi Mary,
Another amazing and delicious recipe!!
Love,
Lia.

JEANNE said...

Good morning Mary. it feels so good to be on my computer again. I saw your comment and laughed because I have been thinking of your blog and recipes since yesterday. I wanted to see what summer recipes you have been sharing. I laughed again when I read about your huge job of putting up all those strawberries. Our black raspberries (wild) were in as well as my sister's peach trees. We are knee deep in preserves at this moment. I finally made cherry preserves along with black raspberry, black raspberry and peaches (delicious) and peach. We made four batches of peach preserves yesterday. There are still two boxes of peaches and more on the trees. Sigh.

I don't know how you managed to do all that fruit without help. I commend you. I am looking forward to your next posts to check out your deserts. Today the relish sounds and looks awesome.

Since this almost a book I better sign off.

Happy cooking!
Hugs, Jeanne

Anonymous said...

When I saw the title and picture, I thought, hope this has a little bit of citrus and spice in it. Touchdown! Another winner. Cheers.

Nina Timm said...

Bring on the bread and cheeses, I am hungry for a al fresco picnic. Love the little jars too!!

Faith said...

This lovely relish reminds me a little bit of one of my all-time favorite relishes -- Picadilly Relish! I would love to try your recipe, it sounds incredible!

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

Looks delish! Makes any dish pop with this burst of red.

Carmen

Unknown said...

I'm not worthy!! :) Wow, you are working hard in your kitchen! I love it. All the things you have going on...they all sound incredible. I love this red pepper relish recipe (Michael Symon is my favorite chef right now, I'd love to take a trip to his restaurant!) I'm going to definitely try this relish! Thanks for sharing...looking forward to the dessert recipes!

penny aka jeroxie said...

Gosh! I try every year but I procrastinate.... must learn to be more hardworking like you.

Joe Ambrosino said...

It's posts like this that make me wish I lived in farm country, Mary. I would be your sous chef any day of the week! Lovely relish too.

From the Kitchen said...

What a comfort it must be to have all those berries "put by" for the winter table! So far, strawberry jam and strawberry syrup is in our pantry. The red pepper relish is saying "put me on the barbecue table". I think I shall. Happy preserving and, er, cleaning up the kitchen.

Best,
Bonnie

Katerina said...

This relish looks very tempting. I know what it is to have so many fresh products and try to exploit every single gram of them.

Unknown said...

I bet this relish is great on and in so many things, what a treat to eat at your home it would be

M @ Betty Crapper said...

That relish looks good. I can't wait for the strawberry recipes. My husband loves strawberries and red is my favorite color!

P.S. I've given you an award.
http://bettycrapper.blogspot.com/2010/06/beautiful-blogger.html

Vegetarian Yogini said...

A glorious spoon of relish! looks so temting! You are an amazing cook and a wonderful blogger! When do you have the time to shop, cook so many things and still go and post for other bloggers?
Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes...

Sushma Mallya said...

simply superb,wow what a click too..great one mary,loved the recipe...yummy one..have a lovely day mary..take care

Jeannie said...

I wish I could taste some of that relish, looks very good! love the vibrant red too!

Jennifer said...

Gorgeous, I am looking to branch out to something other than strawberry jam, that looks like a great way to do it. Thank you!

Nisha said...

Loved this recipe , i'm going to try this one :).

The Blonde Duck said...

I'm all over berry season!

Carla and Michael said...

That is a beautiful relish recipe. I think it would be wonerful for a vast array of dishes. I like that it doesn't require canning, as I've not tried my hand at that yet. I'm going to have to put on my 'big girl pants' though and go out and buy a canning starter set real soon. I love the idea of putting up fruits and veggies for when they are 'out of season'.
Thanks.

Ciao Chow Linda said...

Mary - Thanks for the shout-out. I need to try this relish. Its sounds great.

D said...

Mary, I happen to have 2 red peppers that I have been thinking about using, fresh cilantro that I cut yesterday... I think today is a day for some Red Pepper Relish. It sounds delicious. Thank you.

sweetlife said...

lovely relish, your alwasy cooking up something great..always nice to visit and see another great recipe, great pic

sweetlife

Suman Singh said...

that relish looks incredibly delicious...thanks for this recipe!

Unknown said...

Just looking at your blog and thinking about relishes, chutneys and salsas and how much flavor they add to our everyday food. You really painted a vivid picture of life in your kitchen today and it all sounds delicious and so worth all the work! The red pepper relish is something I would really enjoy, thanks for sharing all your fabulous projects:-)

Carole Poirot said...

Well, it sounds to me like you've worked very hard indeed and fully deserve your "big ego" moment ;-) That relish sounds delicious...but I think I say that about all your posts since I've found your blog. Thanks for your kind words on my blog, you have no idea how much this sort of commentary means to me. Lots of Love from London x

Eliana said...

Looks and sounds divine Mary.

Rachana said...

Red Pepper Relish looks delish! Wish to have some :-)

Have a nice day, dear Mary :-)

Adventures in Domestic Cooking said...

Goodness, it's perfect!!

The Words Crafter said...

It's a good thing my husband doesn't read my blog! If he did, either I'd have to learn how to make freezer jam, or he'd try and figure out where you live and sit on your doorstep, begging like a puppy-for freezer jam-he's a fanatic! The relish looks delish...I'm kinda distracted by the thought of strawberry cobbler right now...

Julie said...

Wonderful kitchen accomplisments, as always Mary!
The relish looks delicious. eautiful 4th of July colors.

Claudia said...

You know I'm laughing - your knee-deep in berries and post pepper relish (and how I love that recipe). I cannot fathom what you ahve accomplished. I'm still contemplating coming home with one flat of strawberries. But you do have me thinking long and hard about the relish... yes loving it.

mr. pineapple man said...

I'm defintely going to try this and the coleslaw! great pics!

Diana's Cocina said...

I just made strawberry jam, now I must try red pepper relish. Another fantastic recipe, I adore your blog!

A SPICY PERSPECTIVE said...

It's so pretty! I don't think I've ever tried this before! Bookmarking!

Joanne said...

I bet this would be great on cheeseburgers this holiday weekend! I think I need to whip up a batch.

Alicia said...

My brother just brought me a big bag of red bell peppers and promised more. He knows I love them & I do...I love to eat them raw like popcorn. Yum! But this relish sounds great. I'm going to try it. Thanks.

xinex said...

OMG, you are busy and you've got lots of berries!The relish looks so good and it looks pretty too!...Christine

Create. Snap. Eat. said...

*applause* Yes -- fantastic idea! And so many serving possibilities. Love the addition of brown sugar. Good idea.

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