Corn Relish

Corn in my urban garden

You will need:

~15 large ears of sweet corn (I used white, but yellow and bicolor are also ok)
2 C water
3 C chopped celery (~6 stalks)
1 1/2 C chopped red bell peppers (2 large)
1 1/2 C chopped green bell peppers (2 large)
1 C chopped onion (1 large)
2 1/2 C white vinegar
1 3/4 C granulated sugar
4 t dry mustard
2 t pickling or kosher salt
2 t celery seed
2 t turmeric (you can use less--I like the underflavor it provides)
3 T cornstarch
3 T water additional
**I was able to use red peppers, corn and onions from my own garden for this relish.  Very satisfying.

To can the relish, you will need:

A large nonreactive pot to cook the relish. (8-10 qt)
A large canning pot with a canning rack to process the filled jars. (I use my pressure cooker without the lid ~17qt)
Enough jars with lids and rings to accomodate 6 pints (I used a mixture of pints and half pints).
(refer back to this entry for more detail on canning equipment and sources).

Shuck and wash the ears of corn vigorously to remove any corn silk.  Cut the kernels from the cob--do not scrape the cob, you want niblets, not mush.  Measure out 8 cups of kernels and put into the nonreactive pot with the 2 C water.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and cook covered for ~5 minutes or until corn is nearly tender.  Drain and then plunge corn into ice water to stop the cooking.    Once cooled, drain corn again and replace into cooking pot.

To the pot, add the celery, sweet peppers and onion.  Stir in vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, celery seen and turmeric.  Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved then reduce heat.  Simmer uncovered for ~5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix cornstarch and 3T water in a small jar or plastic container.  Shake vigorously until smooth. (This is a tip I learned from the Lord of the Manor who did time as a short order cook back in the day.)  A recycled baby food jar is perfect.

Now add the cornstarch liquid to the corn mixture and cook. Stir until relish is slightly thickened and bubble.  Now cook for ~2 minutes more stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, ladel hot relish into hot sterilized jars leaving about 1/4" headspace.  Wipe jar rims and place lids and rings.

I almost always end up with more relish than the liquid component will easily cover.  This extra relish can be stored in the refrigerator for immediate use.  Do NOT can dry--it will not keep and you will see bacterial growth in the mixture above the fluid line.  Do NOT eat this!

At this time the water in the canner should be at a boil.  Place the sealed jars of relish in the canner (Careful!  Don't burn yourself!)  and process for 15 minutes (again, I process for 20 minutes as I am at ~2100' above sea level--see the charts here for more information about processing times.)

Carefully lift the finished jars out of the boiling water and allow to cool, listening for the "pop" of the seal.

Some notes on corn:

In the US, corn refers to maize (Zea mays).  In other countries, corn frequently refers to the staple crop of the region.

Look! Corn DNA!

 Corn genetics have been widely studied and have advanced genetic theory significantly.  The most famous example is of course the work done by Barbara McClintock which resulted in her Nobel Prize for her work using Zea mays to study transposons.

Although corn was the staple cereal of the indigenous Americas, it must be eaten with other foods, or soaked in alkali water to avoid nutritional deficits like pellagra (niacin deficiency).  Of course, eating corn and beans together is also delicious!

Maize is widely farmed in the US, to the point where it is not only being eaten by humans, but is also a staple of livestock production and can be made into ethanol which is used as a gasoline additive/substitute.  Corn agriculture has become politicized far beyond the scope, and definitely beyond the point of this blog.   Please keep any comments to the effect that corn is the Antichrist to yourself.