Dixie Relish is a delicious relish recipe based on cabbage that you can make inexpensively the year round.
Good thing, because in the spring you’re going to want to make sure you have a few jars of this mellowing on the shelf for summer sausage on a bun, and burgers.
It’s also delicious as a side with grilled meats, and barbeque.
Everything about this says lazy days of summer.
This recipe makes a lot, so you may wish to cut the recipe in half.
Contents
The recipe
If you wish to adjust batch size, do the math first on paper.
Jar size choices: Quarter-litre (1/2 US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz) OR half-litre (1 US pint / 500 ml/ 16 oz)
Processing method: Either water-bath or steam canning
Yield: 7 x half-litre (US pint) jars
Headspace: 2 cm (1/2 inch)
Processing time: 15 minutes either size jar
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 7 x half-litre (US pint) jars
Serving size: 2 tablespooons
Calories: 14
Fat: .1 g
- 500 g (4 cups / 1 pound) coarsely chopped cabbage
- 600 g ( 4 cups / 1¼ lbs) of mixed finely chopped bell pepper (red, green, yellow, orange, etc)
- 250 g (2 cups / 9 oz / 2 medium) finely chopped onion
- 2 litres (2 US quarts / 8 cups / 64 oz) cold water
- 175 g pickling salt (1/2 cup / 6 oz) OR 3 tablespoons salt substitute
- 2 litres cold water (8 cups / 64 oz)
- 1 litre white vinegar, 5% acidity or higher (4 cups / 32 oz)
- 2 tablespoons additional salt substitute (if NOT using salt)
- 200 g refined white sugar (3/4 cup / 6 oz) OR 2 teaspoons liquid stevia
- 3 tablespoons mustard seed
- 2 tablespoons celery seed
- The final 3 ingredients are optional spicing that you may wish to also add. If using these spices, tie into a spice bag or put into a large tea genie, put into vegetable and vinegar mixture when you simmer it, then remove spice bag and discard:
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 1 x 10 cm (4 inch) cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
- Prep the cabbage, onion and bell pepper (free free to use a food processor, but use the pulse button so you don't purée it.)
- Put into a large bowl.
- Cover with the cold water (the exact quantity of water doesn't matter, as it will be drained off, anyway.) If more water is needed to cover, add more.
- Add the salt or salt sub, stir with your hands or a spoon and let stand for an hour on the counter or table; cover to keep any bugs off or stuff in the air from settling in.
- Drain well.
- Put into a large pot with the vinegar down to and including the celery seed. Add spice bag, if using.
- Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until thickened to your liking.
- Discard spice bag, if used.
- Pack hot into quarter-litre (1/2 US pint) jars or half-litre (US pint) jars.
- Leave 2 cm (1/2 inch) headspace for either size jar.
- Debubble, adjust headspace.
- Wipe jar rims.
- Put lids on.
- Process in a water bath or steam canner.
- Process either size jar for 15 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
- Best after at least a month of jar time.
Reference information
How to water bath process.
How to steam can.
When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.
For salt substitute, Herbamare Sodium-Free was used.
For stevia, Better Stevia liquid stevia was the stevia used.
More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.
Australia and New Zealand vinegar strength special notes.
Recipe notes
- For a zippier relish you can replace some of the bell pepper with an equivalent amount of chopped hot pepper instead, or, add a teaspoon of dried red chile flakes.
- Don’t increase the amounts of cabbage, pepper or onion, or, decrease the amount of vinegar.
- You can omit the Pickle Crisp but it helps to keep a nice, slightly-firm bite.
- Instead of distilled white vinegar, you may try any vinegar you wish provided it is 5% acid or higher.
Recipe source
Dixie Relish: in Ball Blue Book. Muncie, Indiana: Healthmark LLC / Jarden Home Brands. Edition 37. 2014. Page 87
Dixie Relish: in Kingry, Judi and Lauren Devine. Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving. Toronto, Canada: Robert Rose Inc. 2015. Page 228.
Modifications made:
- Ball / Bernardin Complete uses the spice bag spices; Blue Book doesn’t. We went with those spices for more of that old-time, added taste complexity, but let the mustard and celery seed be free range in the relish for added visual interest.
Nutrition information
Regular Version
Estimating that 10% of the salt was absorbed by the vegetable.
Per 2 tablespoons / 30 ml
- 14 calories, 65 mg sodium
Sugar and salt-free Version
Per 2 tablespoons / 30 ml
- 8 calories, 3 mg sodium
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 7 tablespoons: 0 points; 8 to 21 tablespoons: 1 point.
Safety check
With a pH of 3.51 on this Dixie Relish, the recipe is well below the upper safety cut-off of 4.6 pH.
* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com
* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.
* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.
* Herbamare ® is a registered trademark of the A. Vogel Corporation.
* Pickle Crisp ® is a registered trademark of the Jarden Corporation.
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