Every summer my mom and her friends would can the produce from our garden. They would heat up the house for days with the canning and sterilizing jars. The house will get so hot I would go to a friend house. I did however love one particular thing that my mom would can. It was summer squash relish. Oh man I would eat spoonfuls of this stuff. I would put on hamburgers and dish it out as a side with my sandwiches I just loved it. So this year I found the recipe and decided to culture it and leave out the vinegar. No heat just chop and place in jars. Doesn’t get any better than that. It is still one of my favorite condiments and it taste just as good as my mom’s. It’s a great way to use your summer squash and on top of that it is a fantastic probiotic food.
Claire’s Cultured Squash
3 tbsp salt
1 onion chopped in thin slices
2 cups honey
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 pck Veggie culture or 1/4 cup kefir whey
2 cups filtered water( you will add more later)
Place squash and onions in 2 quart jars. Place other ingredients in a bowl with a spout for easy pouring. Mix all ingredients till well combined. Pour mixture into jars making sure that each jar gets equal amounts of ingredients. (some of the seed fall to the bottom)
Fill the jars with extra water leaving an 1 1/2 inches of room at the top and making sure veggies are below the water. The veggies will mold if left above the water. If this happens scrape off the mold or discard veggies and push the others below the water. The mold is harmless and won’t hurt anything but they can ruin the taste of the veggies. Set at room temperature for 3 days and then place in the refrigerator.
As JennE asked on May 6th what is the preferred temperature if not storing in the fridge? I too have a cold cellar. What time period can the fermented veggies be kept in the fridge? I am new to the fermenting process. Have just planted my garden and am anxiously waiting to try these recipes.
The exact temperature depends. After the initial fermentation you can place them in a cold cellar where they may ferment still at a higher rate than the refrigerator, but the cooler temperatures will still slow it down enough that it will be fine.
I was wondering do I have to refrigerate all of the items that are cultured? I have a room in my house that stays quite cool all year round I was wondering if I could just store all my non-fruit cultured veggie and veggie products in there.
How cool is your house?
This sounds wonderful! I’m gonna give it a try, but wanted to be SURE — 2 cUPS HONEY?? Seems like a lot! Thanks, Donna!
Yes, it’s a sweet relish and a lot of the honey gets eaten.