June 8, 2009

Tomato Relish



When I married my husband, I gained more than a partner. I gained his mother along with foods that were dear to her and of course my hubby. Two foods that I had never had much to do with were christmas cake and tomato relish. I came to love and adore christmas cake and over the last twenty six years I have had lots of practise trying to find my own version of the ideal fruit cake.

One thing though that I've haven't tampered with has been the recipe for tomato relish. That is up until now. Not much of a tampering with really, but for show purposes I find the dinky di recipe is quite dark in colour. I feel the preserve would be better presented if it were lighter and more red. I decided to alter the vinegar from two cups of malt vinegar to one cup of malt and one cup of white. And I think it's made a big difference. I am much happier with the reddishness as previous relish preserves have looked rather brown and caramelly, if that makes any sense. At the end of the day however it is taste that should be the determining factor. I was pleased with the result but more importantly so were my two harshest critics; hubby and The Borb. At last year's show my tomato relish scored a third place. I have entered the same recipe for a few years and it's funny to observe how one year I can get a first place and then another absolutely nothing. It's always been the same recipe!

That first Christmas as a married couple my mother-in-law gave me the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook. I think it was AWW'S first edition. I know it was my first cookbook ever and I cannot calculate the amount of hours, no days, that I have spent pouring over the pictures and recipes in that book. For a book that has lived with me for twenty six years, I am proud to say it is in very good condition. I am sure there are many Aussies who commenced their cooking library with this book. The great thing about it though is that it isn't sitting on the shelf collecting dust. All these years later, competing with over one hundred other cookbooks along side it and it is still well employed. If that isn't a testament to it's endurance and quality of recipes then I don't know what is.

Tomato Relish

adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly

Ingredients:






Method:



Your tomatoes should look like the photo below after they have been skinned, diced, salted, covered and allowed to sit overnight. There will quite a bit of juice that will have leached from the tomatoes and that is a good thing.



After you have peeled, diced and salted the onion (and cried your eyes out), the onion should look like the picture below.



I couldn't wait to tuck in and enjoy it with some lovely crusty bread and cheese.



It was particularly delicious dolloped on top of some crusty bread and homemade meatloaf.



Our favourite way of enjoying tomato relish is on the side with lamb chops. Good old Aussie tucker.

8 comments:

  1. I am rather parcial to a good Relish
    I will defently give that on a go
    J

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  2. Hi Mariana First things first. Thankyou Sister :-) I was blown away. I have been away for a few days and come back to receive an award! Not sure what I did to deserve it but I am tickled pink.I have so much to learn and am just so glad that you are all so willing to open up your doors and let me visit. It will take me a while to pass on the honour...let me give this some thought. Meanwhile.....how about I cook up something tasty and you guys can pop in and join me for a chat :-)

    Loved your post today .....I was also given the recipe for Tomato relish by my mother in law and have been making it ever since. It is very similar to yours but I loooove the idea of adding a little chilli. Now why didn't I think of that? May try a little fresh chilli in my next batch. Mmmmmmm This old dog is learning new tricks every day. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou
    BTW.....did using white vinegar change the flavour much?

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  3. Field tomatoes will be in season come August...I will most certainly give this recipe a try.

    Thank you.
    Diane

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  4. Let me know what you think of it jorgen - the recipe is an oldie but a goodie.

    Ahh you're back. I was beginning to think you saw your award, had a major shock and left the blogosphere for good. I'm glad I was wrong. Well Linda if it makes you feel any better I don't know what I did to deserve it either, but there you go. Yes you are most welcome to visit "my door" anytime. Am looking forward to your treat!

    So lovely to see you dropped by Diane. I'm pleased you found a recipe to your liking. I'd love to know what kinds of things you would eat with it.

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  5. Skin, halve your onions & semi-freeze them before cutting. Take out each half only as you're ready to chop it & cover (or refrigerate) it as soon as diced or sliced. No probs! Even just chilling helps.

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  6. Many thanks for Tomato relish recipe. We have an abundance of tomatoes growing in our garden. The Aust Womens Weekly Best Recipes was my first cook book also.

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  7. This looks really good. Do you treat it in a canner or just refrigerate it?

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  8. This is my go to recipe for relish every time. I do use balsamic vinegar (1/2-3/4 cup) to replace an equal quantity of brown vinegar and I use a seeded curry powder(Herbies) and a bit more than the recipe says. Very yummy on toast, in casseroles, with salads and meat.

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