Cowgirl Relish - You thought Cowboy Candy was good!

I have had some requests to develop a relish recipe for the Cowboy Candy that would use the same brine but with a more "relish" texture. I have successfully made it and again it's amazing. 

I used it a few days ago at a bbq we did using homemade sausage and I smothered it with this relish. I should have taken a picture of the plate. I think it would bring a drool to the side of your mouth! LOL

Thanks for the inspiration to do more and keep the canning alive!

Cowgirl Relish

2 lbs jalapenos
1 lb carrots
1 medium red onion

1 1/3 cup cider or white vinegar

4 cups sugar

Preparation: Prepare 7-8 half pint jars or 3 pints, lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a simmer.  

Remove the stems and de-seed if you want your relish to be  less spicy. Clean and peel carrots. Using a food processor on pulse add jalapenos till they are small diced. Don't just let the machine spin. You want to have pieces not jalapeno juice. Then add carrots, pulse them the same size, and then finally the red onions. If you don't have a processor you can dice with a knife. Make sure to where gloves when working with the peppers. 

Cooking: In a large stainless steel combine vinegar and sugar and bring to a simmer until sugar  is dissolved. Add diced veggies and simmer uncovered, for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel, ladle to fill to 1/2" headspace. Fill first with the vegetable solids and then add the hot vinegar liquid allowing 1/2" head space.  Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace with the mixture if necessary. Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight". 

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 15 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Some time in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.

Labeling: Make sure to label your jars after they have cooled with the name of the recipe and the date canned. If you want to use the shrink labels in the picture you can order them Here!