Lady Ross Relish is a Canadian relish with many tall tales behind its name. While there actually was a Lady Ross, who lived in Montreal for a time, it’s not certain that there’s any actual link between this recipe and her.
It’s also sometimes called “Lady Rose Relish.”
This is a mustardy cauliflower relish, thickened with flour. While it generally isn’t considered safe to thicken home-canned products with the flour, the exception is if the recipe has been lab-tested for safety by industry technicians, as this one has been. So enjoy!
Note: this can have a potent mustard bite, especially if your mustard powder is strong and fresh — though it does mellow in time.
The recipe
Jar size choices: Either quarter-litre (1/2 US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz) OR half-litre (1 US pint / 500 ml/ 16 oz)
Processing method: Water bath or steam canning
Yield: 11 x quarter-litre (1/2 US pint) jars
Headspace: 2 cm (1/2 inch)
Processing time: 10 minutes
Lady Ross Relish
Yield: 11 x quarter-litre jars (1/2 US pint / 8 oz / 250 ml)
Ingredients
- 800 g cucumber (finely chopped. 4 cups / 1 US quart / 28 oz in weight. Measurements after prep.)
- 500 g onion (finely chopped. 4 cups / 18 oz in weight. Measurements after prep.)
- 400 g celery (finely chopped. 3 cups / 14 oz in weight. Measurements after prep.)
- 600 g cauliflower (finely chopped, 5 cups / 21 oz. Measurements after prep.)
- 250 g apple (finely chopped. 1 cup after chopping / 8 oz. Measurements after prep.)
- 1 red bell pepper (cored, seeded and finely chopped)
- 175 g pickling salt (1/2 cup / 6 oz OR same amount of non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub)
- 1 tablespoon Pickle Crisp (optional)
- 1 litre water (4 cups / 32 oz)
- 500 ml white vinegar (5% acidity or higher. 2 cups / 16 oz)
- 900 g brown sugar (4 cups, firmly packed / 32 oz)
- 60 g mustard seed (1/3 cup / 2 oz)
- 75 g mustard powder (3/4 cup / 2.5 oz)
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 50 g flour (white. 1/3 cup / 1.5 oz)
- 125 ml water (1/2 cup / 4 oz)
Instructions
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Mix all ingredients from cucumber down to the water. Let sit covered for 12 hours or up to 24 hours in fridge.
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Drain, rinse and drain again.
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Leave in drainer while preparing next step.
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In a Dutch oven or wide pot, put the vinegar, sugar, and mustard seed.
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Bring to a boil.
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Add the drained veg.
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Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
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Whisk together the mustard powder, turmeric, flour, then add the 125 ml (1/2 cup / 4 oz) of water and whisk to a smooth paste. Set aside.
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Let the veg mixture simmer for 10 minutes or until cauliflower pieces are just tender but still crunchy.
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Add the flour mixture to the veg mixture. Add in dollops a little at a time, stirring after each dollop until dissolved in.
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Simmer for another 5 minutes.
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Pack hot into quarter-litre (1/2 US pint) jars or half-litre (US pint) jars.
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Leave 2 cm (1/2 inch) headspace for either size jar.
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Debubble, adjust headspace.
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Wipe jar rims.
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Put lids on.
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Process in a water bath or steam canner.
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Process either size jar for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
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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 (follow the table above.)
For salt substitute, a non-bitter, non-clouding one such as Herbamare Sodium-Free was used.
More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.
Australia and New Zealand vinegar strength special notes.
Recipe notes
- Use a food processor if you’ve got one to finely chop all the veg.
- Peel the cauliflower head, wash it. Cut it into smallish florets; don’t leave in large pieces. Place florets a few at a time into the bowl of a food processor and whiz them just until it is broken down to the size of rice or wheat grains. Repeat until you’ve processed all the cauliflower.
- 2 medium apples, 10 to 12 oz in weight combined.
- Trim off both ends of cucumbers; this is to get rid of an enzyme that could make your relish go soft.
- Yes, that really is 60 g of mustard seed and 75 g (3/4 cup) of mustard powder, those are not typos.
- For a finer relish, you can use 3 cups finely chopped instead of 4 cups (coarsely) chopped (both will be the same weight, about 500 g / 1 lb)
- If the relish is turning out “thick” for your taste, you can add more vinegar (5% or higher.) Sometimes we add up to 250 ml / 1 cup / 8 oz more.
- For a more golden brown colour, add some Kitchen Bouquet a 1/2 teaspoon at a time until desired golden colour is reached.
- Instead of the brown sugar, you could use the same volume amount of Splenda®, OR 6 teaspoons liquid stevia (we recommend Better Stevia liquid stevia as it has no bitter aftertaste.)
- Instead of pickling salt, you could use a non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub such as Herbamare.
The chopped cauliflower
Recipe source
Lady Ross Relish. Canadian Living Test Kitchen. The Complete Preserving Book. Montreal, Canada: Transcontinental Books. 2012. Page 177.
Modifications made:
- Suggested sugar and salt subs.
All Canadian Living home canning recipes are lab-tested for quality and safety.
Safety Check
Lady Ross Relish has a pH of 3.98. Well below the upper safety cut-off of 4.6 pH.
Nutrition information
Regular version
Per 2 tablespoons:
- 58 calories, 84 mg sodium.
Sugar and salt-free version
Per 2 tablespoons:
- 19 calories, 7 mg sodium
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 2 tablespoons, 0 points; 3 to 6 tablespoons, 1 point; 7 to 11 tablespoons, 2 points
* 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.
Isn’t 750 ml white vinegar closer to 3 cups not 2 as written?
You’re right, it should be 500 ml / 2 cups. I checked the notes, and I see I was going to add a suggestion that people might want to *increase* vinegar up to as much as 750 ml / 3 cups if they found the relish on the dry side for their tastes, but didn’t follow that through. Here, for the pH check, it was made with the 500 ml / 2 cups in the book. Thanks for noting that.
Hi I made your Lady Ross Relish. I had trouble with lumps after adding
The paste to the hot veg mix. Any suggestions?.. I have been searching for a good recipe
for this relish for a long time. Thank you.
Hi Bev, did you add it all at once, or little by little. In any event, I think I should modify the recipe to specify little by little until dissolved in. Did you manage to chase the lumps out?