Lady Ross Relish

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 (½ 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 (½ US pint) jars

Headspace: 2 cm (½ inch)

Processing time: 10 minutes

4.5 from 4 votes

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Lady Ross Relish

Yield: 11 x quarter-litre jars (½ US pint / 8 oz / 250 ml)

Course Condiments

Cuisine Canadian

Keyword Relish

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Yield 11 x quarter-litre jars (½ US pint / 8 oz / 250 ml)

Calories 19 kcal

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 (½ 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 (⅓ cup / 2 oz)
• 75 g mustard powder (¾ cup / 2.5 oz)
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 50 g flour (white. ⅓ cup / 1.5 oz)
• 125 ml water (½ cup / 4 oz)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients from cucumber down to the water. Let sit covered for 12 hours or up to 24 hours in fridge.

2. Drain, rinse and drain again.

3. Leave in drainer while preparing next step.

4. In a Dutch oven or wide pot, put the vinegar, sugar, and mustard seed.

5. Bring to a boil.
6. Add the drained veg.
7. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
8. Whisk together the mustard powder, turmeric, flour, then add the 125 ml (½ cup / 4 oz) of water and whisk to a smooth paste. Set aside.
9. Let the veg mixture simmer for 10 minutes or until cauliflower pieces are just tender but still crunchy.
10. Add the flour mixture to the veg mixture. Add in dollops a little at a time, stirring after each dollop until dissolved in.
11. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
12. Pack hot into quarter-litre (½ US pint) jars or half-litre (US pint) jars.
13. Leave 2 cm (½ inch) headspace for either size jar.
14. Debubble, adjust headspace.
15. Wipe jar rims.
16. Put lids on.
17. Process in a water bath or steam canner.
18. Process either size jar for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
19. 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 (¾ 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 ½ 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.