Libby's Jeweled Relish

This is the kind of recipe that lived on a yellowed index card in your grandmother’s kitchen drawer. The ‘jewels’ are the bright bits of red pimento peeking out of green olives, plus optional flecks of orange carrot and emerald bell pepper that turn the whole jar into something pretty enough for a relish tray.

There’s no cooking involved. Drain a can of sauerkraut, chop the celery and olives, stir in the honey, and walk away. The 8-to-10 hour rest is the recipe. That’s when the sauerkraut tang mellows, the honey loosens up and works through everything, and the brine from the olives starts trading flavors with the celery juice. Skip the rest and you’ve got a salad of separate ingredients; honor it and you’ve got a unified condiment.

Use it the way Wisconsin grandmothers did: piled on a hot dog, spooned over a bratwurst, or alongside roast pork.

Kitchen Tips

• Drain the sauerkraut firmly but don’t rinse it. You want some of that briny tang to remain.
• Chop the celery fine. Big chunks throw off the texture; you want everything roughly the same dice as the olive slices.
• Use raw honey if you have it. The floral notes hold up better through the long rest than processed pancake syrup-style honey.
• Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to three weeks. The flavors deepen daily.

Variations

• Stir in 1 teaspoon caraway seed for a Reuben-leaning relish that loves rye toast.
• Swap honey for maple syrup and add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard for a sharper, woodsier mix.
• Add a finely diced jalapeño for a sweet-heat version that punches above its weight on tacos.