GREEN TOMATO PICKLE RELISH

A wonderful gardener recently gave me a huge pan of green tomatoes and I instantly knew I wanted to make this relish. The recipe calls for simple pantry ingredients and it makes 9 cups of yummy relish, a wonderful addition to my pantry, thank you Bonnie!!

 

10 large, or 20 small GREEN tomatoes
4 red or orange bell peppers
1 large sweet onion
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons kosher salt

TO PREPARE VEGETABLES:

Core the green tomatoes and cut into medium size chunks, about this big:

 

Put them in a food processor, in small batches, and pulse until they are about this size (don't over-pulse):

Do the same with the onion and bell peppers.

Put EVERYTHING into a large, non-reactive stock pot that has a heavy bottom (I use the bottom part of my pressure cooker) and gently toss together.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down to a slow simmer (see note below). 

Simmer UNCOVERED for two hours. I know that sounds like a LONG time, and the first time I tried this recipe, I was convinced that the veggies would cook away to nothing, but they don't.......trust me. Just gently stir about every 15 minutes. The vegetables will cook down and thicken into a wonderful relish.

Put relish into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath (15 minutes for half pints and pints).

TIPS:

Original recipe called for half green bell peppers and half red bell peppers, but we don't care for the taste of green ones, so I modified the recipe and use all red and orange bell peppers.

Don't overload your food processor when you chop the vegetables. If you only load it with 2 or 3 cups at a time, you will get a nice fine chop without it turning to mush.

Recipe says to "slow simmer for 2 hours"......so, what is a slow simmer? My electric burner dial goes from 1 to 10, and a slow simmer on my stove is a 2.  Basically, you want it to simmer at the same heat you would use when you make rice....slow and steady.

Recipe calls for Kosher salt, I have never tried this recipe with table salt.

 ENJOY !!!

 

GRANDMA's BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

When I was a little girl I watched my (very German) Aunt Welentina Ezlinger make pickles in her basement. I climbed up on a stool and watched her line up the hot jars and put "seeds" in each one. She then packed the jars tight with cucumbers from her garden and poured a hot vinegar liquid over them. That was almost 60 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so impressed!! I think of her when I make this recipe.

We love these bread and butter pickles!! They are fresh and bright tasting and are worlds better than commercial pickles!!

 

 

 

GRANDMA's BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES        6 PINTS

 

4 cups water

1/4  cup pickling salt (not regular salt)

10 large pickling cucumbers

ice cubes (I use 2 trays of ice cubes)

3 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

2 teaspoons mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

 

Wash the pickling cucumbers and slice them into 1/8" slices (I cut mine just a tad thicker than 1/8").

 

 

In a LARGE bowl, mix 4 cups water and 1/4 cup pickling salt until well dissolved. Add cucumbers and ice cubes and gently swirl, making sure the slices are all submerged.  Let cucumber slices soak for two hours.

 

After 2 hours, drain the cucumbers (throw away the liquid) and rinse completely with fresh water (I rinse mine 2 or 3 times).

 

In a large/deep pan, mix 3 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons ground turmeric, 2 teaspoons mustard seed and 1/2 teaspoon celery seed. Bring this mixture to a boil.

 

Reduce heat to LOW and put the cucumber slices in. Stir gently and let the cucumber sit in the hot liquid until they are all hot (but not cooked). Don't let the cucumbers boil.

 

Remove the slices from the hot liquid (with tongs) and pack directly into sterilized PINT size mason jars (pack as many as you can get into the jars...pack tightly).

 

When the jars are all packed with cucumber slices, bring the pot of vinegar liquid back to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour into the jars of cucumber slices, to within 1/4" of the top. Run a CLEAN knife around the sides of the jars to remove any air bubbles.

 

Wipe off the rims of the jars with a clean moist towel and screw on the two piece lids.

 

If you are going to use these pickles within 2-3 months, you can just keep them in the fridge at this stage.  If you want to keep them for a lot longer or if you want to store them in the pantry, you'll have to process the PINTS immediately in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

 

Whether you keep them in the fridge, or put them through a hot water bath, you will have to let the cucumbers "pickle" for 2 or 3 weeks before you eat them, gently "shaking" the jars once a day.

 

 

 

ENJOY !!