Pickled Green Tomatoes

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Katie H

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Didn't take long to locate the recipe. As it turns out, I've had it for about 20 years and I didn't get it from my brother until he'd had it for years before that. Really, really good! Here's the recipe:


PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES
(Makes 3 qts. or 6 pints)​

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, thinly sliced
3 lbs. green tomatoes (about 9 medium), cut into 1-in. wedges or whole if small
3 to 6 garlic cloves
3 to 6 small red chiles
2 to 3 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. coarse salt
4 cups cider vinegar
4 tsp. mustard seeds
2 tsp. whole cloves
2 tsp. celery seeds
2 tsp. whole allspice

In a large bowl, combine onion, bell pepper and tomatoes and toss to mix as uniformly as possible. Pack into jars.

Place a garlic clove and a red chili in each jar and set aside.

In a large pan, combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves.

Pour mixture into jars - leave ½-inch of head space, seal jars. Process for 10 min. in water bath.

Let pickled tomatoes stand for at least 2 weeks so they have time to meld.
 
Thanks Katie.... I'sa'ppreshatates!!

do have a question thou on chili peppers,

I have some little red (& green) Thai peppers. (frozen whole)
I also have the dried chili peppers (from the grocer).

I'm guessing it is the dry chili peppers would be best? The description 'small' just means to choose smaller ones?
 
Thanks Katie.... I'sa'ppreshatates!!

do have a question thou on chili peppers,

I have some little red (& green) Thai peppers. (frozen whole)
I also have the dried chili peppers (from the grocer).

I'm guessing it is the dry chili peppers would be best? The description 'small' just means to choose smaller ones?


Yes, "just small." All the peppers do is to add another perky flavor dimension. You don't want them to overpower the pickles as a whole.

My brother actively hates any kind of pepper, but he puts them in the pickled tomatoes anyway.
 
I pickled a bunch of green tomatoes today - all those determinate tomatoes that I grew, harvested all of the tomatoes from, and pulled the plants out, and a bunch of the tiger tomatoes I picked green. I ended up with 4½ qts of green tomatoes, after cutting them all up! Originally, I was going to make more pints, but since I had so much, I used 4 qts., and one pint jar. I packed the jars, to see how much I would get, checked one, to see how much liquid it would need (just under 2 c/qt jar) then emptied the jars, cleaned them out, and sterilized them in the MW.

The brine for the recipe I settled on was just 1 c each water and white vinegar, plus 1 tb kosher salt, per quart jar, so I had 4½ of each. The seasonings I measured out into spice cups, and here is what I had, per quart:

1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp black mustard seed
1 tsp Szechwan peppercorns
3/4 tsp Indian coriander seeds
3/4 tsp crushed Thai peppers
1 large bay leaf
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp calcium chloride (not sure if this makes these crispy, but I always use it for cukes)

I just dumped these into each jar, then packed the tomatoes in them, poured the hot brine into the jars, "debubbled" them with a chopstick (there were a lot of bubbles in these!), then filled again to 1/4" from top, wiped the rims, and put the warmed lids on. The quarts I processed in the boiling water bath for 15 minutes, the pint I removed in 10 minutes.

They will sit at least 2 weeks, before first sample.
A bunch of green tomatoes, for pickling. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Green tomato pickles, ready to go into water bath. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pickled green tomatoes, after 15 minutes of processing. At least 2 weeks before tasting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
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Fond memories. Every Fall mom and dad would make gallons of pickles. There were more green tomatoes than anything else. I'd guess they were the cheapest. Big gallon jars also contained carrots, green pepper and the most popular, cauliflower. The jars were sealed and packed away in the cellar to pickle until we opened the first bottle just before Thanksgiving. I think that day was more eagerly anticipated than Christmas morning.
 

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