Green Tomato Relish

Middle Tennessee has been extremely hot lately.  On top of the heat, we have had no rain.  If you combine high heat and no rain you get a tomato crop that is going south quick!   I watered my plants but continued to get lack-luster results.  The vines were beginning to die so the inevitable happened on Saturday....I pulled the green tomatoes from the vine....about two gallons of tomatoes and everything else was tidied up and readied for fall plantings.  However, what was I going to do with two gallons of green tomatoes? 

I remembered a recipe that Momma had tucked in the green box.  She called the recipe "Green Tomato Relish."  I think the recipe was similar to one she had tried at a local restaurant.  This was not an old recipe, but one that she had copied down in the last few years.  I am pretty sure that she never had the opportunity to make this relish.  She would have liked it.

So here is the recipe....when you decide to cook beans and greens this winter...you will want this!

Green Tomato Pickle Relish

1 gallon green tomatoes

6 onions ( I used Vidalia Onions)

3 green peppers ( I used red pepper and the color difference is great)

Chop the tomatoes, onions and peppers in chunks.  Place ingredients in a large plastic bowl and pour 1/2 cup of salt over vegetables.  Mix well, cover and let set overnight.

The next morning, rinse the salt off (1 time only) and set aside.

In a large dutch oven ( I think 8 quart) mix the following:

3 cups vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon of celery seed

1 tablespoon of mustard seed

2 tablespoons of pickling spice (tie in cheese cloth and drop in liquid)

Bring ingredients to boil and add the tomatoe mixutre.  Cook until crisp tender.  I was able to get 8 pints of relish.

The other gallon of green tomatoes are being readied for a Green Tomatoe Cake with Brown Butter Icing.   Looks like a great cake to take to the mountains this weekend.