Small Batch Chow Chow

What a great recipe to make with those pintos! Start both recipes from scratch and they’ll be ready to serve together. What do you do when the garden begins to slow down? You throw a collections of vegetables together and make Chow Chow! I just didn’t have enough green tomatoes to follow my cousin Margaret Costa’s recipe. So I pulled together what I had in my garden to fill in. And because I wanted it today I changed the process a bit.

What you can do with Chow Chow is endless. Mix in with rice, add to deviled eggs or chicken salad, serve over meats, beans, black eyed peas, potatoes; or the way I like it …. over scrambled eggs. Just about anything!

Recipe

2 to 2 1/2 Cups chopped fine green tomatoes (I used red tomatoes too but seeded them first. Be sure to chop the reds fine to avoid big pieces of peel. This is not an issue with green tomatoes.)
1 Cup finely chopped sweet yellow or red onion
1/2 Cup green or red bell pepper or both finely chopped (Here’s where you can get creative. Margaret’s recipe only has green tomatoes and onion. I had bell pepper about to go to waste. Peeled and seeded cucumbers can be used too. I also have serano peppers in my yard. Yep, I added one seeded and diced.)
2 Teaspoons of salt (essential)

Mix all the above and just cover with boiling water. Set aside for an hour.

Mix the following in a saucepan in the meantime.

1 Cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 Cup sugar
3/4 Teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 Teaspoon celery seed
3/4 Teaspoon turmeric
1 Tablespoon pickling spices-in a tea strainer or herb bag to avoid big pieces of spice in the final product
1/4 Teaspoon ground pepper

Drain the vegetables and rinse well before adding to the mixture in the saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the liquid is thick and pretty well gone, 2-3 hours. It’s done. Yields about 1 pint.