Chow Chow Relish

My fathers parents were farmers. Actually dirt poor farmers from the foot hills of the Ozark mountains in Missouri during the 1930's and 40's. Nothing went to waste on the farm, and like most rural Americans of this era, preserving a large portion of your crop meant that you canned and pickled a wide variety of vegetables to store for the winter time. So at the end of the growing season (both summer of fall), any tomatoes left in the garden that were not ripe were processed into 'Chow Chow' or green tomato relish. Just about every family had their own unique take on the recipe, and even my grandmothers would change from season to season depending on the number and type vegetables that were left in the garden. Her recipe was kept in her head and she kinda winged it, but over the years I have come up with a recipe that I use as a basis for my 'Chow Chow.' My recipe doesn't have cabbage or carrots in it but sometimes grandma's did as the original the idea of chow-chow was to use up all the things in the garden that weren’t ripe by the end of the season.

Anyway, here is my all-purpose chow chow recipe, add any vegetables you wish or even omit some if you want to create your own masterpiece. This recipe is a great substitute for sweet pickle relish and is great on hotdogs, and bratwurst, or as a condiment for sandwiches. It's use is only limited by your imagination. Once processed this relish can be eaten right away, but for the best flavor I think it needs to sit at least for a few weeks before eating. Sometime however, you just cannot wait.

Green Tomato Chow-chow

2 quarts green tomatoes, minced (about 5-6 lbs.)
3 onions, large

4 green bell peppers
1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper
1 to 3 jalapeno peppers (optional)
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons turmeric

Make sure you have about a dozen or so clean pint jars that are ready to be sterilized for the canning process. If you haven't cleaned yours jars, then do so before you get started. At this point they do not have to be sterile, just clean. We will sterilize them later.

Fill your water bath canner about ¾ full with water and put on the stove and set it on high. You want to do this first so that you are not waiting 30 to 45 minutes or longer for your water to boil (depending on your stove) after you have finished processing your vegetables. If you do this step first, your canner should be ready just about the time you are ready to process your chow chow.

Wash the tomatoes, core and cut out any bad spots and cut into halves or quarters depending on the size of the tomatoes you are using. Process the tomatoes in small batches ( 2 to 3 cups) in your food processor by using the pulse button until the are reduced to a small mince (like you would see in pickle relish). Wash, cut and removed the seeds and membranes of the bell peppers the same way. If you are adding the optional jalapeno or banana peppers for hot relish, just cut off the tops after washing and process them whole.

Once you have your vegetables ready, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric and mustard seed in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil reduce the heat to simmer then add your minced vegetables and allow the chow chow to simmer for 15 minutes while your are sterilizing your canning jars.

Take a small saucepan and fill with water and set it on high and heat it just until it starts to boil. Turn off the heat and add your rings and lids.

At this point your water bath canner should be simmering or even possibly boiling which is a good thing because before we process our chow chow, we are going to use the water bath canner to sterilize our pint canning jars. Using your jar tongs place no more than 3 pint jars in your water bath canner at a time and leave for 30 seconds to sterilize the jars then drain and remove to a rack to cool. If you do not have a metal rack, a bath towel folded in half to protect the counter will work, however be careful not to knock the jars onto the floor.

Once your jars are ready and your chow chow has cooked for 15 minutes, take your canning funnel and fill the jars leaving a ½ inch of headspace. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp paper towel and remove a lid and ring from the hot water and place onto the jar and screw the ring hand tight. Then using your jar tongs place the jar into the water bath cannner. Repeat this process until your water bath canner is full or you run out of chow chow. Once all the jars are in the water bath canner, make sure the jars are covered by 3 to 4 inches of boiling water, then cover the canner to maintain the heat and process for the required time.

If you have more chow chow than you have space in your water bath canner, only fill enough jars to fill your canner. Once you have finished processing the first batch, then fill any additional jars and follow the same procedure you did to process your first batch.

Processing Time:

Pints 20 - 25 minutes in a water bath canner.

Quarts 30 to 35 minutes in a water bath canner.

Remember, any time you are canning in a water bath canner, the processing time does not start until the water bath canner is boiling. To ensure food safety and proper processing, I will repeat you do not start counting your processing time until the water is boiling after adding your canned goods. It is also important that you make sure that your canner continues to boil during the entire process. If it stops boiling, bring it back to a boil and start the processing time from the begining (ie. a full 20 to 35 minutes depending on your jar size)