Old-fashioned Soul Food Chow-Chow Relish

By Kathy Smith


This excellent chow-chow recipe is a favorite of mine. Chow-chow is a green tomato relish with a spicy mustard base and it is excellent on burgers, hot dogs, pork, sausages and even black eyed peas.

Chow-chow is usually created from diced green tomatoes, cabbage, onions, hot peppers, mustard seed, vinegar, and peppers. Other optional ingredients include celery, cucumbers, beans, or cauliflower. Chow-chow relish does not have a strict list of ingredients, so if you want, you can even add in radishes, corn, or red tomatoes if the sight of green tomatoes doesn't appeal to you.


The term "relish" is from the expression "reles" which means "something remaining" in old French, which makes sense with this kind of dish since the ingredients can be changed around so much. Regardless of where chow-chow originated, what is clear is that Southerners have been using it as a condiments for hundreds of years.


The following chow chow meal can make half dozen pints. List of ingredients:


nine lbs of green tomatoes
half-dozen lbs of yellow or white onions, peeled and finely diced
1 cup of salt
six cups of water
4 cups of white wine vinegar
4 tbsps of pickling seasonings
2 1/2 lbs . white sugar
two 1/2 pounds light brown sugar
1/2 cup of corn starch
two teaspoons of dry mustard
one teaspoon turmeric
one red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
four cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced


Directions:

Put your green tomatoes & onions in the largest non-reactive bowl you can find. 9 cups of tomatoes is a lot of tomatoes and the acid in the tomatoes might have an unfavorable reaction to some bowls. Add 4 cups of water and all of the salt. Allow the tomato, water and salt mixture to sit over night (eight hours, even though a dozen hours is best), covered up within the fridge.

Strain well in a colander and after that set the tomatoes and onions into a hefty pan together with white vinegar, two cups of water and pickling spice.


Bring to a boil on high temperature after which minimize temperature to low and simmer for a half hour. Add all the white and brown sugar and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.


In a smaller bowl, incorporate the corn starch, mustard as well as tumeric and slowly add it to the simmering cooking pot, being sure that it results in being well blended. Add in the diced red bell pepper and garlic and simmer for the next 1 1/2 to 2 hrs or until such time as thick. And lastly, spoon all the chow chow inside of tupperware within your fridge or in the freezer to be stored for up to six months.




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