Green Chow-Chow Relish Recipe
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 word “relish” hails from the word “reles” meaning “something remaining” in Traditional French, which surely complements this kind of course. Regardless of where chow chow has come from, at least one thing is for sure: it has been in the Southern U.S. for more than 200 years.
Ingredients for chow chow:
nine lbs of green tomatoes
6 lbs . of yellow or white onions, peeled and finely diced
6 cups of water
1 cup of salt
four cups of white wine vinegar
4 tbsps of pickling seasonings
2 1/2 pounds light brown sugar
2 1/2 lbs . white sugar
1/2 cup of cornstarch
one teaspoon turmeric
two teaspoons of dry mustard
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced
Instructions:
Place all the green tomatoes and onions into a generous bowl and add 4 cups of the water coupled with all of the salt. Permit the mixture to sit over evening (or perhaps eight hours, even though twelve hours is preferable), covered up while in the family 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 another bowl, stir the cornstarch, mustard and tumeric and sprinkle into the pot. Add in the diced red bell pepper and garlic cloves and simmer for an additional 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until thick. Let cool to room temperature and then store the relish in air tight containers up to six months in the fridge.
Want to find out more about soul food then visit pickled okra or hush puppies recipes.