Green Tomato Relish – aka country ketchup
Every couple of years, at the end of the vegetable growing season, the ladies in our family have a tradition of banding together over a weekend to laugh, talk, listen to music & dance a little, even share a few adult beverages and – oh yeah, MAKE & CAN our family-favorite, Green Tomato Relish. The entire process takes 2-days to complete. It is a multi-generational experience and canning ritual that many southern cooks, like my granmama, employed through the years to make good use of the end-of-the-season vegetables. Waste not- want not!
Over the decades, technology and advances in kitchen equipment and accessories have made it a lot easier to make the Green Tomato Relish. Instead of using a small, manual, hand-cranked grinder mounted to a tabletop, we now use several electric food processors to chop up all the different vegetables used in the recipe. The last time we made the relish together, we took an iPhone video of 4 of our ladies pulsing their 4 separate food processors together in a rhythmic sort of symphony to try and achieve the same gauge thickness on all of the chopped vegetable ingredients.
Unfortunately, there is just no short-cut on the number of days it takes to make the Green Tomato Relish. You simply can not rush the process and here is why….
Day 1: Is used to chop up all the vegetables including; 90% green & 10% red tomatoes, cabbage, apples, celery, onions, green & red peppers etc.. Then the chopped vegetables are all mixed together well in large containers before being scooped into several large cloth sacks. The sacks are then securely tied-up to hang and drain-off all the excess liquids overnight for 12-18 hours.
Day 2: The actual process of making the pickling brine and boiling it together with the chopped vegetables occurs. Then the Green Tomato Relish is packed firmly into sterilized glass jars and completely sealed. After the canning process is completed, we invite the rest of the family members to join us for a small traditional meal celebration serving the fresh Green Tomato Relish typically with homemade navy bean soup and/or sausage and biscuits; both excellent southern comfort foods.
Our Green Tomato Relish is the essential southern condiment that can be used in a variety of different ways to add country flavor to many favorite dishes including; deviled eggs, potato salads, macaroni salads, tuna or ham salads, as hotdog or hamburger toppings, and slathered on grilled cheese or other popular sandwiches. The possibilities for using Green Tomato Relish are only limited by your imagination. As my granmama would say…
WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?
Green Tomato Relish (aka Country Ketchup)
Equipment
- Food processor/s
- Knives
- Cutting Board/s
- Large Stockpot
- 4 Dozen Canning Jars, and Lids with Seals
- Tongs, Spatulas, Spoons, Scoops
- Measuring Cups, Measuring Spoons
- Kitchen Funnel
- Large Cloth Sacks and Rope
- Reusable Cloth Drawstring Bouquet Garni Bags
- 4 (5-Gallon) Buckets
Ingredients
Fresh Vegetable Ingredients/for 4 Large Batches
- 70 Pounds Green Tomatoes (End-of-the-Season Harvest)
- 6 pounds Granny Smith Apples (or other Variety of Tart Apple)
- 2 bunches Celery
- 4 whole Red Peppers
- 4 whole Green Peppers
- 3 pounds Yellow Onions
- 2.5 Heads Cabbages (large)
- 1 cup salt
Seasoned Brine Ingredients for Each Batch of Green Tomato Relish:
- 10.5 cups White Vinegar
- 4 cups White Granualated Sugar
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 3-5 tablespoons Pickling Spices (in the Spices Aisle at your Supermarket)
- 1 teaspoon Tumeric (Adds Rich Coloring)
Instructions
First Day – Fresh Vegetable Preparation
- Wash and sort all the vegetables, discarding any bad or marginal vegetables.
- Quarter or cut all the vegetables just small enough to fit into the chute of the food processors
- Using the Food Processor/s, coarsely chop all the mixed vegetables to the desired consistency of the final canned relish product. If using multiple processors; try pulsing them in unison for 4-6 second intervals. It sounds odd, but it strangely works well and is a lot of fun. (for proof, watch our family video)
- Mix all the ingredients together very well in 3 large food tubs. Make sure to have an equal representation of all the fresh vegetable ingredients in each of the tubs.
- Using a large scoop or measuring cup, place the coarsely chopped vegetables into 4 large cheesecloth bags or clean pillowcases work just as well.
- Tie each cloth bag with rope and hang the bags to drain off the excess vegetable liquids out overnight. We have always used sawhorses in the garage or basement to do this. Be sure to place buckets underneath each bag to catch the excess liquid. You will be surprised how much liquid is actually released. You may even have to empty the drainage buckets one or two times.
- Allow the bags to hang for 12-18 hours.
Second Day – Cooking & Canning Process (Must be repeated 4 times to yield 4 Batches)
Cooking Procedure
- In a large covered stockpot, bring the seasoned brine ingredients for 1 batch to a rolling boil. Remove the lid and allow the brine to continue cooking for 10 more minutes (watch the clock closely).
- Carefully add 32 measured cups of the chopped mixed vegetables to the tall stockpot and bring to a boil again.
- Add the one teaspoon of tumeric for color now.
- Continue to cook on high for 30 more minutes, stirring frequently
Canning Procedure (Prepare 17 Jars, Sealed Lids, and Rims for Each Batch)
- Clean Ball Jars and Rims in the Dishwasher. This will bring them up to the proper temperature for canning. Tip: Place rims together in a mesh laundry bag for easy gathering.
- Keep all the jars and rims warm in the dishwasher with the door closed until needed.
- Simultaneously boil water in a saucepan and remove from heat. Add the lids to indirectly warm them.
- Spoon the relish packing it tightly into jars using a funnel. Leave a little head space at the top of each jar. Place the lid with seal and rim on top. Then screw the jar closed. Obviously the jars will be very hot, so best to handle them with tongs or a clean dishtowel while doing this.
- Place the finished jars of Green Tomato Relish in a cool spot (usually on the floor lined with old newspapers or towels) and listen for the distinctive "ping" sound. This indicates that the lids have sealed properly.
Awww… love these wonderful memories you are so eloquently putting down for everyone to read. And Abby is so little, time is flying so quickly.