The day after Easter Sunday, many people find that they have a lot of leftover boiled and colored eggs from their family Easter Egg Hunts. For that reason, today seems like the perfect time to share our family recipe for Deviled (Dressed) Eggs. These are a staple at every family get-together. I will also share the cooking technique that works best for me, and how to effortlessly crack and remove the boiled egg shells.
3TablespoonsHomemade Green Tomato Relish (1½ounces)
Paprika (Sprinkle on top of the finished eggs)
Instructions
Boiling the Eggs:
Gently place 1 dozen large eggs in the bottom of a stock pot. Cover the eggs with cold water and add the apple cider vinegar and baking soda. Bring the water to a rolling boil.
Once the water is boiling, continue to cook the eggs for 8 minutes. (set a timer)
In a large mixing bowl, add the ice cubes and cold water to make an ice bath for the eggs. Using a kitchen spider tool, remove the warm boiled eggs from the stock pot and place them immediately in the ice bath.
Once sufficiently cooled, tap the large bottom of each egg on the countertop, then peel off and discard the shells.
Deviled (Dressed) Egg Recipe:
Slice each egg lengthwise and scoop out the center yolks into another mixing bowl.
To the mixing bowl, add the mayonnaise and mustard. Beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth.
Remove and scrape down the beaters using a spatula. Then add the homemade green tomato relish into the mixing bowl and thoroughly combine using a spoon. Find my family's recipe for the relish in my Green Tomato Relish (aka Country Ketchup) post.
Spoon the deviled egg mixture into a zip loc bag and make a small slit on the bottom corner seam to become a make-shift piping bag. Pipe the egg mixture into the egg white halves.
Sprinkle the tops of the deviled eggs with paprika for added color and spice.
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…
A Perkins Family Canning Tradition (Takes a Team to Make/Yields 4 Large Batches/68 pints)
Prep Time18 hourshrs
Cook Time6 hourshrs
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: green tomatoes, relish, green tomato relish, country relish, country ketchup
Servings: 68pints
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
70PoundsGreen Tomatoes(End-of-the-Season Harvest)
6 poundsGranny Smith Apples(or other Variety of Tart Apple)
2bunchesCelery
4 whole Red Peppers
4wholeGreen Peppers
3poundsYellow Onions
2.5HeadsCabbages (large)
1cupsalt
Seasoned Brine Ingredients for Each Batch of Green Tomato Relish:
10.5cups White Vinegar
4cupsWhite Granualated Sugar
1cupBrown Sugar
3-5tablespoonsPickling Spices(in the Spices Aisle at your Supermarket)
1 teaspoonTumeric(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.
Aerial View of the original Perkins Family Farm in Owenton, Kentucky showing the main farmhouse and barns.
Back in 1992, before the mainstream use of computers and the World Wide Web (www), I set out to create a very special Perkins Family Cookbook to preserve our family’s southern, country recipes and honor the memory of our beloved granmama, Anna Margaret Perkins.
Using a typewriter and a copier, I enlisted the help of everyone in the family that wanted to participate in its creation. I asked the young children to make drawings and artwork to use on the designated, chapter-title pages, and the adults to supply their favorite family recipes and/or stories about special times spent on the farm. I wanted the Cookbook to pay tribute to our granmama who was born in 1918 and passed away at age 63 in 1981. Our grandaddy, Stanley Perkins, survived her and was able to also contribute his thoughts to the Cookbook about the family and farm history. In March 1995, at age 81, he tragically passed away in a fire clearing brush off the beloved family farmland. We truly miss his unique wit and personality.
I titled the Cookbook, WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED? because granmama often said those 5 sweet, simple words each mealtime to anyone gathered at her table, which was always filled with food, friendship, humor, and love. That year (1992) the cookbook project was a labor of love. In December, I gave the family cookbooks out as Christmas presents to everyone, including grandaddy. To this day, the memory of that Christmas and the Perkins Family Cookbook is a beautiful reminder of our strong family history, ties, and values.
For years, I have wanted to update the Cookbook, not just because my working copy is completely falling apart from its frequent usage, but because I wanted a way to easily continue sharing our family heritage, memories, recipes, and traditions with all the newer additions to our family; the Millennials and Gen Zers.
I finally decided the best way for me to update and modernize the Cookbook was to ultimately recreate it in a digital form as a new food and travel blog. This would enable me to preserve and pass-on our family recipes (new/old) and provide easy access to share them with everyone (family/friends) on an internet platform; both cutting costs and eliminating paper waste. Additionally, I wanted an opportunity to share my passionate “foodie” side and knowledge with others; including market and restaurant recommendations, global food trends, food merchandising ideas, and personal travel tips and adventures.
2019’s Annual, Fall Perkins Family and Friends Reunion hosted by Aunt Lynn and Uncle Gary Bishop
So…for my first blog article and recipe, I wanted to share with you one of my all-time favorite, comfort meals that Granmama would make…her delicious Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup. I hope you make the recipe and share the soup with your family and friends. When they gather around the table to enjoy the meal, please do me a very special favor and genuinely ask them…
This is a generation-tested recipe handed down from my Granmama Perkins
Prep Time2 daysd
Cook Time5 hourshrs
Total Time2 daysd5 hourshrs
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10
Equipment
8 – 10 Qt Stock Pot and Lid
Cutting Board
Knife
Can Opener
Strainer
Vegetable Peeler
Ingredients
2-3poundsBeef Short Ribs
14.5ozcan of Swanson Beef Broth
28 ozcan of Red Gold Whole Peeled Tomatoes
2stalksCelerydiced into small chunks
3-4Potatoespeeled and diced into small chunks
3-4Carrotspeeled and diced into small chunks
1mediumSweet Yellow Onionpeeled and diced finely
14.5ozcan of Del Monte Whole Kernel Corn, Peas, or Green Beans(optional-choose one/drain off liquid)
Instructions
Day One:
In a large stock pot, cover the short ribs with water. Bring to a boil. Then simmer over low heat for 3 hours. Add water, if necessary, while cooking, to keep the ribs covered.
While still warm, remove the short rib meat from the bones and cut into bite-size pieces. Place the meat in a separate bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Put a lid on the stockpot liquid/broth and refrigerate overnight as well.
Day Two:
Pull the stock pot from the refrigerator and take off the lid. Remove the exposed top, white, fatty layer from the broth with a large spoon and discard.
Bring the broth in the stock pot to a boil again and add one can of beef broth for additional flavor.
Dice the fresh celery, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Cut-up the canned whole tomatoes, reserving all the liquid.
Next add the diced fresh vegetables, cut-up tomatoes with liquid, and, bite-sized short ribs to the soup broth and continue to simmer for 1 more hour. Add additional water (if needed) to keep the vegetables and beef covered.
Drain the optional canned vegetable (of your choice) and add to the soup to warm. Soup will be ready to serve in 15 minutes.
Special Notes:
I do not add salt or pepper to the soup while cooking. I prefer to allow each person the ability to season for themselves. Personally, I prefer to add the Mrs. Dash (salt-free) Table Blend seasoning.
I also recommend serving the soup with hearty Oyster Crackers (they tend to hold up longer in the soup).
This soup reheats well and even tastes better on the second day.
Additionally, the soup freezes well in air-tight containers.
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