Maritime Canadian Green Tomato Chow Chow Recipe Easy

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This green tomato relish is excellent as a condiment for meats, on hamburgers, and even as an appetizer with crackers. Passed down through generations, my family's favorite chow chow recipe is a fantastic way to preserve end of the season green tomatoes.

If you have an abundance of unripe tomatoes, try these fried green tomatoes, too!

Homemade chow chow recipe for canning

So many people pull their tomato plants at the end of the season, tossing the green tomatoes into the compost pile, right along with the rest of the plant. Staaaahhp! If there are still lots of green tomatoes on the vine as the first frost approaches, harvest those tomatoes! It's time to make this vintage green tomato relish!

This was one of my mom's go-to recipes during the summertime canning season. Since it utilizes those end-of-season green tomatoes, I'm sure it appealed to her frugal nature.

There's a bit of sentimentality for me in making this, as I remember helping to turn the crank on the hand grinder! These days I use a food processor to make the process a bit shorter, but a hand grinder is still a perfectly viable method.

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Ingredients: What is chow chow made of?

The recipe that I grew up with consists of green tomatoes, onions, sweet bell peppers, hot peppers, vinegar, and seasonings. Other chow chow recipes can include ingredients like cabbage, zucchini, carrots, or cauliflower. Each family seems to have their own favorite recipe, but this is mine!

Green tomatoes – At the end of the season, be sure to harvest the unripe green tomatoes left on the vine. Choose fruit that is unblemished and still very green. Adding a few that are just starting to blush is okay, but the bulk of the tomatoes should be green.

Sweet bell peppers – Choose large green bell peppers and remove the seeds and stem.

Hot peppers – I use jalapeno peppers most of the time, as these are readily available. If you're growing a different variety of hot peppers, by all means, use those.

Onions – Use yellow, red, or white onions, whichever you prefer.

Salt – Use sea salt or another non-iodized salt for this canning recipe.

Vinegar – Apple cider vinegar is the best choice for this recipe, flavor-wise. If you prefer, you can substitute white vinegar, but be mindful of this.

Sugar – Use granulated sugar for this recipe. I prefer to use an organic cane sugar to avoid genetically modified ingredients, but your favorite brand will be just fine.

Preparing the vegetables

This part of the recipe is done a day before you plan to make and can the chow chow recipe so plan ahead! The chopped and salted vegetables need to sit in the fridge overnight to draw out the moisture.

Cut vegetables in large chunks, then transfer to a food processor or old-fashioned grinder.

As I mentioned, I use a food processor to make quick work of the chopping. Use the metal blade with a pulsing technique to chop the vegetables into pieces that are about 1/8″ – 1/4″ across.

Work in batches, transferring chopped veggies to a very large bowl or stock pot. Once the tomatoes, onions, and two kinds of peppers are chopped, use your hands to toss them with the salt.

If you feel any over-large pieces of vegetable, now's your chance to pull them out and chop them smaller.

Transfer the mixture to the refrigerator and allow to sit for 8 hours or overnight, then drain off any liquid. I do this by placing a colander over a stock pot to catch the juices.

This recipe makes a large batch and you'll end up with about two colanders full of drained vegetables. If you feel like that's more than you need, feel free to halve the recipe.

Safety First!

Canning is an excellent way to preserve food for the pantry, but there are some important safety considerations to keep in mind.

• Know the difference between water bath canning and pressure canning. Low acid items must be pressure canned for safety.
• Altering ingredients may change the recipe's pH, posing a safety issue. I highly recommend investing in pH paper to test your products for acidity level when canning. Note: The Hawaii Master Food Preservers suggest a pH of 4.2 or lower in the tropics. In other regions, the recommended pH is 4.6 or lower.
• Use the proper jars and lids. Never reuse lids, with the exception of the Tattler lids that are intended for such a purpose.
• For more on canning equipment, please go here.
• The recipes on this site have been made following safe canning procedures by a certified Master Food Preserver.

Canning chow chow for the pantry

This recipe is a "hot pack" canning recipe, which means you'll need to bring the chopped and drained vegetables along with the remaining ingredients to boiling before transferring to canning jars.

I have a canning funnel for this purpose, that makes it easier to transfer the chow chow into the jars without a lot of mess. Fill as many jars as you can fit in your canner at once. If you have more chow chow, keep it warm until you're ready to process a second batch.

Use a damp cloth to wipe the rim of each jar; a little bit of food on the jar rim can prevent the lids from sealing properly. Set the lids in place and screw the bands on firmly tight (but not too tight). Use a jar lifter to transfer jars into the gently boiling water. The water in the pot should cover the jars by about an inch. If necessary add more water to the canner.

Hot tip: Boil some extra water in a saucepan or electric kettle as you're working. If you need to top off the water in the canner, you won't cool down the water too much.

Process jars for the recommended time. (See below.) When time is up, use the jar lifter to transfer jars to a flat surface that's padded with a kitchen towel. Allow jars to cool completely. As they cool, you'll begin to hear a canner's favorite sound: That lovely littletink! that indicates a successful seal.

Once the jars of chow chow are thoroughly cooled, check the seal on all of the jars. The lid should be concave and solid. If it flexes at all, it's not sealed. (Place any jars of chow chow that didn't seal in the refrigerator and use them first. They are not shelf stable.)

Remove bands from cooled jars and rinse the jars. Store sealed jars without the bands.

Go here for more on canning tomatoes.

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Ingredients

• 12 pounds green tomatoes
• 8 large onions
• 10 green bell peppers
• 3 tablespoons sea salt
• 6 hot peppers (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 quart apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons dry mustard
• 1 3/4 cups sugar

Instructions

MAKING THE CHOW CHOW RECIPE

1. Cut tomatoes and hot peppers in quarters; bell peppers and onions in eighths. Transfer in batches to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until vegetables are chopped into small pieces. Transfer each batch into a very large bowl or stock pot.
2. Sprinkle with the salt onto the vegetables and mix well with your hands. (If you feel any large pieces, remove those from the mixture and chop smaller.)
3. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
4. Remove from the refrigerator and transfer vegetable mixture to a colander to drain off liquid.
5. Put drained vegetables into a large stock pot.
6. Stir in vinegar, mustard, and sugar. Bring to a slow boil; continue boiling -- stirring frequently -- until tender (about 15 minutes). The tomatoes and peppers will lose their bright green tinge, becoming less vibrant.

CANNING THE RELISH:

1. While the chow chow is cooking, fill a canning pot with water, set the lid in place, and heat on high heat until boiling.
2. Ladle hot relish into pint or half-pint jars, leaving 1/2" head space. A canning funnel makes this easy.
3. Wipe jar rims to remove any relish that may have spilled. A clean rim is essential to a good seal.
4. Set jar lids in place. Screw bands on finger tight, firmly, but don't crank the rings on.
5. Use a jar lifter to gently submerge jars into hot water in canning pot. Water should cover the top of the jars by two inches. The water will cool somewhat in reaction to the addition of the jars. Return the water to a simmer and set the timer.
6. Process for pint or half-pint jars for 10 minutes 0-1,000 feet altitude; 15 minutes over 1,001 to 6,000 feet, 20 minutes over 6,000 feet.
7. Allow jars to cool overnight.
8. Check for seal: the lids should feel solid and slightly indented. If they flex, they are not shelf stable and should be refrigerated and used first.
9. Wash the outside of the jars, remove rings, and store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.

Notes

This chow chow recipe makes about 16 pints -- a BIG batch. You can safely halve the recipe if that's more than you need.

The finished product tests at 3.5 pH.

**Adapted from the Ball Blue Book of Food Preserving.

**For more information about safe canning, contact your local cooperative extension office.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 128 Serving Size: 1/4 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 29 Total Fat: 0g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 0g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 6mg Carbohydrates: 6g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 5g Protein: 1g

About the author: Kris Bordessa founded Attainable Sustainable as a resource for revitalizing vintage skills. Her book, Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living (National Geographic) offers a collection of projects and recipes to help readers who are working their way to a more fulfilling DIY lifestyle. She's a certified Master Food Preserver and longtime gardener who loves to turn the harvest into pantry staples.

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Source: https://www.attainable-sustainable.net/save-those-green-tomatoes-make-a-batch-of-chow-chow/

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