Saturday, September 26, 2009

Pickled Green Tomatoes

As summer rolls, okay rolled a few days ago, to a close, my garden is still sporting some green tomatoes. This always frustrates me, you can only eat so many fried ones. Once I do that, I am resigned to imagining the luscious fruit they could have been.

This year I decided to do an experiment. I adore pickled green tomatoes, but have a hard time plopping $8 down for a jar. They remind me of lunches with my grandparents. My grandma always stocked up on pickles when we flew to Florida for a visit, and the green tomatoes were always the first to get eaten.

I went with a basic kosher dill recipe. This is ridiculously easy. Salt water, dill, garlic and some spices are poured over the tomatoes, to top covered with a cloth, and left to ferment in a cool corner for a few days. After 5 days I felt they reached the perfect level of bubbly, pickle goodness. Now they are waiting in the fridge for a tuna sandwich lunch.


Pickled Green Tomatoes
1 large crock or jar
green tomatoes (not even a tiny bit red!), quartered
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons pickling spices
1 large handful of fresh dill, with seed head if possible
3 tablespoons kosher salt
4 cups of water, or enough to cover the tomatoes in the jar. If you need more then one additional cup of water, double the salt water mixture.

1. Heat water and salt until salt is disolved.
2. Pack jar with quartered green tomatoes. Add dill, garlic and pickling spices.
3. Pour salt water brine over tomatoes.
4. Cover jar opening with a cloth held on with a rubber band.
5. Store in a cool corner of the kitchen. Taste after 3-4 days. The liquid will be a little cloudy, and there will bubbles on the top. When the pickles taste good to YOU, put jar in the fridge. Eat within 2 weeks.

7 comments:

  1. I've never had these, but they sound delicious!

    By the way, I wrote a review of your barbeque suggestions, http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com/2009/09/farmer-jo-review-grilled-pizza-with.html

    Thanks again!

    Kelly
    http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com

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  2. I'll wager these are going to be delicious. I use some of my green tomatoes to make relish. They can also be used to make mincemeat. Have a great day.

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  3. The pickles are mouthwatering! Mary you have to try them!
    Thanks Kelly for writing up the pizza! I am impressed at any cooking done after 9pm, glad you liked it.

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  4. I've never tried these but they definitely sound delicious. I'll look for green tomatoes at the market tomorrow.

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  5. no vinegar in this one?

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  6. Nope, they are fermented in just the brine, like a kosher pickle.

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  7. An update! I have made 3 batches of these now and I think they are really great. Crispy and briny. In my last batch I added 2 jalapenos. They took longer to get fermenting, but are deliciously spicy!

    Let me know how your batch has turned out

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