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| DISCLAIMER: Seeing as I'm having a puny day, I didn't actually photograph my jars, but found a picture online that looks like mine. |
The purpose of chow-chow is to use up all your vegetables in the garden before the first frost. It is basically a relish, and can be made of whatever raw or unripe leftovers you have. You can make it hot and spicy, or you can make it sweet, or vinegary. I've seen recipes use green beans, cauliflower, broccoli...you name it. Below is the recipe I used.
Ingredients:
Onion (I used 1 red and 2 yellow, though my base recipe called for 10 green onions)
Green peppers (which I also had some orange peppers I used as well)
1 cabbage
1/2 c canning salt
1 T celery seed
1 1/2 tsp tumeric
2 T mustard seed
6 c sugar
4 c vinegar
Green tomatoes
Chop or shred all your vegetables, and mix with canning salt. Let stand overnight. Rinse and drain well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Heat until it boils, stirring occasionally. Put in jars. Seal. Place in canning bath for 10-15 minutes (once boiling).
I did discover after I was finished that many people use pickling spices in place of the seeds and tumeric. That might have been the cheaper way to go (although I already had the celery seed on hand). I sampled little while I was jarring it, and was pleased with how it tasted. Reminded me of what the ladies in the Cordova church used to make, and was a small reminder of my childhood. My family ate relish with peas (black-eyes or pink-eyed purple hulls), though I've seen people ate church gatherings eat it with collards, or cornbread, or even meatloaf. I suppose like any food, it's all in how you like it.
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