Farmgirls Green Tomato Relish Recipes

GREEN TOMATO RELISH (WITHOUT SUGAR)

Steps:

• Make Relish: Remove stem and core from green tomatoes and roughly chop into ½ inch or 1 inch pieces. Add to a large pot with heat turned off while you prepare rest of ingredients.
• Peel, roughly chop and add onions to pot. Remove stem and seeds from red bell peppers and roughly chop as well. Remove core from apples, discard, and roughly chop (including peel). Mince garlic and add to pot along with onions, red bell peppers, and apples.
• Add apple cider vinegar and salt to pot and set over high heat. When vinegar comes to a boil turn down to low and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes while stirring occasionally.
• While relish is simmering finely chop jalapenos (only remove/discard seeds for half of them), chop cilantro, and set aside. I highly recommend wearing latex or rubber gloves while chopping the jalapenos otherwise your hands could sting for a few hours...I know this from experience!
• To Can Recipe: Fill canning pot three-quarters full with water, cover, and set over high heat until it comes to a boil. You can either sterilize your jars in this pot of boiling water for 10 minutes or by using the heated drying cycle in your dishwasher. It's important to keep the jars hot and sterilized until ready for use. Be sure all canning utensils have been sterilized in hot soapy water as well. Also fill a small pot with water to sterilized lids and bands. Water for lids/bands should be hot at about 180 degrees F, but not boiling. Leave them in hot water (on simmer) until ready for use. If water gets cold remove lids/bands and heat up water to 180 degrees F again before adding them back in.
• After the 1 hour and 15 minutes is up the relish should have boiled down a bit. Add the jalapenos, cilantro and cumin to pot and simmer for 5 more minutes.
• Use either an immersion blender or potato masher to process the mixture into a small dice, but not a puree. I highly recommending owning an immersion blender if you don't have one already...it's perfect for pureeing soups and other recipes like this relish without having transfer batches back and forth between a blender, which makes a mess!
• To Freeze Recipe: At this point divvy up relish among freezer safe containers and once cool transfer to freezer. If using glass jars be sure to leave enough room at the top for the relish to expand during freezing. You can skip the last two steps.
• To Fill Jars for Canning: Turn relish back up to a boil. Remove jars from hot water, shake out excess water, and set near pot. Using a sterilized ladle and funnel, fill the jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace at the top. Slide a non-metallic utensil into jar to remove any air bubbles. Wipe off rim of jar with a clean cloth. Using sterilized tongs (or magnetic lid lifter) carefully place lids onto filled jars. You can touch top of lids once they are on jar, but do not touch underneath or on inside of jar to keep everything sterilized. Screw on bands by only touching the outside, although bands should not be too tight.
• To Process Jars: Bring water in canning pot back up to a boil. Using jar lifter carefully transfer jars to canning pot. Jars should not directly be touching the bottom of the pot and instead be separated either by a canning rack or simple dish towel. Once water comes back to a boil start timing from that moment and process jars for 15 minutes. After time is up using jar lifter carefully remove jars from boiling water and transfer them to a clean dish towel. Let jars rest until they cool. If jar lids haven't already popped/sealed you should hear the sound...and if a jar doesn't seal within 24 hours transfer it to fridge and eat within 3 - 4 weeks.

FARMGIRL'S GREEN TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• Combine the tomatoes, onions, peppers, apples, garlic, vinegar, and salt in a large,nonreactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about an hour.
• Stir in the jalapenos, cilantro, and cumin and simmer for 5 more minutes. Carefully puree the mixture using a stick blender or in a traditional countertop blender (in batches if necessary) until still somewhat chunky.
• If canning, return the pureed relish to a boil, then ladle the hot mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Store in a cool, dark place.

GREEN TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• In a grinder or food processor, coarsely grind tomatoes, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and onions. (You may need to do this in batches.) Line a large colander with cheesecloth, place in sink or in a large bowl, and pour in tomato mixture to drain for 1 hour.
• In a large, non-aluminum stockpot, combine tomato mixture, celery seed, mustard seed, salt, sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Sterilize enough jars and lids to hold relish (12 one-pint jars, or 6 one-quart jars). Pack relish into sterilized jars, making sure there are no spaces or air pockets. Fill jars all the way to top. Screw on lids.
• Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with boiling water. Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.
• Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Relish can be stored for up to a year.

GREEN TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• Wash tomatoes well and cut out the stem scar. Cut tomatoes into large pieces and set aside.
• Chop the bell peppers, onions, and jalapeno into large pieces.
• Place all the vegetables in a food processor, and process until the mixture has the consistency of a relish. Be careful not to over process - you don't want the mixture to turn into mush.
• Soak the vegetables: place the vegetables in a large stainless steel pot or plastic bowl and combine with the half cup of canning salt, mixing well so that the salt dissolves. Add enough water to cover the vegetables, and mix again. Cover the bowl, and let it sit on the counter overnight or for at least 8 hours.
• The next morning, line a counter with lots of paper towels - I usually use 5 layers. You are going to be placing the drained vegetables on these paper towels, so make sure you cover a fairly large space; at least 2 feet by 1 1/2 feet.
• Drain the tomato/onion/pepper mixture and rinse with cold water. Drain well, and then with your hands, which you have just washed in hot water with soap, squeeze the remaining moisture out of the vegetables. You will see that a lot of water still comes out. Place the drained and squeezed vegetables on the paper towels.
• Make a spice bag out of a quadruple layer of cheesecloth, and tie all the spices up in it.
• In a non-reactive pan (i.e., one not made of aluminum) large enough to comfortably hold all the vegetables, combine the vinegar and sugar. Add the spice bag and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, then add the drained vegetable mixture.
• Bring the relish to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
• Remove the spice bag and ladle the relish into canning jars, leaving 1/2" headspace. Use a chopstick or other thin, non-metal utensil to run around the sides of the jar to make sure there are no air bubbles left in the jar. Wipe the rims of the jars with damp paper towels to remove any relish which got on the rims or the threads. Place the lids and the bands on the jars, just tightening the bands fingertip tight.
• Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, then remove and let sit, undisturbed, for at least 12 hours before checking seals. It is important to let them sit undisturbed for 12 hours because the sealing compound on the lids is still cooling and hardening, completing the seal. While the jars cool, you will hear a "plink" type sound from each jar - this is the jars completing the vacuum seal as the final air escapes the jar. After 12 hours have passed, remove the bands and check the lids - press down in the center of the lid. If you cannot push the lid down any further, the jar is sealed. If the lid "gives" a bit, and you can push it down, the jar did not seal. You can either put the band back on the jar, and reprocess it for another 10 minutes, or you can just put it in the fridge and use it within 3 months.
• The relish should sit for at least a month before you use it, so the flavors can combine and improve.