Green Tomato Pickles

Some gardeners use the first tomatoes on the vines to make their recipes that require green tomatoes but I’m always so happy to get those first ripe tomatoes that I don’t “sacrifice” the green tomatoes til I’ve done everything I want to do with the ripe ones.

There’s a restaurant we used to visit and they had the best green tomato pickles.  I’ve tried several recipes and so far, have not come up with one that’s real close to the ones I like so much.

Yesterday I made 9 pints using a recipe that Susan gave me.  Susan got the recipe from another friend who got it from who knows where.  I tasted the tomatoes yesterday and they tasted real close to what I’m trying to achieve.

Here’s my version of Susan’s recipe:

Green Tomato Pickles

1 gallon green tomatoes, chopped
1/2 gallon onions, thickly sliced
3/4 cup pickling salt
1 quart jalapeno peppers, seeded and quartered or sliced
1 quart vinegar
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 T. pickling spice
Pickle Crisp

Directions:

1. Place the tomatoes and onions in a crock and sprinkle with the 1 cup of salt.  Cover and let sit at room temp for 6 to 8 hours (or overnight).  Drain the excess liquid but there’s no need to rinse unless you just want to get rid of some of the salt.
2. In a large non-reactive pot, add the vinegar, sugar and spice.  Bring to a boil.  Add the tomatoes, onions and peppers.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat so the mixture simmers and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Ladle into hot jars.  Add the recommended amount of Pickle Crisp to each jar.
5. Using the recommended safe canning methods, process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Based on the above ingredients, I ended up with 9 pints of pickles.  I’m really hoping I can pick enough green tomatoes to get a second batch before I lose all the plants to Jack Frost.