GREEN TOMATO LILY PICKLE
Green tomatoes come up from the garden by the bucket-full down our way, this time of the year. Fried, sautéed, pickled, ripened slowly in brown paper bags, or made into sweet or savory relishes—they don’t get wasted. “Lily pickle”, also called piccalilli in other areas, is a relish of chopped vegetables and spices that evolved in 17th C England as an adaptation of Asian or Indian pickled condiments. This is a big batch Southern recipe from a wonderful old church cookbook—using the end of summer harvest before the first frost. Everything simmers away in the big pot until the vegetables are soft and glossy. Delicious on everything from hot dogs to cream cheese to roast game!
- 1 peck of green tomatoes—(1/4 bushel, 12-15 lbs, 30-45 tomatoes, about 20 cups cut up)—there will be a few starting to ripen, to add a little color
- 12 medium onions, a few thinly sliced, the rest roughly chopped
- 2 lbs brown sugar
- 3 lbs white sugar
- 1 cup mustard seed
- 1 ½ tblsp ground mustard
- 1 tblsp ground black pepper
- 1 tblsp celery seed, mashed
- 2 quarts white vinegar
- salt
Sprinkle enough salt over cut up vegetables so that when it’s mixed in, all the vegetables are coated. Let vegetables sit for at least 2 hours (some would say, overnight), then drain off as much liquid as possible. In a big pot, add the vinegar, sugars and spices—boil for about 10 minutes. Then add all the vegetables, mix well, and simmer for 2 hours—until the mixture thickens to a spoonable consistency and vegetables look shiny. Scoop into sterilized jars and process to seal https://www.ballmasonjars.com/water-bath-canning.html This recipe can easily be adjusted for smaller quantities and stored in covered jars in the fridge for several weeks.
The Kitchen Hive
