What would you do with seven pounds of green tomatoes?

Cafe Society
1

Today was the end of the lease on my old house. Due to a long series of events with our slumlord, we were essentially kicked out for pointing out very bad repair issues.

Well, someone who kicks me out of my home definitely doesn’t get the plum tomatoes I planted in the back garden. So despite them being all green, my last action there was to pick every single one. All seven pounds of them.

So, yay! The slumlord doesn’t get my tomatoes. But what do I do with the ones that don’t ripen? I’ve only ever used them ripe, so I’m not sure which of the online recipes is best to try.

2

Make salsa. Mmmmmmmmm salsa.

3

Fried green tomatoes, of course, but not seven pounds worth.

I haven’t made any myself, but I’m told pickled green tomatoes are wonderful, and were I in your shoes I’d do that and green tomato relish, based on whatever internet recipe had the best reviews and sounded most delicious in my head.

4

Make Fried Green Tomatoes for 7 days running, probably.

Okay, even I might get sick of FGT after day 4. Or 5.

So I’d make Green Tomato Relish from whatever’s left.

5

Here’s my go to at the end of the season. So good and so easy… I give several pints away as gifts and people think it’s the best sweet pickle relish they’ve ever tasted…

Green Tomato Relish
INGREDIENTS:
24 large green tomatoes
3 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
3 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
12 large onions
3 tablespoons celery seed
3 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon salt
5 cups white sugar
2 cups cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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).

6

Unless they’re super-immature, they’ll ripen on their own if you keep them long enough, so at that point, do whatever you’d do with 7 lbs of tomatoes.

I recommend running them through a passata maker or food mill, and freezing the resulting tomato sauce/pulp for use in pasta sauces, salsas and other stuff like that.

7

yes if they are along in growth they will ripen off the vine. you can speed up ripening by placing a few in a paper bag, apple or banana slices help. you can slow ripening by spreading them out in open air.

8

I made a bunch of green tomato pickles last year, and several batches of green pasta sauce.

9

You might want to see if someone else has other produce to swap.

10

Here’s a recipe on my old blog for green tomato pickles:

(The new blog is here, if you’re interested.)

11

Frying and pickling is what I’d do, and both have been mentioned.

12

Start writing a vehicle for Will Smith and Kathy Bates?

13

If you’re feeling adventurous you could try green tomato mincemeat. It sounds odd but I think it’s delicious. Pour it into a tart or pie shell, dot with a little butter, and bake. Lovely spicy and tangy taste. Plus others probably won’t guess what it is.