Anna’s Hot-Stuff Sauce from Great Northern Railroad

So you think I’m a bit of a fraud by passing off “cheap” (translation: inexpensive) dishes as gourmet. It is not price alone that determines what is gourmet. Availability is also a factor. The scarcer something is the higher the price. You just try, Max, to buy my gourmet carrots appetizers in any grocery store. If they were there, they would cost a pretty penny, believe me.

Anna’s Hot-Stuff Sauce is another recipe that falls in that same category. Basic ingredients and it uses up those last green tomatoes from the garden, but again try and find something like this in a store.

This recipe comes from the heyday of passenger travel on the railroad. It was served as an appetizer, dips not being in fashion at the time, and as a side dish with sandwiches and salads. It would certainly have been a fall specialty because finding green tomatoes in winter, spring and even early summer was impossible. The Great Northern Railroad chefs would have made this fresh daily in green tomato season, but we can save it as a relish and enjoy it all year.

Anna’s Hot-Stuff Sauce from Great Northern Railroad:

8 cups green tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Canning Salt
1 stalk celery
3 large white onions
1 ½ green peppers
1 ¼ cups cider vinegar
½ cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 ½ red, hot cayenne peppers

In 3-Cup Chef’s Chopper, chop the tomatoes fine. In large bowl stir the salt into the tomatoes and let stand 20 minutes. Meanwhile chop the onions, the green peppers and the celery. After 20 minutes add the onions and peppers to the tomatoes. Stir well.

Using a large, fine sieve, or a cloth bag, squeeze the vegetables very dry, while saving all the liquid in a large sauce pan. Add the vinegar, water and brown sugar to the liquid and bring to a boil. Keep at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Then add the dry pulp vegetables. Continue cooking for 10 minutes at a rolling boil. At the end of the 10 minutes stir in the cayenne peppers which have been diced. Remove from the heat and pour into hot, sterilized pint or half pint canning jars. Seal.

This makes 6 pints.