Sliced Green Tomato Pickles

Leave it to you elegant Erma, to have a gourmet recipe that really is cheap, cheap, cheap. And you would pass it off as “gourmet.”

Well, my Sliced Green Tomato Pickles are sort of in the same category. Today they are so different that people think they are special when the truth is that this old recipe came about as a way to salvage the last few green tomatoes when the killing frost came around. I think a version of this recipe was in one of the Little House books. An early frost came and there was still lots of green tomatoes left so Ma made Green Tomato Pickles.

Believe it or not, but I love to put these on Pinto Beans. Everybody in my family did.

Sliced Green Tomato Pickles:

7 ½ pounds green tomatoes (about 30 medium)
6 good sized onions
¾ cup pickling salt
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 tablespoon whole allspice
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon peppercorns
½ lemon
1 sweet red peppers
2 ½ cups brown sugar
3 cups white vinegar

Wash tomatoes well, cut off blossom ends, blemishes and stems. Slice thin crossways. Peel and slice onion in thin rings. Sprinkle salt over alternate layers of sliced tomatoes and onions in a glass dish and let stand in a cool place overnight.

Drain off the brine, rinse vegetables thoroughly in cold water and drain well.

Slice the lemon thinly and remove any seeds. Wash the peppers, remove the stems and seeds, and slice thinly crossways.

Tie all spices loosely in a muslin bag. Add spice bag and sugar to the vinegar in a large enamelware kettle. Bring to a boil Add the tomatoes, onions, lemons and pepper slices. Cook for 30 minutes after the mixture returns to a boil, stirring gently to prevent scorching.

Remove the spice bag and pack the pickles in hot, sterilized pint jars. Be sure there is enough liquid to cover all the vegetables in the jar, leaving ½ inch headroom.

Process in a Boiling Water Bath for 10 minutes. Again, I don’t do this.

Makes about 6 pints.