Well, summer is just about over, and by now, those of us who garden are probably picking our last vine ripened tomatoes of the season. This year in my corner of Kentucky a lot of gardeners, including
myself, had a bumper crop of tomatoes. My plants--especially my roma tomatoes--are hanging with tons of unripened fruits. Now comes the task of figuring out what to do with them all!
For the most part, you can use green tomatoes just as you would regular ripe tomatoes in most cooked tomato recipes. Since they are more acidic than ripe tomatoes, they can be a little rough on your stomach in recipes that use them raw. You also skin green tomatoes the same way you do the ripe ones by dipping them in some boiling water and allowing them to blanch until the skin starts to split, and then dipping them in ice water to make them easier to handle.
Here are a few of my old tried and true green tomato recipes—enjoy!
Perfect Fried Green Tomatoes
You want your green tomatoes to look like this—golden brown and crisp-tender in texture.
My mom used to make fried green tomatoes by simply slicing them up, rolling them in cornmeal, and frying them in lard. Over the years I have made my own changes to the recipe--below is the way that to turn out perfect for me almost every time. As per family tradition, I always make them in a cast iron skillet--but any skillet will work. You may have to adjust your cooking time or temperature
according to what kind of pan you use.
2 or 3 medium sized green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
Cooking oil
Pour the milk into a shallow bowl or dish. Place tomato slices in the milk and and turn once to coat.
Allow to sit a few minutes, turning occasionally to marinate a bit. Meanwhile, pour enough cooking oil to just cover the bottom of a large skillet. Heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or till hot. Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Roll the green tomato slices in the cornmeal mixture and fry about 2 or 3 minutes on each side until a nice golden brown. Be careful not to overcook these--they will burn fast. Drain on paper towels and serve.
Green Tomato Pizza Sauce
I created this pizza sauce one fall when we were having a serious hankering for pizza—and unfortunately, I didn't have enough ripe tomatoes at the time to make pizza sauce. My car was in the shop that day, so a trip to the store was not an option. This recipe was the end result. If I still have green tomatoes at the end of October I may make a green pizza for Halloween. Due to climate change, some years we don't get any frost till some time in November!
2 cups peeled, cored diced green tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tbsp. oregano
salt and pepper to taste
The easy way to prep this recipe is to simply put all the ingredients in a food processor and puree it. If you don't have a way to grind the tomatoes up, just chop them really fine--this will make a nice chunky sauce by the time it is cooked. Next place everything in a saucepan and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is the desired consistency. Use on pizza just like you would any other pizza sauce. You can also double or triple the recipe and use it as a pasta sauce if you like.
Green Tomato Salsa
I believe I got this recipe from the Ball Blue Book several years ago. This stuff is great in the middle of the winter when you have cabin fever, and you're dreaming of next year's garden.
7 cups peeled, cored, chopped green tomatoes
5 or more seeded, chopped jalapeno peppers, or other hot peppers
2 cups chopped onion
2 finely minced cloves of garlic
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Prepare the boiling water bath canner. Wash and sterilize jars. In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes--a little more if you are using large slicer type tomatoes instead of paste tomatoes, since these will make your salsa watery if you don't cook the liquid in them down a little. (You may also get one fewer jar of salsa if you have to cook it down a little.) Ladle the hot salsa into the jars. Wipe the rims and put on the lids and bands. Process for 20 minutes.
Green Tomato Preserves
This recipe is very similar to old fashioned tomato preserves. I like to spread some cream cheese on a piece of toast, and then put some of this stuff on top. Yum!!
3 cups peeled, cored, diced green tomatoes
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup lemon juice
5 cups sugar
1 box sure-jell
Sterilize canning jars and wash the lids and rings. Get the water in your boiling water bath canner going. Put the tomatoes, spices, sure-jell and lemon juice in a large saucepan and, stirring constantly, bring to a hard boil that cannot be stirred away. Add sugar, and stirring constantly,bring back to a boil. Boil for one minute or till the jam sheets off the spoon. Then remove from heat and skim off any foam, if desired. Then ladle into hot sterilized jars leaving about 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe off the rims of the jars and put on lids and bands. Process in hot water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Hot Jack
a pint of my latest batch of hot jack.
This is an old recipe handed down to me from my grandmother, who was originally from Harlan County, Kentucky. Hot Jack is similar to another old-fashioned southern favorite called Chow-Chow. Unlike Hot Jack, Chow-Chow usually has sugar and a number of spices in it, while Hot Jack leaves all of that stuff out. Some people don't put vinegar in their Hot Jack--they instead pickle it using salt and water only. If you prefer to do it this way, you should use one cup of canning salt for each gallon of water. This recipe makes a mild hot jack—if you want it hotter, add more peppers—or even different kinds of peppers like serrano or habanero.
1 (4-5 lb.) head of cabbage, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 green or red bell peppers, chopped
4 cups diced green tomatoes (don't need to peel them)
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 gallon white vinegar
1/2 gallon distilled water
1/4 cup canning salt
Put all the vegetables in a crock or a food safe plastic bucket. Combine salt, vinegar and water and stir until salt is dissolved. Pour over veggie mixture. Then cover with a plate and weight it down There should be at least 2 or 3 inches of liquid covering the hot jack. Skim off any food that has risen to the top, then cover and keep in cool place. Burp the contents every 3 or 4 days and skim off anything that has risen to the top, and allow to work for about 2 weeks. When ready to can, drain well, reserving pickling liquid and pack tightly in to pint or quart jars up to the neck of the jar. Then pour in enough pickling liquid to fill the jar up to 3/4 inch from the top, being sure to stir out any air bubbles with something made of wood or plastic. Then wipe of the rims of the jars and put on the lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 20 minutes. This recipe will yield about 7 or 8 pints.
So, what are your recipes for green tomatoes? I would love to see them!