As the days grow shorter, my tomatoes just aren’t ripening. And, I suppose, the SEVENTEEN STRAIGHT DAYS OF RAIN we’ve had haven’t helped much. If you decide to pull ’em green like I have, pickling is a one way to preserve them.
These are tangy-sweet, with a good crisp texture. I usually put them up in half-pint jars for gifts. People are amazed you canned a green tomato.
I save some for myself because I like them on peanut butter sandwiches. Go ahead, make a face. It’s good.
Rinse off the lime thoroughly for the crispiest pickle.
Green Tomato Pickles
7 pounds green tomatoes
2 gallons water
3 cups lime
Slice tomatoes. Mix water and lime and pour over tomatoes. Soak all for 24 hours. Drain off all the lime water and soak in fresh water for 4 hours, changing water every hour.
Brine:
5 pounds sugar
3 pints vinegar
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon mace
1 stick cinnamon
Bring to a boil. Pour over tomatoes and let sit overnight. The next day, bring to a boil again, slowly, and simmer 1 hour.
Seal in hot, sterile jars.
9 pints
Let them laugh … Peanut butter and pickle (and hot pepper) sandwiches are AWESOME!
Is the 3 cups of Lime the juice you would get if you squeezed limes, or the white alkaline stuff?
A
The latter. Not the juice. Although, mmm, I could use a limeade . . .
Sounds great! Did you do this with a water bath, or with a canner? How long does it need to process?
Rebecca–They are a delicacy around here. I use a water bath and process for 10 minutes.
Mary–You’ve got that right!
Sounds good. Think I will give it a try. We have been eating fried green tomatoes about once a week here, but still have lots of little greenies out there!
17 days of rain……we haven’t seen a drop on weeks….how I pray for rain!!!!!
These sound delicious. Where do you find lime? I’ve never looked for it before.
Sounds great, I can hardly wait to try them. I may add dill though, I have gobs of it. I have tried the zuke fritters and they were wonderful.
My grandmother makes a relish with green tomatoes. I think it would be along the same lines as your tomatoes. She let me think it was made out of cucumbers for years. It is very sweet also, I never thought of eating it on a PBJ but I think it would be good.
This I must do. Tomatoes are so cheap and good here in Spain. They sell a tomato jam here and I love it, eat it with everything . . my husband hates it! Can’t wait to try!! Thanks.!
Gloria Carrington-Ferrira–I have heard about your famous Spanish tomatoes. So jealous of your olive oil, too. Hope you like the pickles!
lonna–The relish sounds delicious. And your grandmother sounds charming.
Could you please go into more detail about the 3 cups of lime? I’m not quite getting it…
Sundari–Sure. Pickling lime, found in the canning section of the supermarket or the like, improves the firmness of vegetables used in pickling. (Don’t use any other kind of lime, like builder’s lime, it can contain lead). It’s mixed with water to make a soaking solution for the vegetables/fruit to be pickled, then rinsed in several changes of water to remove all excess. It’s important to make sure you rinse thoroughly because remaining lime can reduce the acidity of the pickling solution (vinegar, etc.) and lead to failed pickles.
Let me know if you need more or different info on this!
Mmmmm… I like dill pickles and PB…may have to try this!
Still lots of greenies. Hung in the barn to finish after frost but has been QUITE cold! What happened to fall? My hose is still out 🙁
What type of vinegar? white or cider
Can you do this with tiny tomatoes and not cut?
Joyce–I use cider vinegar, but white would be ok.
Joyce–I’ve never tried whole tomatoes, but I have used small tomatoes sliced in half. I think it’s probably best to allow everything to penetrate better to cut them.
I love beanut butter and pickle sandwiches personally. But last night I was out of pickles and opened a jar of pickled green tomatoes that I canned about a month ago….it was awesome!!! How timely that I read your recipe this morning!!! I am going to try it!!!
Is it OK to let the tomatoes stay in the lime water about 32 hours? I like to do 3 batches at once. I finished getting them sliced and in the water about 10 pm. This means staying up all night to stay on schedule.
Judy–As far as I know without having done it myself, I’m confident it will be fine. Get some rest and start fresh in the morning!