During the summer times when tomatoes are over abundantly available for us, it is very common for us to be so tired of eating them. We may even have shared some with neighbors, family and friends, but somehow it seems the stock is endless with new ripe tomatoes hanging on the plants waiting to be harvested. Then the choice would be to leave those new tomatoes to waste when they rot on the plants or to do something about it. Have you ever tried pickled green tomatoes? Well, if you have not, maybe you should try to make some and you will know that your tomato problem is solved and that you can turn the tomatoes into something useful that you will like.
Ingredients:
8 pounds of green tomatoes
4 cups of white vinegar
4 cups of water
4 tablespoons of kosher salt
Dill seeds
Whole black peppercoms
Garlic
Red pepper flakes
Instructions:
Prepare jars of 3 quart sized or 6 pint sized. The jars need to have lids and rings. Another things that you will need to prepare is the how water canner and the jar lifter.
Fill the hot water canner with water and then add the jars. Then you need to turn the water on to the sterilizer as well as warm the jars. Leave them open just until you will need to use the jars. Meanwhile, you need to place the rings and lids of the jars in another pan with simmering water and not boiling water.
Cut the tomatoes in half for the medium sized tomatoes and in quarters for the larger ones. Then make the brine by adding vinegar, salt and water into a pan and bring the pan to a boil. When it boils, then you can start to use them to fill the jars.
Use the jar tongs to remove the jars from the hot water, and then put a tablespoon of dill seeds, a tablespoon of black peppercorns, 2 cloves of peeled garlic and 0.25 tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Once all the spices are in the jars, put in the tomatoes too. You need to really pack the tomatoes in the jar, then add the brine to fill in the spaces between tomatoes and spices. Use a chopstick to stir in the jar so that you will let our air bubbles. Clean the rims of the jars by wiping them then put the jars back to the hot water canner before you cover their lids.
