Maylee at Beyond Gumbo 
For a rewarding “farm-to-table” cooking project this summer, try making some relish, chutney or pickles. In addition to a gratifying experience; these homemade condiments just taste so much better than any of the store purchased varieties. There is no comparison. Today, I’m trying a new recipe, “Southern Chow Chow Relish.” The ingredients in this relish are green tomatoes, cabbage, colorful peppers, onions, garlic and an aromatic brine. Use this relish on hot dogs and hamburgers, as a condiment for any BBQ sandwich, as a spread with crackers or share as gifts. It is addictive! If you are new to home canning; I have included directions for making a small 4-jar batch — easy to accomplish with kitchen equipment on hand. For anyone who wants the entire home canning experience; I have included directons for a making large batch of chutney using a home canner. It is “Home Canning 101.” Many years ago, canning all the produce from a large summer garden was a necessity to feed farm families during the winter months. Now it is a luxury. But, we still have that link to our ancestry; whether you are making a small batch or a large batch; let’s use these skills.
Gardening Memories
One of my favorite gardening memories from growing up is of my mother standing in the kitchen and cooking up large batches of green tomato chutney in the late summertime. The aromatic flavors of turmeric, vinegar and sugar were mouth watering as the vegetables simmered away in the brine. Our mother got out an old, old meat grinder and we helped turn the crank to grind up all the vegetables. She canned huge batches of the stuff and grinding the vegetables up was alot of work and elbow grease. But the chutney was much better than any purchased hamburger relish, We ate the chutney all winter long, spreading it in thick layers onto hamburgers and hot dogs.
When we divided up the things from my parent’s estate, my brother got the hand crank meat grinder. I’m sure this grinder is ancient; but it still works. Here he is grinding up green tomatoes to make a batch of chutney. (Although it is also used to grind vegetables, for some reason we always referred to it as a meat grinder.)
You can actually purchase some of these old hand cranked meat grinders at hardware stores or on Ebay! And brand new meat grinders are available, too. (Hunters use them to grind up venison, I discovered.)
In addition to chutney, my mother canned peaches and pears, applesauce, vegetable soup, tomato sauce, green beans and many other things. Potatoes and onions were stored in a cold cellar and meat in an extra freezer. We surely could have survived through the winter without going to the grocery store! My mother grew up on an Iowa farm and I think that the prevailing theme of those midwestern farmers was, “Don’t waste anything!”
Chutney vs Southern Chow Chow Relish
Making chutney was a way to use up those remaining tomatoes which were still green in the garden before the frost came. My mother’s chutney recipe included green tomatoes, green apples, bell peppers, onions and garlic in an aromatic sweet and sour brine.
“Southern Chow Chow Relish” is very similar to my mother’s chutney recipe but uses cabbage rather than apples. I have discovered that there are many variations to “Chow Chow Relish” and some recipes also include corn. The spices vary, too. When I saw a recipe in a magazine recently, it sounded delicious and I decided to make a batch.
Here are the vegetable ingredients in my recipe. The green tomatoes, pictured on the right, are very hard. They are unripened tomatoes. So don’t expect to find soft and juicy green tomatoes in any farmer’s market or grocery store. Since tomatoes vary so much is size, measure by weight (4 lb tomatoes) rather than counting them out. I used a very large, sweet Vitalia onion which weighted one pound. Several smaller yellow onion could be substituted. You only need 1/2 of the head of cabbage for the large recipe. Use the second half for other recipes. Make sure to include the colorful red, yellow and green bell peppers for a little spark. And, the recipe includes a couple of cloves of garlic.
This recipe includes a sweet and sour aromatic brine. That’s what makes this chow chow taste so good. It contains lots of sugar, but then most of these chutneys and relishes are sweet. You need pickling salt (or kosher salt), too. The turmeric gives the relish its yellow color and adds a unique flavor. I added celery seed and both ground mustard and mustard seed. Distilled white vinegar adds the sour component.
Large Batch vs Small Batch
After I began grinding up all the vegetable ingredients, I realized what a large batch of chow chow I was making. (Some of the recipes which I referenced were quite inaccurate!) My batch yielded 16 jars of 1/2 pint size chow chow! If you are new to making relishes and chow chow, I suggest starting with a small batch to see how it goes. The “small batch” recipe yields 4 of these 1/2 pint jars.
For the small batch, it is probably simpler to use a food processor to grind the ingredients rather than searching for a manual grinder or electric food mixer attachment. Plus, you can store 4 jars in a refrigerator and skip the water bath canning (but probably not 16 jars). If you are making the large batch, it really is important to locate a food grinder and home canner.
Home Canning 101, Lets Get Started
This is an all day project — if you are making the large batch — allow plenty of time for this project. Here we go.
Gather up the home canner and all the supplies — we’re in the food processing business!
The first step in home canning is to assemble all the equipment.
For a large 16-jar batch of chow chow, you need a 16-quart home food canner (or larger). You can often purchase these canners at hardware stores such as Home Depot. I was able to process all these jars in two batches. (To sterilize the chow chow so that the jars are shelf-stable, the jars need to sit, completely submerged by 2-inches, in boiling water for 10 minutes in the home canner. — That’s the canning part of the process.)
For a small batch of 4 jars, you can use a large stock pot with a colander insert to sterlize the chow chow to make the jars shelf-stable. Alternatively, skip the water bath sterilizing and store the chow chow relish in the refrigerator.
Other equipment which you need are for the canning process are new lids, i.e., rings and seals. These two-part lids create a vacuum and seal the sterlized chow chow in the jars. (Do not purchase one-part lids by mistake.) I recommend that you do not reuse seals, because they may be dented. Unfortunately, the rings often rust, so I usually start with new rings, too.
It is easy to find boxes of rings and seals at grocery stores and hardware stores.
Rings and seals are sold in two sizes: regular and wide mouth. Pay attention to which size you need to fit your canning jars.
I sterilize these rings and seals by letting them sit in boiling water for 5 minutes. Then put them aside until you are ready to add them to the chow chow in the jars.
Use only jars which are made for canning. For example, do not be tempted to use a glass mayonnaise jar. The real canning jars will hold up better in the boiling water of the canner without cracking or breaking. (If you are purchasing a new set of canning jars; they will come with rings and seals.) Kerr and Ball are two common brands of canning jars and equipment.
Other equipment which I highly recommend is a set of canning tongs, funnels and a magnetic stick. Sold everywhere at hardware and grocery stores! And the set doesn’t cost alot, either.
The magnet on the stick allows you to get the seals and rings out of the boiling water without touching them with your hands. This keeps them sterile and you don’t get burnt.
And, it is easy to place the sterile seals onto the jars of whatever you are canning.
You have to get the jars in and out of the canner and boiling water bath, so the long tongs are indispensible.
The last piece of equipment is a grinder.
Chow chow consists of finely ground up vegetables. These vegeables are not pureed. Hand chopping is an option but very tedious. Food processors can be used if making the 4-jar recipe. However, food processors are tricky to use and the result is often very unevenly chopped vegetables or pureed vegetables. Process the vegetables in small batches, don’t run the food processor too long. Add large vegetable chunks a second time if needed.
For a large batch of chow chow, you can purchase a hand crank meat (or food) grinder at hardware stores, Amazon or Ebay. If you are going to purchase a new meat (food) grinder, purchase one with a smaller diameter grinder and shaft. The very large diameter grinders intended for large volumes of meat won’t process vegetables.
My solution was use an food grinder attachment which fit on the front on my Kitchen Aide mixer. It worked perfectly. It is exactly like a hand cranked grinder except that the motor does the work, not your elbow grease.
The parts of all food grinders are the ring, knife, grind plate (or die) and “grind worm” or auger (or shaft). These parts all fit together. Then the grinder attaches to the front of the food mixer. Push the vegetables down the hopper with a pusher (which may come with the appliance–I used a cocktail muddler) and the auger pushes the vegetables along and through the grinding plate. The knife cuts the vegetables so you don’t end up with spaghetti. (Actually the knife fits on before the grind plate.)
I discovered that I my vegetables chunks (shown left) were too large to go down the hopper. I had to cut these up further so that they would fit down the hopper and along the “grind worm” or auger.
Here are my chopped green tomatoes, onion, garlic and colorful peppers. Although they may appear to be pureed, they are actually chopped. Once all the liquid is drained, you see the small chunks of vegetables.
I used a food processor to shred the cabbage. It wouldn’t go down the food grinder properly.
Steps in Making the Chow Chow
1. Get all the equipment assembled. See above description of supplies.
2. Peel and chop the vegetables into course chunks.
3. Use one of the methods to grind up the vegetables. If using a food processor, work in small batches. Pulse only one or two times; remove small vegetable pieces and pulse large vegetable chunks again. If making the large batch; please do yourself a favor and find a food grinder.
4. Let the ground up vegetables soak in pickling salt. Combine all the ground up vegetables — green tomatoes, cabbage, onions, garlic and colorful peppers in a large, non-metalic bowl. (Drain off liquid.) Stir in 2 Tbsp pickling salt for the large batch. (Use 1/2 Tbsp for the small batch.) Then, refrigerate the chow chow for 4 hours to ovenight. Alternatively, cover with ice and let set for 1 to 4 hours on the kitchen counter.
5. Sterlize the canning jars by washing and heat drying them in the dishwasher (without soap) or letting them set in boiling water for 5 minutes. (For the small batch, I put the jars in the canner and use the canner to boil and sterilize the empty jars.) It is best if the jars are kept hot. They can crack if you add hot chow chow to a cold jar. So, I just let the jars set in the hot dishwasher or hot water of the canner.
Sterlized the rings and lids, too, by placing them in a small pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.
6. Get the canner ready and heat up the water. Add enough water in the canner to come to the top of the jars. (Once you add the jars, the water level will rise.) Heat to boiling. (In a large canner this may take 30 minutes.) Then set the canner aside.
Whew! Now we are ready “can” the chow chow: This means to finish the recipe, Make the brine, fill the hot jars, add the rings and seals and add the jars to the boiling water bath to process the relish.
7. Make the brine. Add the vinegar, sugar and spices to a large, large pot. Let this simmer for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar.
8. Drain the “salted’ vegetales in a colander and rinse off the salt. If you are mkaing the large batch, drain the chow chow in several batches. Add the well-drained vegetables to the brine and let the chow chow cook for 10 minutes.
9. Fill the jars and water process them. Use the funnel to add hot chow chow to each jar to 1/2-inch from the top of the jar. Wipe off the top of the jars, if needed, to remove any spilt chow chow with a damp paper towel. Add the rings and seals and tighten. Lower the jars into the water bath using the long tongs. The water should cover the jars by 2 inches. Add more hot water if needed.
Let the water in the canner come back to a rolling boil and process for 10 minutes. A “rolling boil” means that the boiling water does not stop when you stir it around. (This can take 15 minutes or so, depends on how hot the water in the canner was to begin with.) I use my cell phone timer and set it for 10 minutes when the water is at a rolling boil.
10. FINISHED! Remove the jars from the canner and let them cool. Use the long tongs and kitchen mitts to remove the jars from the canner. NOTE: The canner is full of boiling water and steam. Please do not scald your arms by trying to reach into the canner and remove the jars without long tongs, and ideally, a kitchen mitt.
Let the jars set on a tray lined with a dish towel. (The jars will be wet.)
Let the jars cool. Check the seals to see that the vacuum holds. Label the jars with “Chow Chow Relish” and the date you made them. Add your name! Proudly share with your family and friends.
Ideally, let the jars “cure” overnight or for 24 hours. Then, open a jar and treat youself to a hot dog with “Southern Chow Chow Relish!” Enjoy.
(My recipe for “A Small Batch of Southern Chow Chow” follows this recipe.)
Southern Chow Chow Relish
Canning Supplies:
- meat (or food) grinder with food pusher
- food processor (to shred cabbage)
- 16-quart canner (or large, tall stock pot with colander insert)
- 16 canning jars (1/2 pint size, i.e. 8 oz jars)
- new rings and seals to fit jars
- canning funnel
- canning magnet
- long canning tongs
- oven mitt
Ingredients:
- 4 lb green tomatoes (approx 5 large tomatoes), to yield 5 cups finely chopped, drained tomatoes
- 1 (1 lb) Vidalia onion (or several smaller yellow onions to equal 1 lb), to yield 3 cups finely chopped, drained onion
- 1 each large red, yellow and green bell pepper (or 2 medium-sized peppers of each color) to yield 3 cups, finely chopped drained peppers
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 head (1-1/2 lb) cabbage, to yield 6 cups finely shredded cabbage
- 3 Tbsp pickling salt, divided
- 4 cups distilled white vinegar
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp ground mustard
Method and Steps for making chow chow:
- Get canning supplies ready. Locate and wash canning jars or purchase new ones. Purchase new rings and seals to fit canning jars. Locate canning funnel, magnet on stick, tongs and kitchen mitt. Have canner or large, tall stock pot with colander insert ready to go. Get food grinder and food processor ready to go.
- Get vegetables ready to grind. Core green apples (do not peel) and cut into chunks which will fit down shute of food grinder. Peel and cut onion into chunks, separate out layers. Core and seed red, yellow and green bell peppers and cut into small chunks. Peel garlic cloves. Cut cabbage into chunks to fit in food processor.
- Set up food grinder. If using food mixer attachment, attach to mixer. For a manual food grinder, screw securely onto ledge of kitchen counter (you may need to pull out the drawer). Line a 9×13″ baking pan with wax paper. Set the baking pan below the grind plate.
- Grind each vegetable individually (green tomatoes, onion, colorful peppers and garlic cloves) by feeding small chunks, a few at a time, into the hopper. Use a food pusher, such as a cocktail muddler, to apply gentle pressure to push food down the hopper. Do not force food into the hopper and auger (“food worm” or shaft). You may need to manually remove stuck vegetable pieces and try again. If using a food processor, add small batches of each vegetable to food processor bowl. Pulse, on and off, a few times. Remove small pieces and chop larger pieces again. DO NOT puree the vegetables.
- Drain off any liquid which has accumulated around the ground up vegetables and transfer the vegetables to a large non-metallic bowl.
- Using food processor with fine shredding disk, chop the cabbage to a small shred. Add the finely shredded cabbage to the other vegetables. Mix to combine.
- Add 2 Tbsp and gently mix together. Either cover the ground up, salted vegetables and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight. Alternatively, cover the vegetable mixture with ice cubes and let set for 1 to 4 hours.
- When ready to complete the canning process, get the jars, lids and canner ready. Sterilize the canning jars. Wash in dishwasher (without soap) and heated dry cycle. Alternatively, place unfilled jars in canner, cover with water. Heat water and boil for 5 minues. (NOTE: heating water in the canner may take up to 30 minutes.)
- Fill canner with water to cover jars and heat to boiling — if you have not already done this in Step 8. Set the canner aside until ready to heat process the jars.
- Sterilize new rings and seals by placing them in a small pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.
- When the jars, lids and canner are ready. complete the chow chow mix. Make the brine by adding the vinegar, sugar and spices (1 Tbsp pickling salt, turmeric, mustard seeds, celery seed and mustard powder) to a large, heavy pot. Stir and heat to boiling to dissolve sugar.
- Drain and rinse the salted vegetables in a colander, in batches, draining off salt and any liquid which as accumulated. Add the well-drained vegetables to the brine on the stove.
- Increase heat to bring the chow chow to a boil, stirring frequently. Then, lower the heat on the stove and simmer the chow chow for 10 minutes.
- Set the sterile canning jars upright on a tray lined with a towel. Handle hot jars carefully.
- Using canning funnel, fill one jar to within 1/2″ of the top of the jar with the hot chow chow mixture.
- If any chow chow has spilt on top of jar, carefully wipe off with paper towel.
- Using magnetic tongs, remove a sterilized seal from the pot of water and place on the jar. Top with a ring and tighten snuggly.
- Repeat this process with remaining jars.
- Place 8 jars into canner (or however many jars will fit into canner), using long tongs to lower jars into hot water in canner. Make sure water covers the jars by 2″. If needed, add more hot water to canner.
- Bring water in canner to a rolling boil. (This may take 15 minutes or longer, depending on how hot water in canner was before you began.) Set timer when rolling boil begins and heat process for 10 minutes.
- Using long tongs and kitchen mitt, remove jars from boiling water and transfer to tray lined with kitchen towel.
- Repeat process with remaining 8 jars.
- Let the canned jars cool to room temperature on the tray. Then check to make sure the jars are properly vacuumed sealed. Store jars which did not seal properly in refrigerator.
- Date and label jars.
- Let set for 24 hours to “cure.” Then enjoy the chow chow!
A Small Batch of Southern Chow Chow Relish
Canning Supplies:
- food processor
- large, tall stock pot with colander insert
- 4 to 6 canning jars (1/2 pint size, i.e. 8 oz jars)
- new rings and seals to fit jars
- canning funnel
- canning magnet
- long canning tongs
- oven mitt
Ingredients:
- 1 lb green tomatoes
- 1 medium-size Vidalia onion
- 1/2 each large red, yellow and green bell pepper
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1/6 head ( approx 1/2 lb) green cabbage, to yield 1-1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage
- 1-1/2 Tbsp pickling salt, divided
- 1 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 1/4 tsp ground mustard
Method and Steps for making chow chow:
- Get canning supplies ready. Locate and wash canning jars or purchase new ones. Purchase new rings and seals to fit canning jars. Locate canning funnel, magnet on stick, tongs and kitchen mitt. Have large, tall stock pot with colander insert ready to go. Get food processor ready to go.
- Get vegetables ready to grind. Core green apples (do not peel) and cut into chunks which will fit down shute of food grinder. Peel and cut onion into chunks, separate out layers. Core and seed red, yellow and green bell peppers and cut into small chunks. Peel garlic cloves. Cut cabbage into chunks to fit in food processor.
- If using food processor to process vegetables (green tomatoes, onion, colorful peppers and garlic), add small batches of each vegetable to food processor bowl. With chopping blade, pulse, on and off, a few times. Remove small pieces and chop larger pieces again. DO NOT puree the vegetables. Alternatively, chop up vegetables by hand with large kitchen knife.
- Drain off any liquid which has accumulated around the ground up vegetables and transfer the vegetables to a large non-metallic bowl.
- Using food processor with fine shredding disk, chop the cabbage to a small shred. Add the finely shredded cabbage to the other vegetables. Mix to combine.
- Add 1 Tbsp pickling salt and gently mix together. Either cover the ground up, salted vegetables and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight. Alternatively, cover the vegetable mixture with ice cubes and let set for 1 to 4 hours.
- When ready to complete the canning process, get the jars, lids and canner ready. Sterilize the canning jars. Wash in dishwasher (without soap) and heated dry cycle. Alternatively, place unfilled jars in large, tall stock pot, cover with water. Heat water and boil for 5 minues.
- Fill large, tall stock pot with water to cover jars and heat to boiling — if you have not already done this in Step 8. Set the stock pot aside until ready to heat process the jars.
- Sterilize new rings and seals by placing them in a small pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.
- When the jars, lids and canner are ready. complete the chow chow mix. Make the brine by adding the vinegar, sugar and spices (1/2 Tbsp pickling salt, turmeric, mustard seeds, celery seed and mustard powder) to a large, heavy pot. Stir and heat to boiling to dissolve sugar.
- Drain and rinse the salted vegetables in a colander, in batches, draining off salt and any liquid which as accumulated. Add the well-drained vegetables to the brine on the stove.
- Increase heat to bring the chow chow to a boil, stirring frequently. Then, lower the heat on the stove and simmer the chow chow for 10 minutes.
- Set the sterile canning jars upright on a tray lined with a towel. Handle hot jars carefully.
- Using canning funnel, fill one jar to within 1/2″ of the top of the jar with the hot chow chow mixture.
- If any chow chow has spilt on top of jar, carefully wipe off with paper towel.
- Using magnetic tongs, remove a sterilized seal from the pot of water and place on the jar. Top with a ring and tighten snuggly.
- Repeat this process with remaining jars.
- Place jars into large, tall stock pot, using long tongs to lower jars into hot water in stock pot. Make sure water covers the jars by 2″. If needed, add more hot water to stock pot.
- Bring water in canner to a rolling boil. (This may take 15 minutes or longer, depending on how hot water in stock pot was before you began.) Set timer when rolling boil begins and heat process for 10 minutes.
- Using long tongs and kitchen mitt, remove jars from boiling water and transfer to tray lined with kitchen towel.
- Let the canned jars cool to room temperature on the tray. Then check to make sure the jars are properly vacuumed sealed. Store jars which did not seal properly in refrigerator.
- Date and label jars.
- Let set for 24 hours to “cure.” Then enjoy the chow chow!
And, so you absolutely don’t like cabbage? Then substitute green apples and make my mother’s delicious “Green Tomato Chutney.” However, I suggest you give “Southern Chow Chow Relish” (shown below) a try.
Thanks for sharing, I love relish.
Thank you, Thanks for visitng my blog!
Would love to try your mother’s chutney recipe! Also do you happen to know of a recipe for chow chow that is made with cabbage and apples 🙂
Although I don’t have a relish recipe for cabbage and apples; one of my most favorite relish recipes is for my mother and grandmother’s relish made with apples and green tomatoes. It also includes an assortment of bell peppers. You could substitute in some cabbage for some of the peppers. This is a delicious recipe with lots of aromatic spices. It makes a large batch! Here’s the link:
https://beyondgumbo.com/2013/10/31/lets-make-green-tomato-chutney/