Amish Chow Chow
Amish Chow Chow is a traditional homemade relish that's served as a side dish (or chunky condiment) at potlucks and community suppers, especially alongside heavier fare. It's a great way to use up and preserve extra veggies at the end of the growing season.
Ingredients
Vegetables and Spices
- 1 cup green tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup cabbage chopped
- 1 cup bell peppers chopped
- 1 cucumber chopped
- 1 cup yellow onions chopped
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 1 cup green beans chopped
- 2 tsp celery seed
- 2 tsp mustard seed
For the salt water soak:
- 2 quarts water
- ΒΌ cup salt
For the Pickling Brine:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups white vinegar
Instructions
- Wash your tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, onions, and cucumbers. Don't soak the carrots and green beans, they're pre-treated differently.
- Chop them up into small pieces. Dissolve the salt in water and then soak the vegetables in the brine overnight.
- The next day, drain and rinse the soaked veggies.
- In a separate pot, cook your carrots and green beans for ten minutes in boiling water, then drain.
- In a large pot, combine sugar and vinegar and bring to a boil. Next add the other ingredients, including the drained soaked vegetables, cooked carrots and green beans, and spices.
- Heat your pot to boiling, stirring occasionally. Boil for 2-3 minutes, until everything's heated through.
- Using a ladle, pack the hot Chow Chow into hot pint jars, leaving 1/2" headspace. If necessary, add more Chow Chow to fill up the jar, but be sure everything is under the liquid line.
- Wipe the rims of each jar with a clean cloth to remove any food residue, then add the sanitized lids and bands. Screw the bands on until they're fingertip tight.
- Load the jars carefully into the water bath canner, making sure that they're not touching each other or the sides of the canner.
- Process the pints for ten minutes if under 1000 feet altitude, adjusting for higher altitude as needed.
- Once the processing time is done, carefully remove the jars, let them cool at room temperature for 24 hours, then check the lids and labels. Any jars that did not seal properly should be refrigerated and consumed immediately. The remaining jars can be stored for up to a year.
Notes
Altitude Adjustments
Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so jars need to be processed a bit longer as you go up in elevation. Here are the altitude adjustments for canning Amish Chow Chow:- For 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 10 minutes, and quart jars for 15 minutes.
- For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 15 minutes, and quart jars for 20 minutes.
- Above 6,001 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 20 minutes, and quart jars for 25 minutes.