russell (10/28/82)
In a further response to the request for something to
do with green tomatoes I have tried the following recipe
very successfully. It is from an English book called Farm-
house Fare, of which I shall be happy to post details if
there is any interest.
I am quoting the recipe verbatim, and it does contain refer-
ences to some ingredients whose names may be unfamiliar so I
will follow the text with some notes.
GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY
3 lbs green tomatoes 2 tbs mustard
4 large apples 1 1/2 tsps ground ginger
2 small cucumbers 1 level tsp cayenne
3 large onions 1 1/2 tbs salt
6 ozs sultanas 4 1/2 gills vinegar
3/4 lb Demerara sugar
Remove stalks from tomatoes. Slice and peel onions and
apples, slice cucumbers and put all the ingredients into a
large pan. Bring to boil. Allow to simmer for 2 to 3 hours,
or until quite soft, stirring frequently. Put into jars and
seal down.
Note 1. The chutney is relatively mild when first made but
matures over a period of a few weeks to become quite spicy.
Note 2. Cucumbers are the European variety which are avail-
able in most parts of the USA. Ordinary cucumbers can be
used instead of the European but, because of relative sizes,
they should be fairly large ones.
Note 3. I do not know if sultanas are available but raisins
can be used instead without a significant adverse effect.
Note 4. I have not been able to find Demerara sugar but I
have had good results using a soft light brown sugar.
Note 5. The mustard referred to is Colmans English Mustard
Powder. There really is no substitute as Colmans is much,
much hotter than any US mustard I have encountered. It is
available in the speciality or gourmet sections of most good
food stores.
Note 6. A gill is one fourth of an English pint, therefore
the recipe calls for 22 1/2 English fluid ounces which, I
think, is about 20 US fluid ounces of vinegar. The vinegar
itself is English Malt vinegar which is available in some
parts of the US, but it is expensive. The commonly available
Cider Vinegar can be used although it does create a slightly
different flavour in the end product.
Russell Cairnskevin (11/01/82)
I tried frying the green tomato slices, and was not very pleased with the results. The taste was mediocre, and I got indigestion a few hours later. However, most of the tomatos are ripening, so I'll wait and see how many green tomatoes I really have to deal with. Pressures of teaching and research proposal writing have kept me from typing the mead recipe for all of you. I hope to get it done this week. Kevin Karplus