Sunday, October 18, 2009

What am I gonna do with all these little green tomatoes?


Pickling is a great way to preserve your
green end of season tiny tomatoes

We've had torrential rains for the last few days.  October in the Pacific Northwest is the wet cold season and now that the rains have started, there's no telling when they'll end. 

I still have 3 large yellow pear tomato plants in the garden that are producing. All this heavy rain is causing them to split as they ripen.  So today I went down and filled my pockets with tiny green tomatoes for pickling.  Then I grabbed the pruners and harvested a handful of anise flowers and oregeno from my organic herb bed along with about 8 garlic cloves that didn't get planted earlier this week.


Yellow pear tomatoes are about 1/2 the size of cherry tomatoes
When fully ripened they are a bright yellow, but these green ones
will be better pickled


Organic Anise flower from the boat garden


Garden fresh organic oregeno from the herb beds


These garlics didn't make the cut for planting but they will
compliment the small tomatoes for pickles

Back in the kitchen, I washed all of my items and pulled out the canning equiptment again.  First thing was to sterilize 4 quart jars and start the water to boil in the canner. 

In a seperate pot I brought these ingredients to a boil for the brine:
     *1 1/2 Quarts of white venegar
     *1 Cup sugar
     *1/3 Cup sea salt


As the brine was heating  I placed a pinch of mustard seed, corriander, and a few black pepper corns along with a few sprigs from the fresh herbs in the bottom of each jar.


No need to measure, just add a pinch to each jar

 Next I drained the tomatoes and packed them raw into the jars and added 2 cloves of peeled garlic in each jar.


So pretty!  The tomatoes and garlic cloves are the same size

Once the brine was boiled, I removed it from the heat and poured the hot liquid over the  tomatoes and herbs.  I left 1/2" of head room in the top of each jar and then added the lids and rings.  These went into a hot water bath canner at a boil for 10 minutes. Next I pulled the jars out and set on a towel on the counter where they will cool.


Pickling tiny tomatoes is quick and easy

Once they're cool I'll remove the rings, label the jars and place in the cupboard for at least 1 month.  After brining for a month these will be delicious little pickles and would make a nice garnish for bloody mary's or compliment any relish tray.

3 comments:

  1. We have a bunch of tiny tomatoes on a plant on our balcony, was wondering what I would do them if they do not ripen before winter. Now I know! Thanks so much!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is one awesome recipe! loved it.

    A pity i have a "thing" with tomatoes... but this looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AndreiaRFPs, how do you feel about carrots? Keep your eye out because I'll be making some pickled carrot sticks in near future.

    ReplyDelete

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