Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Grandpa Masson's pickled green tomatoes


Grandpa Masson is not my grandfather, but my husband's. I never had the chance to meet him, but this weekend I decided to tackle pickling green tomatoes in the way I'd been told that he used to. Based on the description, he would pickle green tomatoes with dill, garlic, hot peppers and some sort of pickling brine. So that's what I set out to do (minus the hot peppers). Having never tasted his pickles, I don't know if these are an accurate reproduction - but we sure liked them!

10 very green tomatoes (enough to fill a large jar)
5-10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp pickling salt (I used kosher I had on hand)
10 sprigs fresh dill



Cut the tomatoes in half or quarters. Cram them into a sterilized jar, along with the garlic cloves and dill sprigs.

In a saucepan, heat the water, vinegar and salt to a boil. Pour slowly into the jar, leaving 1/2 inch at the top. Screw the sterilized lid on tightly. (Watch out - glass will be HOT.) Carefully flip the jar upside down until cooled. Flip back over and store in fridge.

Taste after a week. If not 'dill-ed' enough, wait another week or two. (We tried ours after four days. They were delicious! But we both agreed they'd be even better in a week or so.)

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