More Green Tomato Recipes (chutney, gazpacho, pie)
Green Tomato Chutney, from the Moosewood Cookbook, p.73
...The mysterious Indian relish, demystified. It's only slightly more complicated to make than applesauce. And you can vary its sweetness, non-sweetness or relative spiciness according to your own taste. Preparation time should include an hour to simmer and several hours (or even days) to ripen. Chutney will keep, if packaged in a sterile, sealed jar. [or refrigerated] Makes in the neighborhood of a quart.
2 lbs. green tomatoes
2 Tbs. freshly-chopped ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. salt
1 cup honey
1 cup cider vinegar
cayenne to taste
Chop the tomatoes. Combine everything. Bring to a boil, then simmer one hour, stirring now and then. Cool before packing.
Green Gazpacho, from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, p.46
4-6 servings
3 green tomatoes (3" diameter)
1 medium-sized green bell pepper
1 medium (7") cucumber
4 scallions
1 medium clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup (packed) minced parsley
juice from 2 juicy limes (about 6 Tbs. juice)
1 medium (4" long) avocado
3 cups cold water
1 tsp. salt
lots of fresh black pepper
1 Tbs. freshly-minced basil (or 1/2 tsp. dried basil)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. honey
optional: an extra avocado, sprigs of fresh thyme for garnish
Cut the tomatoes, pepper and cucumber in 1/2 inch chunks. Mince the scallions (white and green). Combine these in a large bowl along with garlic and parsley.
Mash the avocado(s) with the lime juice. Add this, along with all remaining ingredients, to the cut vegetables. Mix well. (Optional: puree all or some.) Chill until very cold.
The various Moosewood cookbooks often toss a few green tomatoes into various casseroles or vegetable stews and soups. There's also a recipe for stuffed green tomatoes, in which big green tomatoes are roasted, stuffed, battered, and fried.
Green Tomato Pie, from the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, p.87
Surprisingly, this sweet, spicy pie has no tomato flavor as we know it from soups and salads. Yellow cornmeal crust lends good color and texture to the tangy green-tomato filling.
a 9" 2-crust pie shell (the recipe recommends 2 recipes worth of a cornmeal dough crust, recipe follows, but you can substitute whatever you think will work well.)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
6 large green tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick (do not use stem end)
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 Tbl. cider vinegar
3 Tbl. butter
Preheat the oven to 425F.
Roll out half the dough and fit it into a 9" pie pan. Roll out the remaining dough and set it aside on waxed paper or a lightly floured surface. Cover with waxed paper to avoid drying out.
Put the sugar, flour, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and red pepper together in a shallow bowl. Stir with a fork to mix. Take one third of the tomato slices at a time, toss and turn them in the sugar mixture so they are evenly coated on all sides. Spread the sugared tomato slices evenly over the dough in the pan, and sprinkle the raisins over all, along with any remaining sugar mixture. Drizzle on the vinegar, then dot with the butter. Place the top crust on the tomato slices. Crimp the edges and cut vents in the top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the crust is lightly colored and juices are bubbling around the edges of the pie. Remove and serve at room temperature.
Cornmeal Dough (one 8" pie shell, so double it generously for a 9" two-crust pie)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, ground fine if possible (you can whirl coarsely ground cornmeal in a blender, if desired)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
about 3 T. water
Combine the flour, cornmeal, and salt, and mix. Add the shortening and cut it into the flour/cornmeal mix until the mixture looks like fresh bread crumbs. Sprinkle on the water a tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork after each addition. Add just enough water so that the dough remmains cohesive when pressed together -- it will be quite soft.
Roll on a lightly floured surface. The dough may break easily but it is also easily mended. The dough may be difficult to handle because of its softness.
--jp