Southern Chow Chow (Picalilly)

Chow Chow is another one of those things that here in Colorado people look at me like I am nuts. It is certainly a Southern thing, and even some Southerners look at you like you are crazy.

I love Chow Chow with pinto beans and rice. Growing up, it was in my house some. My dad would use it every now and then mixed with mustard and make a sandwich spread out of it. But at my second house, my best friend Edwina's - her mother/my mother...we share well, always had chow chow. And we ate alot of pinto beans there. I went years without it being married to military, but every time I had pinto beans, rice, and cornbread I always fondly remembered Mama Judy and her Chow Chow.

Last night my friend Clinton called me and said..."Have you found Chow Chow up here?" I said "No, but I guess I could make some." And then came the 8:30 at night trip to Safeway to buy stuff, 2 hours of chopping, and we now have Chow Chow. 

I know at one point Judy made it and she could not remember the recipe. SO I went on the Chow Chow search and found thousands of different recipes. Some hot, some sweet, some savory, some with only green tomatoes, some with only cabbage. Then, I got The Homesick Texan Cookbook. Now if you have never seen Lisa Fain's blog - Homesick Texan and you like or miss Texas food, you are missing out. I have a ton of cookbooks and they collect dust on the shelf most of the time. But this is probably the best cookbook I have  ever bought. So I took her recipe, made a few changes (I wanted that balance of hot and sweet), and voila - Chow Chow.

The Homesick Texan Recipe:

1 pound green tomatoes finely diced (I used tomatillos)
4 cups green cabbage finely shredded and chopped
1/2 large yellow onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
4 jalapenos, diced. (I did not remove seeds)
1/4 cup Kosher Salt, plus more to taste
2 cups white vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 Tablespoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed (I used more dry mustard)
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used a scant 1/4 teaspoon of this)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1) Combine all veggies in a large bowl, Sprinkle with Kosher salt, and fill bowl with water to cover vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (I did overnight)

2) In large pot bring vinegar and all spices to boil. Add strained, but not rinsed vegetables, boil for 10 more minutes.

3) Pack vegetables in jars with juice from pot.

4) I water bathed these for 30 minutes, let them cool and dated the jars when they could be opened.  

Now that was the condensed version of her recipe. I added everything at the end of the line except...
I added a few serrano peppers. I love the flavor of them. And I cut the jalapenos in half.
Also I added 1/4 teaspoon white pepper, and a extra 3 Tablespoons brown sugar.

Also I quadrupled this recipe as I had planned on canning quite a few jars. Mainly so I would have them, but I intend on sending a jar to Edwina and Mama Judy. And of course Clinton will not get his jar until it sits for a few weeks because he will not be able to help himself and he will open it before it is time. :-)

I would suggest to let this sit for AT LEAST 2 weeks, but really 4-6 would be ideal. Alot like Cowboy Candy, the longer it sits the better it gets.