Fayette county chow-chow

1 batch

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
3 pounds Tiny gherkin cucumbers*
3 pounds Tiny pickling onions
1½ Heads cauliflower cut into flowerets
2¼ cup Uniodized salt
;Ice water
24 smalls Onions
8 larges Red bell peppers cored and seeded
12 mediums Garden cucumbers (unwaxed)
8 cups Sugar
2 quarts Cider vinegar
1 cup All-purpose flour
½ cup Dry mustard
3 tablespoons Turmeric
1 tablespoon Celery seeds
1 tablespoon Mustard seeds

Directions

*If they are not really tiny, gherkins should be sliced in half lengthwise.

Set out 6 bowls large enough to hold the individual vegetables.

Put the gherkins, pickling onions and cauliflower in separate bowls.

Add ¼ cup of salt to each bowl; pour in ice water to cover. Leave loosely covered in a cool place, preferably the refrigerator, all day or overnight.

Meanwhile, chop the small onions, peppers and cucumbers separately, and put them in separate bowls. Add ½ cup salt to each and cover with ice water. Leave loosely covered in a cool place, preferably the refrigerator, all day or overnight.

The next day, drain all the vegetables thoroughly.

In a heavy stainless steel or enamel kettle, combine 6 cups of sugar with 6 cups of vinegar. Bring to a boil and stir in all of the vegetables, mixing them well.

Quickly mix the flour, mustard and turmeric with the remaining 2 cups of vinegar until it is very smooth. Stir the paste, along with the celery and mustard seeds, into the vegetables 3 to 4 minutes, until sauce has thickened and flour does not taste raw.

Taste for sweetness. Add up to 2 cups more sugar if desired, but cook it long enough to dissolve it well.

Spoon into hot sterilized jars to ¼" from the top of each jar. Seal at once, cool and refrigerate.

Yield: About 8 pints.

Glenn writes: "This is a recipe given to me years ago by a good friend and excellent cook in Lexington. It is a favorite Kentucky chow-chow, a bit sweeter than most. We like it with warm ham, roasts and chicken sandwiches - and with all kinds of beans. In Mississippi they say you have to have chow-chow with black-eyed peas." From Camille Glenn's 09/01/93"Flavor to Taste" column called "Garden of Eatin': Preserve Late-Summer Vegetables for Savoring All Winter" in "The (Louisville, KY) Courier-Journal." Pg. C10. Typed for you by Cathy Harned. Submitted By CATHY HARNED On 11-29-94

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