Green Tomato Kimchi

From one of our fabulous farm members:

"Here's a great Green Tomato Kimchi recipe I've made many times.  Tastes best after a couple years in the fridge."

Green Tomato Kimchee

Ingredients

Lots green tomatoes, sliced in wedges
3 cups rice wine vinegar
1 cups sugar (or less if you don’t like it so sweet)
10 cloves garlic thinly sliced
¼ cup fresh ginger matchsticks
3 medium onions, halved and cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded daikon
1 cup shredded turnip
2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
½ cup Thai fish sauce

Instructions

Place the tomatoes in a colander set in the sink. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Allow to rest at room temperature until the tomatoes have exuded liquid, about 2 hours. Rinse the tomatoes in water to get rid of the salty taste. Set aside.

In a large, non-reactive saucepan, combine the vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and onions, bring to a simmer, and remove immediately from the heat.

In a large, non-reactive bowl (or a stoneware crock), combine the tomatoes and shredded vegetables. Pour the vinegar mixture over them, add the chile flakes and fish sauce, and toss well. Correct the seasoning with salt. Let the mixture cool to room temperature and cover with plastic wrap. With a paring knife, punch a few holes in the plastic wrap and place the bowl in a cool, dark place. Let the mixture pickle for 24 hours.

Transfer the kimchee to a tall glass jar or jars and seal tightly. You can eat it right away, but it is better if you let it “cure” for a couple of weeks. You can store in the refrigerator almost ndefinitely.

Three Week Cole Slaw

A friend gave me this recipe a few years ago.  She and her family had been vacationing in Maine and stopped by to visit on their way home to Virginia.  It's always a treat to see them.  One thing they shared was a delicious cole slaw they made while on vacation.  I've never kept it for 3 weeks, although the recipe uses a fair amount of sugar and vinegar so I believe it would keep well.  It's become one of my easy, go-to recipes for potlucks, and I go to potlucks often because I go to all day shape note singings as often as possible.  People like it and it is easy to make.

Today I plan on making some for a singing I am going to in New Hampshire on Saturday at the Song Garden Flower Farm and Tea House.  This time I'll be using our Brussels sprout leaves instead of cabbage.  For the last two weeks we have been trimming our sprout plants, eating the leaves, and putting them into the farm shares.  (Our farm members are great.  They are willing to try new foods and they understand that what is available each week varies with the season.  Now is the season for sprout leaves!)

We have a lot of these leaves but this week is their last hurrah.  Robin finished trimming the plants today and is making some silage out of the rest.  The finished silage will be for the ducks this winter.

So here is the cole slaw recipe.

Three Week Cole Slaw

3 pounds chopped cabbage
1 chopped green pepper
2 chopped medium onions
2 C. sugar
1 C. oil
1 C. cider vinegar
1 T. celery seed
1 T. salt

Combine cabbage, pepper, onion and sugar.
Mix oil, vinegar, celery seed, and salt in a sauce pan.
Bring to a boil and pour over the cabbage mixture.
Stir.
Refrigerate.
Let stand 2-3 days before serving.

Notes:
For big potlucks I sometimes skip the pepper because some people are allergic to them and they may not be apparent in the finished slaw.

I don't usually wait 2 - 3 days to eat this but it does improve with age.

I often consider reducing the sugar.  It's kind of sweet.

Enjoy!