Spaetzle and Sauerkraut Soup

What a way to combine some of our favorite things.  This came about because of a statement by the good wife.  After finding a container of leftover spaetzle in the refrigerator while putting up leftover spaetzle from supper she told me to make soup to use it up.  Her wish is my command.


I've been trying to use more of our fermented food as part of meals or in recipes.  Yes, I know cooking with them kills the probiotics but sometimes it's about the flavor.  Besides, the improved nutritional benefit is still there and that is good enough.  Since the weather is cooling and since sauerkraut and spaetzle go together well it seemed natural.


I started searching for recipes for soups containing these and couldn't find any with them together.  The spaetzle soups tended be chicken with spaetzle and the occasional recipe with pork or mushrooms.  All the sauerkraut soup recipes had either white beans, potatoes, or both along with a meat that was usually sausage.  So, as frequently happens, I went my own way and started planning.


In the end, this tasty soup ended up containing homemade spaetzle, home fermented sauerkraut, homemade pork broth, and homemade mettwurst.   I chose the mettwurst because it is a good spicy sausage that pairs well with sauerkraut on the plate and I figured it would do the same in the soup.  The soup was made in the electric pressure cooker using a combination of different settings.

A full pot of soup.  The pressure cooker has a 6 quart capacity.

OK, I know most people won't go to the extent of growing cabbage and making their own sauerkraut.  That's OK.  I would suggest buying kraut that comes in a bag in the cooler section of the store rather than the canned variety.  The bagged kraut has much better flavor and crunch


Spaetzle and Sauerkraut Soup


1 lb smoked sausage (mettwurst, kielbasa, etc)
3 - 4 cups cooked spaetzle
1.5 - 2 lbs sauerkraut, drained
1 cup diced carrots
2 cups diced potatoes
6 cups broth
1/2 - 1 Tbs salt*
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 Tbs garlic powder


Put the broth in a large pot and bring to a simmer.  Add the diced carrots and potatoes along with the spices and cook until tender.  I set the pressure cooker for 5 minutes.  Once they are tender, stir in the spaetzle and sauerkraut and let them get warm.  Slice the smoked sausage into 3/8 inch/1 cm pieces and add to the soup and stir.  Let the whole pot simmer for 30 minutes for the flavors to come together.  Serve with a good crusty bread.  Makes 6 servings.


*This will be variable depending on your broth.  My homemade broth didn't have any salt so both it and the potatoes need the salt.  Commercially produced broth has varying levels of salt so adjust to taste.  Don't forget the kraut will have some salt as well.

A bowl of filling tasty goodness

As with many soups and stews it was better the 2nd night and will probably be even better on the 3rd night.  This is a filling nutritious soups perfect for cooler weather.


If you make this soup let me know what you think.


Uncle T

A Different Sunday Dinner

Growing up, Sunday dinner tended to be predictable.  Momma would wrap a beef chuck roast in aluminum foil with some potatoes and carrots and put them in the oven just before we headed out the door to go to church.  After we got home, we ate roast, potatoes, and carrots to the enjoyment of all.  Every once in a while the menu would change but to the best of my recollection, this was the standard.


These days, the good wife and I usually just eat leftovers from Saturday's supper as our lunch on Sunday.  Some times I'll go ahead and cook something but that is usually because we have something we don't want to chance going bad by waiting another day or two.  This most recent Sunday, I cooked for that very reason.


Exotic fruits are some of the few food items we actually go to the store to get.  After all, most of them won't grow in Virginia.  A few days ago we bought some plantains because they had some good looking ones and the price was right.  I don't do the green plantain double frying thing.  I prefer to use one that is almost completely ripe.  Add a little salt after they are done to play against their sweetness and it is an excellent side dish.

Minimum ripeness of plantain I use

Fried Plantain


1 - 2 plantains, almost fully ripe
oil
salt


Cut the plantains in half then cut the two halves down the middle.  Remove the skin.  Lay each half on a cutting board and carefully cut into two slices of equal thicknesses.  Heat oil in a skillet and place the plantain slices in a single layer.  Fry until golden brown then turn them over.  Once the second side is done, remove them from the skillet and drain on a rack or paper towels.  Repeat the process if need be.  Sprinkle a little salt on the plantain slices and serve.


Along with the plantains, I grilled some pork chops and made some black beans in the pressure cooker. 


The pork chops were seasoned with salt, pepper, and ground roasted cumin then a little splash of Tequila for additional flavoring was added.  The pork chops were then grilled to 145F which is medium rare and leaves them tender, juicy, and with just a faint hint of pink inside.  I thought about making a pineapple salsa to top them with but decided that would be gilding the lily.  The flavor was so good I'll definitely be using this seasoning combination again.


The black beans turned out very well.  As usual, I used my Simply Ming electric pressure cooker.


Pressure Cooker Black Beans


1 cup dry black beans
3 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup salsa
3 oz fat back or bacon ends and pieces
2 - 3 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground roasted cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 - 3 bay leaves


Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker and stir to mix well.  Put on lid and turn valve so it will build pressure.  Select pressure cook and set timer for 50 minutes.  At the end of the time, allow pressure to naturally release.  If the liquid isn't thick enough for your liking, mix a little corn starch and water and add to the beans and stir.  Raise the heat for10 minutes then turn back to warm.  Stir and the broth should be thicker.

Fried Plantain, Black Beans, and grilled Pork Chop

As you can see, not a typical Sunday dinner for a good Southern boy at all.  One of the benefits of an Army career is traveling and being introduced to other food cultures.  Try those foods when you get the chance.  If you like them, make them yourself.  If you can't find the right ingredient use one that is close that you do have.  Some of those subtle changes yield excellent results.


Give these a try either together or as parts of different meals.  I think you'll enjoy them.  Let me know how they turn out.


Uncle T

Fermented Green Tomato Relish

Some time ago I wrote a post about green tomato relish and mentioned I may try fermenting it.  Well, I did it.  The results are outstanding if I do say so myself.


Toward the end of the season we were having lots of tomatoes getting chewed on.  I was thinking either birds or rodents even though the chewed spots didn't look like they were made by rodents.  Since we were still getting a few good size tomatoes for fresh eating I kept letting the plants go and put up with the damage.  When I finally pulled up the plants I found out it was some sort of caterpillar doing the damage.  That's what happens when you avoid spraying.


We were going to be going out of town in a couple of weeks so I decided to pull the plants and harvest every sound green tomato and make some relish to ferment.  I ended up with so many little green tomatoes my basket was creaking and I was worried it would break.


Since I had so many I decided on two changes to my plan, first I would clean a bunch of quart jars and second, would use the food processor to save time.


This will not be a recipe with specific quantities as much as it'll be a method to be adapted to what you have on hand.

Two batches of Green Tomato Relish ready to start fermenting

I ran the green tomatoes through the food processor with the julienne/french fry blade.  This cut them into long strips about 1/4 inch square.  I would drop in a red tomato every so often for the little splash of color.  I stopped when the food processor container was full.  Everything was then dumped in a large bowl and mixed well.  We had decided we wanted a bit of heat in the relish so I very finely minced a couple of red ripe jalapenos from the garden and added them.  I added some herbs to one batch but can't tell that they added anything to the flavor.  After everything is well mixed it is time for the salt.


For the salting I used the same process for making sauerkraut.  That means using roughly 3 Tbs for each 5 lbs of mix.  I say roughly because I tend not to measure but use my fingers and go by taste.  Using the 3:5 ratio will work fine though and be more precise if that helps you.  After the salt was sprinkled on everything was mixed and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.  At the end of the 30 minutes, stir the mixture well and put it in jars to ferment.


If you have a fermenting crock you can use that.  I use mason jars for most everything.   Make sure they are clean and well rinsed.  I typically don't bother sanitizing them.  Put some of the relish in the jar and press it down to squeeze out some brine.  Continue to do this until you are an inch or two from the top.  If  you've made a large batch, repeat the process until it is all used up.  Split the brine remaining in the bowl among all your jars.  Use whatever method you choose to keep the relish below the brine and cap the jars. 

Pretty and tasty.  You can see the size of the tomatoes after the food processor.

Once the jars are capped, put them in a pan to catch overflow and set them in an out of the way spot.  I use a corner to the right of our sink that is just a bit awkward to put something we use regularly in.  After 24 hours or so, you'll start to see some liquid in the pan.  This means the fermentation process is starting and the gasses formed are forcing things up.  Start checking the flavor after 3 or 4 days to see if it has reached the desired level of sour.  The first batch was good after 5 days and the 2nd batch took 7 days.  Once it has reached the sour level you want, put them in a refrigerator.  This greatly slows down the ferment.  The flavors will continue to develop until you've eaten it all.


So, like I said, more of a method than a specific quantity recipe.  This relish is good with many things, grilled pork chops and chicken, served with vegetables, or even eaten by itself as a side.  Besides the good wife and me, this has been eaten by the good wife's sister and her family and by a Soldier I work with and his family.  It has been well received by both groups.


I know that much has been written about the benefits of fermented foods for gut health.  I don't know if all this is true and I'm not really concerned with it.  Fermentation does things I know about and care about.  Fermentation makes some nutrients more readily available, lengthens shelf life of the product, and develops some great textures and flavors.  So, if eating all the things I ferment helps our gut health great but I'd be fermenting even if it didn't.


There are many resources online to get you started.  If there is an organic food store close to you chances are good that at least one person that works there knows fermentation.  The one closest to use even sells airlocks for mason jars to aid fermentation.  I've not read it, but several of the sites I've visited to get information have referenced a book by Sandor Ellix Katz called, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods.  It can be found here, Amazon. 


Give fermenting a go and see what you think.  It is basically a beneficial bacteria driven pickling process.  If you eat sauerkraut, kimchee, or any other commercially fermented product you'll be amazed at the difference between that and what you can make yourself.  If you give it a try let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T

Butternut Squash Two Ways and Pan Fried Salmon

A week or so ago we made the drive back to Tennessee to visit family.  We carried a couple of boxes of goodies for family members.  We took stuff from our garden that the good wife had canned, pickles, pinkeye purple hull peas, black berry preserves, etc.  I took some samples of my bacon and sausage.  This is a variation on my childhood memories.  It seems like every time we visited my maternal grandparents we ended up with jars of preserves or containers of frozen corn or peas.  Then, my grandparents had the most productive garden and now I seem to have the most productive garden.


We did bring some stuff back courtesy of the good wife's sister.  From her garden we had some butternut squash and some purple peppers.  The peppers were sweet with a nice fresh flavor.  I much prefer their flavor over green bell peppers.  They are excellent sliced thinly and added to a salad.  I need to try to find them for my garden next year.  We also brought home a loaf of homemade sour dough bread.  I must say, that is some most excellent bread and she has been making it as long as I can remember.

A nice purple bell pepper

For the butternut squash I was wanting to do something different.  I know, there is nothing wrong with roasted butternut squash but there has to be more variety.  An idea came to me while I was watching SEC football on Saturday afternoon.  A quick Google search didn't turn up anything like it so I had my dish.  What I came up with was butternut squash waffle fries.  That accounted for the solid neck portion of the squash and the rest was cubed up and saved for another meal.

Butternut squash waffle fries and Pan fried salmon

The two meals with the butternut squash also featured pan fried salmon.  I first came across this method 8 or 9 years ago while we were living in Texas.  I don't remember if I found it online or saw it on TV.  What I like about this method is it's quick, gives nice crispy salmon skin, and it's easy to get the salmon to your desired level of doneness.  As a bonus, if desired you can use the butter and salmon juices left in the skillet as the base for a pan sauce to pour over the salmon.


Pan Fried Salmon


1 skin on fillet per person
1 stick butter, softened
kosher salt
pepper

Make sure the scales are off the salmon skin.  Pat dry both the flesh side and the skin side of the fillets.  Leave skin side up.  Coat the skin with a layer of the softened butter. Sprinkle some kosher salt all over the butter coating then add a little pepper.  Lay the fillets in a hot skillet skin side down and sprinkle additional salt and pepper on the flesh side.  When the cooked line is about halfway up the fillet, gently flip it over.  The skin should me nicely browned and crisp.  When the cooked lines meet in the middle the salmon is done.  The salmon will be completely done and flaky but will still be moist.

To make a pan sauce to pour over, add 2 - 3 more tablespoons of butter to the skillet.  Once it has melted and is sizzling, add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of bourbon to the skillet.  If you want to be dramatic and can safely do so, you can burn off the alcohol.  If you don't think you can safely do it then just let the mixture simmer for a couple of minutes.  Once the alcohol has burned off, add 1 Tbs of mustard and 1 1/2 tsp honey to the skillet.  Stir to combine and let simmer until reduced to the consistency you want.  Spoon over each fillet.

Fried butternut squash, pan fried salmon with pan sauce, fresh salad

Butternut Squash Waffle Fries


1 Butternut Squash neck, peeled
oil
salt


Using the waffle blade on a mandolin, cut the squash using the smallest thickness possible.  Once the squash is sliced, let is sit until the oil gets hot.  I used my outdoor fryer with peanut oil and got the oil to 375F.  Immerse the waffle cut squash in the oil and fry until browned.  Drain well and lightly sprinkle with salt.  Serve and enjoy.

Fried Butternut Squash


1 Butternut squash, cubed.  In this case I used just the seed end of the squash.
bacon grease
salt
pepper
roasted cumin


Season the cubed butternut squash with salt, pepper, and roasted cumin.  Heat bacon grease in a skillet, use 2 - 3 Tbs.  Once hot, add the squash and give it a good shake.  Let the squash cook until it starts to brown then toss the skillet to get the squash flipped.  Continue cooking until the desired level of brown is reached.  Serve and enjoy.


Both these ways of cooking butternut squash are tasty departures from the norm.  The waffle fries weren't even thickness due to the difficulty of getting it to cut smoothly.  As a result, many of them were crispy on one part and crispy with a soft inside at the other.  The little bit of salt was just enough to emphasize the sweetness of the squash.  The cubed squash had a similar texture all the way through but the addition of the cumin and the flavor imparted from the bacon grease made the flavor something else.  Both of these methods will be put to use again.  I don't usually grow winter squash but I may need to next year.


The salmon and butternut squash, either way, would be good accompanied by a salad.  The salmon and cubed squash was accompanied by a simple salad.  The salad was Romaine, Red Leaf lettuce, sliced onion, sliced purple sweet peppers, sliced carrots, tossed with apple cider vinegar salad dressing and topped with freshly fried bacon pieces.  Given the time of year, only the pepper was home grown.


Give this salmon and these butternut squash recipes a try in your kitchen.  I think you'll be pleased with the results.  If you do try them, let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Shrimp in a Peanut Garlic Sauce

By now, you've probably figured out that we enjoy the cuisine of many countries.  Indian food is no different.  We've always gone to an Indian restaurant since all the recipes I've looked at have always seemed either overly complicated or had several ingredients that I don't keep on hand and didn't know where to find.  There may be one but I've not found an Indian market close to us where I could get those ingredients.


I was looking around at Indian and Indian inspired recipes last week and I found one that had ingredients that I had or could alter to what I had on hand.  Using what I had on hand also changed both the texture and flavor profile.  We've decided that this is a keeper recipe.  I'm calling this an Indian inspired recipe because I adapted a recipe that was adapted from a curry cookbook that was written by an Indian Chef, 660 Curries.  From what I've read about the author I may have to get this book.


One of the key changes was in the peanut requirement.  The original called for blanched peanuts to be crushed and added to the sauce.  Those peanuts are rather flavorless and only provide a bit of texture to the sauce.  I decided to use some of our homemade mixed nut butter instead.  I leave a bit of graininess to this butter when I process it and the flavor is out of this world. 


This shrimp dish is good served over rice or cauliflower rice.  Not only that, it is quick and simple to make. 


Shrimp in Peanut Garlic Sauce


1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, size is your preference
1/2 - 1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 cup nut butter
4 - 8 large cloves garlic
3 Thai chilies
2 Tbs canola oil
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
salt
cilantro


Place shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with ground turmeric to suit you.  I was using 35 - 40 size shrimp so I used a good teaspoon of turmeric.  Toss to coat well and let sit for 15 - 30 minutes.


While the shrimp is sitting, mince the garlic and chilies.  Add the oil to a skillet and bring up to medium heat.  Add the garlic and chilies and stir.  After they've cooked about a minute, add the nut butter and stir.


Once the nut butter, garlic, and chilies have browned a bit, stir in the coconut milk.  Be sure to shake the can before you open it.  Bring it up to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Add salt to taste.  Simmer for 2 minutes and add the shrimp.  Bring back to a simmer and cook until shrimp are done, about 3 - 5 minutes.


Serve over rice or cauliflower rice and sprinkle with cilantro.

Shrimp in a Peanut Garlic Sauce over Cauliflower Rice

I used some of my dried Thai Dragon peppers instead of fresh peppers because I didn't grow any Thai peppers this year.  I just minced them up dry instead of rehydrating them.  If you can't find Thai peppers then cayenne peppers are a good substitute.  You should be able to find both at a good Asian store.


Give this recipe a try and expand your kitchen repertoire.

Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

A good bit of the fruit and vegetables that we eat comes from our garden and fruit trees.  At the peak of each season the good wife is kept busy canning the excess so we can eat it throughout the year until the next harvest season.  Tomatoes have been coming in strong for a bit now and we have 17 pints of homemade ketchup and 11 quarts and 1 pint of tomatoes canned for making sauces or adding to stews.  Earlier in the season the good wife found a website, http://joybileefarm.com/making-tomato-powder-scratch/?utm_content=buffer67519&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer, suggested an alternate use for the tomato skins that get removed prior to processing and canning.  The use she found was drying and grinding to powder to use for seasoning, thickening, etc.  Making powder was in lieu of composting or feeding to the chickens according to the website.  We'd always composted them.  The process is simple, put the tomato skins in a dehydrator or on a rack in the oven at the lowest temperature setting and letting dry until they were brittle.  Once they are brittle put in them in a food processor, blender, or spice mill.  I used the dry blade container for the Vitamix.  The powder is concentrated tomato flavor.

Tomato skins laid out ready to dry

Tomato powder

To this point we have about two cups of tomato powder and I was brainstorming on a use.  I've been trying flavored pastas with mixed results so I decided to use the same technique I'd used for some mushroom Fettuccine.  Once I had decided on pasta I Googled to see if tomato pasta was a thing.  Unsurprisingly, it was.  They all used tomato paste and it only seemed to be there to color the pasta and add a bare hint of flavor.  I figured my way would yield good flavor and color.

Tomato pasta freshly kneaded and ready to rest

What kind of pasta to make generated some discussion at work during a break.  The choices came down to cheese and shrimp stuffed ravioli or fettuccine.  I settled on fettuccine because it would be less labor intensive and I was wanting to use some asparagus that I had in the refrigerator.  I only had about 8 ounces of mushrooms on hand so I didn't have as many as I'd have liked.

Tomato Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus

Pasta:
1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs tomato powder
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs water

1 lb 31-35 count shrimp
1 lb asparagus
1 medium onion
1/2 - 1 lb mushrooms
1 cup white wine
1 stick butter
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning

For the pasta:  Combine the flour, the tomato powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center and add the eggs, water, and olive oil.  Mix everything together until well combined and turn out on a floured surface.  Knead the pasta until it is smooth and elastic.  Wrap in plastic and let it sit for 20 minutes.  Divide into 4 pieces and roll to desired thickness and cut to the size you want.  After the pasta is cut place in well salted boiling water and cook until almost done.

Tomato pasta ready to run through the cutter

While the pasta dough is resting, cut the asparagus into bite size pieces, thinly slice the onion, and slice the mushrooms.  In 2 Tbs of  butter sautee the asparagus and onion, season to taste, and then place in a bowl.  Sautee the mushrooms in 2 Tbs of butter until they are done and put in the bowl with the asparagus and onion.  Place the shrimp in the skillet with the rest of the butter and put the pasta into the boiling water.  Cook the shrimp until almost done then add the rest of the ingredients back to the skillet.  Pour in the wine and stir to combine well.  Transfer the almost done pasta to the skillet.  Stir to combine the pasta and other ingredients.  The butter, wine, and pasta water will combine and make a sauce to coat everything.  Plate and serve.  This will serve 4 as an entree.

Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

If you don't have tomato powder, I believe tomato paste could be used for the same effect.  I would add a 6 oz can along with the wet ingredients and add additional flour to achieve the desired consistency.  I also think you could thinly slice Roma tomatoes and dry them until brittle and grind them into your own tomato powder.  I may have to break out the dehydrator to see how that works.

A tasty supper of Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Asparagus

The final product had a distinct tomato flavor that went well with the shrimp, asparagus, and wine sauce.  The color is nice as well.

Give this pasta a try along with whatever you think will go well with it or use this whole recipe.  Either way, let me know what you think of the tomato pasta.

Uncle T

Green Tomato Relish

We tend to put in lots of tomato plants when we start the summer garden and this year was no exception.  For large fresh eating tomatoes I'd switched to Celebrity tomatoes a couple of years ago because they tend to stay relatively short yet produce heavily.  This year, in addition to the Celebrity tomatoes we put in Roma tomatoes.  The Romas were selected because they are not as juicy and would require less time to make homemade ketchup of the proper consistency.  Since I've not grown Romas before I planted them like I was used to planting Celebrity and other varieties.  In previous years, that meant that once the cages were around the tomato plants I had room to walk between the rows of tomatoes and harvest the ones that were ready.

The tomato jungle with pepper plants in front

Welcome to the tomato jungle.  The Celebrity tomatoes have gone crazy this year and have grown much longer and fuller than previous years.  The Romas grew more than I'd anticipated.  As a result of both varieties spilling over the tops of the tomato cages I have a huge tangle of tomatoes.  In order to harvest the Romas I have to crawl between the rows on my hands and knees.  I imagine I look a sight crawling through the tomatoes in a kilt.

This is why I have to crawl between the tomatoes to harvest

One problem with crawling between the tomatoes is the dislodging of green tomatoes before they are mature enough to finish ripening on the kitchen counter.  Since these tend to be small there is not much to be done with them.  I could save them up and when I had enough on hand to fill a jar I could ferment them.  On a whim while fixing supper I thought I'd whip up a green tomato relish to go with the pork chops I was fixing.


I've made it twice with slight variations and both were good.  I finally got around to searching the internet and found that green tomato relish is a thing but typically far different from mine.  Many are for large batches to can and almost all use far more ingredients.  The result is that the green tomatoes are not really that prominent in the flavor profile.  They also called for cooking the relish which softens the green tomatoes and changes the whole texture of the relish.  I wanted the crunch and the flavor.

A bowl of fresh Green Tomato Relish

Thus far, I've used this relish on both pork chops and chicken breasts.  Both were seasoned with a Szechuan seasoning blend I'm experimenting with.  The pork chops were pan fried in a little butter and the chicken breasts were pan fried in bacon grease left from preparing bacon for tomato pie.  The green tomato relish complimented both very well.

Pork chop topped with Green Tomato Relish, sautéed zucchini and onions, Parmesan smashed potatoes

Green Tomato Relish

2-4 small green tomatoes

1 small red tomato

1slice onion, 1/4 inch thick

basil

oregano

marjoram

parsley

salt

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 small hot pepper, optional

Dice the green and red tomatoes and put in a bowl.  Dice the onion and add to the tomatoes.  Mince the herbs, about 2 tsp each, and add to the bowl.  Add olive oil and vinegar and stir to combine.  Add salt to taste.  Relish is ready to top whatever you are having for supper.

Chicken breast topped with Green Tomato Relish, Parmesan smashed potatoes, and Tomato Pie

Optionally you can add some finely diced hot pepper to give a hint of heat.  I had a small, 1 inch long, jalapeno that I added to the relish that accompanied the chicken.  Another option if you don't have fresh herbs is to use dried Italian seasoning.  I did this once because I didn't want to get out in the heat again.

Later in the year, end of season, I may see about making a fermented version of this relish.  Given the small size of the dice it shouldn't take long.


Give green tomato relish a try if you are growing tomatoes or if you can get them from a Farmer's Market.  This relish goes well with both chicken and pork as well as an accompaniment to peas.  Let me know what you  think.


Uncle T