Ellen Verni has been writing "Home Cookin'," her column of Catskills recipes and rumination, for 24 years. She is sharing some of her archived columns with the Watershed Post. The column below first ran in October 2002. You can get more of Verni on her blog, at homecookincolumn.blogspot.com.
Late afternoon on Saturday, I went around the perimeter of my house bidding adieu to my morning glories. There were reports all up and down Main Street of our first impending frost. I shifted potted plants onto the porch, and my roses are hearty, but the morning glories are frail.
The next morning, I went around the house and greeted them again. The rumor of frost were false, and I was able to enjoy the delicate blue and magenta blooms another day.
This time of year the seasons are walking a thin green line. While we are officially into autumn, summer is still taking shallow breaths, and saying its good-byes, as well.
The first hard frost is bitter medicine to swallow. It is such a shock to the system to exit the house and find once-blooming summer annuals shriveled and devoid of all life. Alas, it is inevitable. The seasons come, the seasons go.
Each day without a killing frost brings more harvesting from the vegetable garden; a few more beans, a couple of more tomatoes. With the assortment of baskets and bowls on my kitchen counter, I like to cook them all up into relishes. They’re nice to enjoy now, well into winter, or to save as gifts during the holidays.
Before long, there will be more pumpkins than geraniums adorning my porch. It’s uplifting to bring a bit of summer along on our journey into autumn and winter.
Tomato-Apple-Fig Chutney
5 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
2 medium onions, peeled, and diced
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons whole mixed pickling spices
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups brown sugar
1- 1/2 cups vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 cinnamon stick, broken into 1-inch pieces
1 cup dried figs, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded diced
Tie pickling spices in a small cheesecloth bag. Bring all ingredients, except figs and red bell pepper, to a boil in a stainless steel or enamel pan. Boil gently for 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Add figs and red pepper and continue cooking for 45 minutes or until chutney is very thick. Stir frequently. Remove and discard spice bag, spoon the hot chutney into hot, sterile pint jars to within 1/8 inch of the top, then seal and process for 5 minutes in a boiling waterbath. Remove the jars carefully and set them several inches apart on a folded towel, away from any draft, so that they can cool evenly. Tighten lids when cooled. Makes approximately 4 pints.
Pennsylvania Dutch Chow Chow
5 green tomatoes, any variety, coarsely chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 small cabbage, cored and chopped
1/3 cup salt
1- 1/2 quarts water
4 small onions, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 large cucumbers, and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 cup lima beans
1 cup green beans, cut in 1-inch pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1- 1/4 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoons celery seed
2 tablespoons turmeric
Place the tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, onions and cucumbers in a large glass or ceramic bowl and cover with salt mixed with the water. Soak overnight, then drain, rinse, and drain well again.
Parboil the lima beans, green beans and sliced carrots until they are barely tender, then drain them well.
Place the vinegar, sugar, and spices in a large stainless steel or ceramic pan, and boil for 5 minutes. Add all ingredients and boil for 10 minutes more.
Pack in hot, sterile pint jars, to within 1/8 inch of the top, making sure the vegetables are covered with the syrup. Seal and process for 10 minutes in a boiling waterbath. Remove the jars carefully and set them several inches apart on a folded towel, away from any draft, so that they can cool evenly. Tighten lids when cooled. Makes approximately 4 pints.
Ellen Verni resides in Margaretville, and is the author of the cookbook, “The Kitchen Chronicles: From the ‘D’ Train to a Dirt Road”. Please send comments, as well as recipe suggestions or questions, to her e-mail address, blackdog@catskill.net. Photo by Flickr user djprydyl, via Flickr.
