Green tomato pickles are my all time favorite pickles- they are beautifully translucent and crispy and sweet and spicy and the best thing that has ever happened to a turkey sandwich. I used to make a batch every year, but it has been a while since I have made them and we have all missed them. I have tried several recipes, but Mrs. Bobbie Gamble's recipe in the St. Thomas Episcopal Church cookbook "Without a Doubt" is the best one ever.
I started with a 25 pound box of green tomatoes. I usually grow my own, but this year it just isn't happening. Being so close to the Atlanta Farmer's market is a good thing sometimes! I got a box of the medium sized ones so they would fit in my pint canning jars- the large ones don't do as well. I washed and cored the box of tomatoes and then sliced them. Neatly slicing 25 pounds of tomatoes takes more time than you might think. These are best when they are sliced really thinly so I use my handy dandy Martha Stewart Kmart mandolin wanna be slicer. It will slice and dice your fingertips just as quickly as it will those tomatoes so a klutz like me has to pay extra close attention.
After they were all sliced I mixed up a solution of pickling lime and water. Make enough to cover the tomatoes generously because they seem to grow. I made 5 gallons for this sink full- the ratio is 1 cup of lime to 2 gallons of water. You have to use a nonreactive container for this- no aluminum pans. Our enameled cast iron sink is just right. Just in case you were wondering if I had been overdosing on testosterone, that is not my arm.
Give everything a good stir. Make extra sure all the tomatoes are separated so they can get a good dose of the lime water. My Uncle Bubber made me this wooden paddle years ago and I use it all the time when I am making large batches of things.
Here they are, ready for the evening soak. You need to soak them at least 8 hours, so overnight is the best option for me.
They need to be completely submerged, so I placed a few clean plastic cutting boards down and then weighed them down with two canning jars filled with water. Isn't that old Gum Turpentine bottle in the background great? It is from Savannah, GA and I think the longleaf pine graphic is neat. I just love old glass storage containers.
