Heirloom Tomato Chow Chow

Ingredients
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled, grated or chopped
2 pounds firm green heirloom tomatoes, cut into quarters
2 medium onions, diced
Directions
Combine vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, turmeric, mustard seeds, celery seed, cayenne pepper, and ginger in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to extract the flavors of the spices. Once the liquid is boiling and steaming add tomatoes and onion. Gently stir to incorporate. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Shut off heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Place in a serving bowl and serve.
~Source: Tyler Florence, Food Network

Patti’s Notes: This comes out like a sweet, spicy relish. Can you believe I couldn’t find celery seed? I tried two stores and ended up subbing celery salt (even though there is no salt in the recipe) and it worked fine. I cut the recipe in half and it made plenty. I severed it with grilled pork chops. I think it would be good with chicken, fish or steak and I think it would be perfect on burgers.

Easy Meter: PDE (pretty darn easy). I will warn you that as the apple cider vinegar begins to boil the steam is really pungent. My house smelled like vinegar for hours, which isn’t offensive, just sayin’…

Tip of the Day: If you are in Arizona I highly recommend you shop for produce at Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm. He only sells what he grows and everything is grown chemical-free (no pesticides or insecticides). Everything is super fresh and amazingly delicious. http://tonopahrob.com/

Pictured above with a grilled pork chop and Green Bean & Tomato Salad (posted 6-13-10 but here’s the link so I’ll save you the trouble http://foodpornpatti.blogspot.com/2010/06/green-bean-and-tomato-salad.html).
This time I made it with Dragon Beans (pictured below). They start off purple and pale yellow but once they are steamed the purple disappears. I also hard poach my eggs instead of hard boiling. They come out super tender like little silky pillows. M-M-De-lish.