I’m honored to share Granny’s Chow Chow with you today! From time to time I send out a call for submissions to email subscribers so that they can share their heritage recipes and stories with us. I sent out one a few weeks back and got so many wonderful submissions! I can’t wait to share them all with you but plan on doing it bit by bit so we have time to enjoy each one. Today’s Guest Kitchen recipe and story is from Joyce Bacon and I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. Thank you so much Joyce and all who read this for being such a great part of the Southern Plate Family!
Gratefully,
Christy
My maternal grandmother (Granny) was born in Alabama, moved to Kentucky as a young bride, eventually ending up in Southern West Virginia where she raised her 8 children. My paternal grandmother died when I was only 2 so growing Granny was the only grandmother I had. I loved her dearly and loved to be around her. I liked to stay for days on end at her house. Grandpa was a preacher and I liked going to church with him (especially revivals) and liked hanging out with Granny in the kitchen. I liked her story about how chow-chow came to be.
She was born on a farm and always had a garden. No matter which coal town they moved to, Granny always had a little garden patch. At the end of the growing season as the weather began to turn cold, there were leftovers and stragglers on the vines and plants….usually a few green tomatoes, some under-developed peppers, so they all were gathered up and with the addition of some onions and cabbage, used to make Chow-Chow……nothing ever wasted! Some people called it “end of season relish”.
I would help her by crawling under the porch and pulling out the bushel baskets of jars, all dusty and covered with cobwebs. I would squirt them down with the garden hose before bringing them into the kitchen where they would be thoroughly scrubbed before being boiled and set upside down on clean towels to wait for the finished Chow-Chow. How I loved to eat the Chow-Chow with her delicious pinto beans and corn bread (all crunchy around the edges)
When I became an adult I learned that in some areas it is called piccalili. In the Pennsylvania Dutch areas near where I now live, chow chow is made with large “chunks” of vegetables including carrots, celery, and green beans. It’s okay but it’s not what I grew up with.
I still make Chow-Chow for my family and I use Granny’s old 2 gallon crock churn to salt it down overnight. When the Chow-Chow is finished, I use my paternal grandmother’s glass canning funnel to fill the jars. It always gives me a good feeling that I am continuing family traditions. Neither of my daughter’s have shown an interest in making Chow-Chow but I still have hope for my granddaughters.
Ingredients
- 12 medium onions 4 cups
- 1 medium head of cabbage 4 cups
- 10 green tomatoes 4 cups
- 12 green bell peppers
- 6 sweet red bell peppers
- ½ cup coarse salt
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- 2 T mustard seed
- 1 T celery seed
- 1 ½ tsp. turmeric
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Chop vegetables finely using food processor or grinder. Place chopped vegetables in porcelain or glass container; sprinkle with the salt; cover and let stand overnight.
- Place vegetables in large colander and rinse very well under cold running water. (divide into smaller batches if necessary)
- Drain thoroughly and place in large stockpot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chopped vegetables. Heat to boiling and then boil 4 minutes. Ladle into clean pint jars which have been sterilized in boiling water. Seal with sterilized lids according to manufacturers instructions. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
- Makes approx. 8 pints.
Nutrition
Everything that is past is either a learning experience to grow on,
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– Denis Waitley. Submitted by Jenny. Submit your positive or motivational quote by clicking here.
I have this minus the red pepper sooooo good
This recipe needs to be refined. 12 green bell peppers can vary greatly in cups. They can be tennis ball sized up to softball sized. You should revise it to cups on both red and green peppers. I make this recipe a lot except cut the sugar by about 1/3.
It’s good stuff.
Thanks
Thank you! Thank you! Just finished making your chow chow, and I was immediately transported back in time to my grandmother’s table! She always had a bowl of this deliciousness on the table – whether it was a humble meal of pinto beans and cornbread or a full-on Thanksgiving spread. Your recipe tastes just like I remember. Thanks you so much!
I am so glad it is as you remember!! I hope you enjoy it for meals to come as well as a walk down memory lane!!
Chow Chow is very popular here in southwest Virginia. I have to say that I did not know the history behind it until now. Thank you for your story and for sharing the history of chow chow. I absolutely love to eat it on my hot dogs and I love this recipe! Thank you!
Oh wow…I know if I made this my husband would eat every single bit of it…lol…He loves Chow Chow. I have never really cared for it, but I just may have to try and make this! Thank you so much for your recipe and story! 🙂
I know what you mean. When I make it my husband will eat it with a spoon right out of the jar.
I have my great-grandmother’s recipe for chow-chow that was given to me
by my grandmother. They were both from Mississippi, although grandmother lived in GA by the time I was born. I love it on pintos, but also
on field peas, blackeye peas and other legumes. My recipe is quite similar except it has cinnamon and flour added. The flour gives it a light sauce
consistency, and the cinnamon just gives it a hint of spice…not enough to
taste like dessert!!!
Thanks for sharing your story. I still have my recipe,
and that for green tomato pickles and bread ‘n butter pickles from the same grandmother written in her hand. I know how special those memories are for you, as they are for me.
I grew up in miss.my grandmother always made chow chow .I’ve looked for a recipe that came close to hers ,she passed I never knew the recipe, but I do remember the ingredients. It was the best I’ve ever had .your recipe has the same as hers did .thank you for posting this .I’m excited to make it .
My husband loves ChowChow…I dont really care for it 🙁
I think what makes your recipes/website so special is the step by step pictures, just wondering if when you have a readers recipe, could you get pictures also.. I have found that I like to see the way the food looks when its finished..
Silly of me I guess!!
Thanks for all you do!
Marian in Mississippi 🙂
I agree with Marian from Tupelo on the pictured, but I love chow chow. Seems to be something of a guy thing, eh?
My favorite part of this is the picture. Reminds me of happy times at my gramma and grampa’s. Their glider was red and white. Many relaxing days spent there. 🙂
This glider was green and white. I loved to take a blanket and pillow and take a nap on it.
my maternal granparents gliders and chairs were green and I loved sitting on their poarch in that glider.. ah the memories..thanks for this- the chow-chow not so much my cup of tea…
My grandma also makes something very similar to this. We have always called hers homemade ketchup (even though its nothing like ketchup). It has tomatoes, peppers, onions, cabbage, and a few other things. We all love it with our pintos! I think the original recipe that she has written down, calls it tomato relish. I’m gonna have to dig it out now and look at it.
Great story! Grandma’s are the best!