My friend Dave has a fish fry every summer. Except this summer, because he is off travelling around the country preparing himself for a new career. So selfish.

Dave and his mama, Addie, are transplants from Texas, which explains a lot about his rootin’ tootin’ attitude, and his love of good fried fish. Addie recently retired back to Texas, which I also think is totally selfish because we count on her to bring baked goods to our parties. Baked goods, that is, and green tomato relish. And there is nothing in the world better than a nugget of freshly fried catfish with that green tomato relish piled atop it. People, I am telling you. There has been wailing and rending of garments over the loss of Addie, and not just because of her relish. And then Dave blows off the fish fry? They’re trying to kill us.

In order to try to salvage at least part of our summer. my friend Sara Jane whipped up a batch of Addie’s relish during the canztragvaganza a few weeks ago. I have been holding off opening it, hoping against hope that some freshly fried catfish would appear on my doorstep, soaking some newspaper in its greasy goodness. But seeing has that hasn’t happened yet, I’ve gone ahead and opened it, for use on hot dogs and with hash browns and anything else I can think of that might assuage my pain over the lack of summer fish fry. I mean, I’m never one to turn down a hot dog.

To start, settle in at a table with a big bowl for your chopped ingredients, a “trash bowl”, a good sharp knife, and a large cutting board. Make room, and get comfy, because this could take awhile. Get out your tomatoes and onions and chop them into small bites, roughly the same size. Then chop your jalapenos, and I strongly suggest you wear gloves, even for this few.

Then all you have to do is drop them in a boiling water bath (see this post for specific instructions and equipment on that) for fifteen minutes to seal the jars.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/aug/30/197689/

Addie’s recipe makes quite a lot more than what we have here, but being as this was her first time, Sara Jane scaled back the proportions quite a bit. Plus, who has three gallons of green tomatoes laying around?

Addie’s Green Tomato Relish, SaraJane style

1 gallon green tomatoes
5 cups onions (we used white)
2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp salt (the canning kind)
3 C vinegar
2 T black pepper
4 jalapenos, seeds and membranes mostly removed, roughly chopped

Like I said, I love a hot dog in any form, so we whipped up an easy Monday night meal of hot dogs and green tomato relish (also known in some circles as “chow chow”). But it doesn’t have to be hot dogs or fried catfish. The summer relish is great atop potatoes, tossed into a burrito, or as a gourmet hamburger topping. Now is a great time to make some, seeing as you might have some green tomatoes left on the vine. As September approaches and the weather cools, go ahead and make your last harvest a little early, and put those fresh green tomatoes to good use all winter long.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2010/aug/30/197718/

You see in the photo some “hot potato salad” alongside my beautiful hot dogs, and I’ll tell you all about that next week. If you’re nice.