What to do with a pound of green cherry tomatoes?

[politicat]

I spent the day rediscovering the joys of my garden and in the process I knocked about a pound of green cherry tomatoes off the vines or had to cut sections of the vines to get some order back into the place. (The whole saga is in the gardening group. Suffice it to say here that I'm starting to think about asking my mom some hard questions about my father; it's the loaves and the fishes out there.)

As for the green tomatoes, I dropped them in my harvest basket, and now they're sitting in a bowl on my counter.

They are too small to fry, and when I tasted one... well... my mouth puckered tighter than a cat's butt.

Are there any pickles or other things to do with them, or should I just give them a chance to ripen in the window?

[Ecumenist]

1. Politicat

Pickle 'em,, darlin'. Heck why don't you go for the green cherry tomato version of Hungarian sun pickles? Depending on how much sun you get, it shouldn't take longer than a hot sunny afternoon to get 'em ready. Nice side to well marinated grilled cowboy steaks, a great salad and hot garlicky crusty french bread.. :loveya:

[Warpy]

2. Put 'em in a paper bag with an apple

The ethylene gas given off by the apple will cause those bitter little suckers to ripen up and produce all their sugars. You'll end up with something very nice for your salads.

[eleny]

3. Pickle them

I did this with cherry tomatoes one year and they were great. I can't find my recipe. But here's one that sounds almost exactly like what I did. I just didn't have a piece of celery in the jar. But I like that idea. It must taste and look good.

I sliced some of the tomatoes in half. I looked really nice on the shelf.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1736,155180-237193,00.html

CHERRY GREEN TOMATO PICKLES

Cherry green tomatoes
Garlic
Celery
Onion
Dill
Green pepper

Put small green tomatoes in jar. To each pint add 1 clove garlic, 1 stalk celery, 1 small onion, 1 head of dill, some green pepper. Boil together: 2 quarts water, 1 quart vinegar, 3/4 cup salt (scant). Boil 5 minutes with cover on.

Pour into jars and put in hot bath. Just bring to a boil and turn off heat and let jars stand in the hot bath until cold.

[Tab]

4. I had a suggestion

but the puckering cat's butt imagery ruined it for me :)

[politicat]

5. Sorry about that....

Had a cat on my lap that was... presenting... as I wrote that.

[spinbaby]

6. Make them into salsa

Chop them up with onions, cilantro, garlic, and jalepeños. Salt to taste.

[Shakespeare]

7. Why, you must make CHOW CHOW!!!

And, if you'd be so good as to send me a jar... :evilgrin:

Seriously, it's a great way to use up green tomatoes (I'm sure you know this already, but it's a spicy relish made with green tomatoes, cabbage and peppers). Cook up a mess of beans (black eyed peas or pintos are especially good), bake a skillet of cornbread, and garnish said beans liberally with the chow chow. Food nirvana.

[eleny]

8. I never knew that use for chow-chow

I had it on franks many years ago and didn't like it at all. But your use of it intrigues me. I think it's time to revisit this chow-chow deal!