Using up the last green (and red) tomatoes

Bubbling away on my counter, Nov 2018

I bought two 1.4 L kilner jars from Ikea earlier this year, specifically to use for fermented/brined preserves.  They've been doing the honors with some salsa fresca;  the jar above has a mix of red and green tomatoes, a couple small tomatillos, some achocha, spring onion, garlic, and chili pepper.  I layered them all in--garlic, spring onion and chili at the bottom--then filled it up with a brine consisting of 3 tablespoons salt to 1 L water.  It went on my countertop for less than a week, before going in the fridge for immediate eating.

You can see the lid is clamped shut in the photo, but it needed to be loosened at least once a day in order to expel built up gasses: CO2 I believe.  At about day 4 it was very fizzy!  Even after going in the fridge after a week of fermentation, it still needs to be opened regularly;  an earlier batch from eight weeks ago (now nearly all eaten) is still slightly fizzy, though more of a tingle on the tongue than a volcano erupting.

This salsa tastes more like gazpacho to me, but I still love it.  I enjoy it on my scrambled eggs or on a salad as a replacement for fresh tomatoes (of which there are only a few left under glass in my cold frame).  Plus I could drink the fizzy brine like soda;  it's not sweet but salty/sour and so refreshing.

Still have the main bulk of the ripe tomatoes in the freezer, on the countdown to the end of the No Buy Veg Challenge...just one week to go!