1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 cup cider vinegar
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Start by cooking the cabbage in a pot of boiling water. Cook it for
just a few minutes; you want it to still be firm, and cooking it just
helps it blend later on. Use a spider to remove it to a bowl of ice
water. Dump the hot water out of the pot, but don’t clean it: you
can use that same pot to cook the chowchow.
In a food processor, in batches, blend the peppers, the cabbage,
and the onions just until you have a nice chunky texture (you
don’t want it too pulverized). It should look like confetti.
Add all the blended vegetables to the pot with the salt, black
pepper, sugar, allspice, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, lower to a
simmer, and cook for 1 hour, stirring every so often. (You don’t
want it to get too dry; so if necessary, add more vinegar.) Make
sure to taste as you go: Does it need more sugar? More salt? More
heat? If it needs more heat (unlikely!), you can add a pinch of red
pepper flakes too.
After an hour, when the chowchow has thickened somewhat
and there’s less liquid than when you started, take it off the heat
and let it sit at room temperature for 3 hours. This helps the
flavors develop.
If you plan to use the chowchow right away, put it in a clean
jar and store it in the refrigerator. If you want to put it up for later,
follow the canning directions. Serve with collard greens.