Ann Bish of Fallston was looking for a recipe for Pickled Green Tomatoes. A response came from Toni Felger of Bend, Ore., who wrote that she makes this recipe every year and "my friends keep asking me for more."

Pickled Green Tomatoes

Makes 5 pints

8 pounds green tomatoes, thinly sliced

6 large onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons whole cloves

2 tablespoons whole allspice

2 tablespoons mustard seed

2 teaspoons celery seed

2 teaspoons mixed pickling spices

4 cups cider vinegar

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 large red bell peppers, coarsely chopped

Put tomatoes and onions in separate bowls; sprinkle tomatoes with 1/4 cup salt and sprinkle onions with 2 tablespoons salt. Cover and let stand 12 hours. Drain vegetables thoroughly; discard liquid. Rinse once with cold water; drain thoroughly.

Tie cloves, allspice, mustard seed, celery seed and pickling spices in a spice bag and put into a large kettle; add vinegar, sugar and dry mustard. Heat to boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add tomatoes, onions and red peppers; cook over low heat, uncovered, until tomatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.

Fill clean hot jars with vinegar mixture to within 1/2 inch of top. Remove air bubbles. Add more vinegar mixture, if needed. Seal, following manufacturer's instructions. Process in boiling water bath 5 minutes.

Tester Laura Reiley's comments: "These are great, old-timey pickles that make a super accompaniment to summer barbecues. The tomatoes are somewhat soft, but not mushy, with an appealing sweet-tart flavor. The peppers add a little color interest. Over time the colors fade a little, so store the jars in a dark place."

Recipe requests

* Vivian M. Schimberg of Baltimore is seeking a blackberry cobbler recipe, "which appeared in the Time-Life series of cookbooks. The recipe called for just dumping the washed berries in a casserole and covering it with a batter that had sugar in it. It baked up rather caky with the sweet berries at the bottom. I lost my copy and can no longer find that series of cookbooks in the library."

* Diane Van Bleikom of Johnstown, Pa., wants a recipe for a "spinning bowl salad, mainly the salad dressing recipe. It was a featured item at the Twentieth Century Restaurant in Youngstown, Ohio, which closed about 10 years ago. I'm hoping someone got the recipe. It was fabulous."

* William Schwab of Frederick requested a recipe that he says his mother called "Maudeshen, which is a noodle dough stuffed with chopped spinach -- something like ravioli but Mom shaped them like a turnover and boiled them. I'm in my 80s, do most of the cooking and would like to taste them one more time."

If you are looking for a recipe or can answer a request for a hard-to-find recipe, write to Ellen Hawks, Recipe Finder, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278. If you send in more than one recipe, please put each on a separate sheet of paper with your name, address and daytime phone number. Important: Please list the ingredients in order of use, and note the number of servings each recipe makes. Please type or print contributions. Letters may be edited for clarity.

Pub Date: 08/04/99