When faced with oodles of tomatoes and peppers from my garden, my favorite use of the bountiful harvest is to make up big pots of spicy salsa. This year I made two batches of salsa and now have many pints of the delectable condiment in my storage.
Most salsa recipes are similar – tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar or lemon juice (extra acid necessary for safe canning), salt, garlic, spices, etc. I’ve tried a few different variations and my absolute favorite recipe goes like this:
57 tomatoes (1/2 blended 1/2 chopped)
4 chopped onions
4 chopped green peppers
2 1/2 jars sweet yellow peppers (drained)
3/4 jars hot yellow peppers
4 jalapeno peppers (finely chopped or blended)
4 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 c. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 20 oz. cans tomato sauce
Cook for two hours.
Pour into pint jars, wipe tops of jars, place hot lids and rings.
Process in canner.
Notes: I know it seems strange to count the tomatoes, but that is what the recipe says, so I just do it! I do adjust for size of tomatoes however – some of mine were pretty small, so I added extra. I basically chop and blend until I have two big pots about 2/3 full of tomatoes. While the tomatoes are cooking away I start chopping the onions and peppers in my little food chopper. I generally chop all my veggies with just my big cutting board and my awesome Cutco knives, but this is a job for an electrical gadget. I don’t usually use the bottled peppers since I generally have an abundance of various types of peppers from my garden. I purposely plant peppers with a variety of heat just for my salsa. Don’t skimp on the sugar and salt – I’ve actually decreased by half the amounts in the original recipe and this amount is perfect!
After all that hard work, I take great satisfaction in admiring jars of beautiful salsa. I serve this salsa year round with fajitas, taco salad, burritos, omelets, fried potatoes – the list could go on and on.
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