Friday, October 29, 2010

Salsa

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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.

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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!

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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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