Canning anything...not just salsa...what's in your pantry?

[Paschale]

Hi all,

I've got a lot of tomatoes, and I still have some canned from last season.  I was thinking of trying something different this year, and so was thinking of canning some homemade salsa, which is something I've never done.  I'm wondering if you have to drain off some of the water, since my fresh salsa always ends up being pretty watery.  I don't think I'll cook it before canning it--it'll cook enough inside the jars, don't you think?  I'm thinking of smoking my garlic and hot peppers, and maybe even some of the onions before I put it in there too.  We'll see how she turns out, but any pointers on having successful salsa would be greatly appreciated!

[Tom]

Paschale,
If you have some green tomatoes that you need to take off of the plant, let me recommend the Tomato Crisp recipe that I put on the knowledge base.  Those things are good.   

[Bro. Noble]

I really like that green sauce made with jalapenos  ( salsa Verde).  It's hard to find sometimes so one year we made a bunch.  We used peppers,  onions, green tomatoes (you're really supposed to use those little husk tomatos),  salt and vinigar,  and a little bit of grated carrot for color. 

As for tips,  one I would offer is to be careful handeling lots of hot peppers.  I got them all through my system and it even burned when I -----how should I put this-----well ,  what I mean is that releaving myself wasn't a relief

[Haytrader]

Noble,

When you say "handling", you talkin bout "eatin"?

8)      8)       8)

[Bro. Noble]

Shoulda wore gloves when grinding the DanG peppers :

[pasbuild]

I have a friend that grows all of the ingredients for his salsa, it is the absolute best Iv ever tasted, unfortunately he guards his recipe closer then he guards his wife :(

[CHARLIE]

Paschale, if you eat my salsa you'll never like the store bought salsa anymore.  Here is my recipe along with canning instructions. The way Donna and I can my salsa makes it easy.

CHARLIE'S ROLL AROUND ON THE FLOOR SCREAMIN', "THAT'S GREAT SALSA" Salsa

Ingredients:
       12 Tomatoes* (blanched, peeled & chopped fine)
         1 or 2 medium Hungarian Wax Peppers (chopped fine)
         2 medium green (bell) peppers (chopped fine)
         1 medium onion (chopped fine)
         2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
        1/2 Cup  Vinegar
         1 Tablespoon Salt
         1 Tablespoon **Sugar
         1 teaspoon each Oregano, Ground Cayenne Pepper & Cumin

Preparation:

Combine tomatoes,  Hungarian Wax Peppers, Green Peppers, Onion, Garlic and vinegar into a pot

Add spices

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and continue to cook for 15 minutes (I don't use a lid because I want the sauce to thicken.

Can the ingredients:  (note: We heat the jars and the lids in a 250° oven.  Take one jar, one lid and one screw cap from the oven using tongs or mittens. Place a jar funnel (wide opening) on the jar and fill the jar with the hot salsa. Do not overfill and be sure to wipe the mouth of the jar clean. Put the lid on the jar and screw on the cap tightly. Repeat until all jars are filled (about 6 or 7 pint jars). After all jars are filled and capped, put them in a 350° oven until you can see tiny bubbles rising up through the salsa. Remove from the oven, tighten lids again and let them cool. You should hear each lid pop as the jar seals. You can also feel the top of the lid. If it's sealed it will be slightly concave. If it didn't seal it will be slightly convex and you can push it down. If the jar didn't seal, just use it first.)

*Note:   It isn't imperative, but I and seed the tomatoes before chopping them. You should peel them though.

**Note: My original recipe calls for a Tablespoon of sugar. This makes a slightly sweet salsa. If you want a salsa that isn't as sweet, reduce sugar to about a teaspoon. Try it the way the recipe is written and alter the recipe to fit your taste on the next batch.

Comments:

I also allow the chopped tomatoes to drain for awhile before adding the rest of the ingredients. When I'm cooking the salsa, I do so without the lid. This way I get a thicker salsa.

Any kind of medium hot pepper will work. You can use Jalapeno peppers if you want. The only reason I use Hungarian Wax Peppers is for the yellow color. I try to have a colorful salsa with red, yellow,white and green.  Because this is a mild salsa, I use medium hot peppers.

I use a "Salad Shooter" to chop all the ingredients. A food processor would work great too. I use to chop everything by hand, but it just plain took too long. Actually, the handchopped salsa is prettier if you have the time.

If you want a hotter salsa, just increase the amount of ground cayenne pepper. This can be done at any time.

We not only use the salsa for Taco Chips.  We put butter on flour tortillas, warm them up under the broiler, spread with salsa, fold bottom up and sides over and eat. We also will take a round steak, or pork chops, put them in a skillet, pour in a jar of salsa and a little water, put the lid on and cook for a long time on low heat.  Or, put a chuck roast into a roasting pan, pour a jar of salsa over it, cover with tin foil and cook all day (or all night) on a real low oven. When cooked until it dang near falls apart, fork the meat into shreds and put on hamburger buns.

[Daren]

We don't can it, we freeze it in ziplock bags. I'm sure canning would let it last longer, but we make it every year so it stays good in the deep freeze that long.

[twoodward15]

sounds like I'll be makin' salsa soon!

[johncinquo]

I Make lots.  Like 15-25 GALLONS a year.  I never follow a recipe.  I get asked all the time and I really dont have one.  I grow almost all the stuff that goes into it except for maybe some unique peppers I wanna try once in awhile, and the plain white onions.  You missed some of it at the picnic!  I make each batch a little different each time to try out different stuff to see what people like and then get some great ideas.  I have some HOT stuff around that I have  had a couple years.  Thers always some people who say they want it super hot, I find more people like it just kinda hot and with more flavors.  If ya cant stand to eat it, whats the point. 

Heres some stuff I kinda follow.  I process my tomatoes and peppers on a weekly basis all summer, and freeze it in gallon zip lock bags.  When I am ready to make salsa about 1/2 the work is already done.  I drain and squeeze the tomatoes out before freezing and drain off some of the water again when they thaw.  That way I am not cooking all day just to get rid of water.  Thicker is usually better for me. I use equal parts of tomatoes and peppers.  I use bell peppers, red peppers, hungarian wax, orange peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, whatever I can get to grow or pick up at the mexican stand along M37.  The more colors the better.  Then I throw in about 8 red onions chopped up.  I cheat on the white onions and buy a big bag already chopped up from GFS.  Their really all the same and I cant stand chopping onions.  I use about a 5lb bag.  I use fresh cilantro, between a 1/2 cup and whole cup depending on what I am going for.   The dried spices I use include paprika, chili powder, pepper, cayenne.  I have a stash of my own, I have been growing and drying the super chilis for several years.  Once dried, I gring em in my coffe grinder and store it in a canning jar.   This stuff is HOT!  I add about 2 tablespoons for a regular batch.   salt is just to taste.   I use sugar, which is debated by lots of people, but I use it to cut down the acid which makes the more palatable for many.  I'll throw in up to 2-3 cups for a batch.  I cook all this in a big 5 gallon pot for about 6 hours then turn it off and let it sit overnight.  The next day I fire it back up and get it near boiling.  I run the jars through the dishwasher on hih heat and have the dryer set to high.  When they are done washing but still in the drying phase, I start to bottle it up.  lids and rings in boiling water on the stove.  Jars come out of the dishwasher heat, get filled with hot salsa, and capped.  Thats it, no hot water bath.  Never had jar go bad or anyone get sick. 

Other stuff I have tried.  I have a basket for my grill that I roast or smoke up a bunch of the peppers.  adding this to the salsa give it a nice smoky cooked flavor.  You can add or adjust the flavor with liquid smoke.   A cup of strong red wine gives it a nice punch sometimes.   I usually throw in some worcesterchire sauce.  I once got some anchovies, dried them out, ground up into a powder, and added that to the salsa.  As long I didnt tell anyone, they could not guess that it was in there and people LOVED that batch. 

I also use Fruit Fresh.  keeps the colors nice and bright.

C'mon up some time.  We'll have some salsa, a few home brews, and watch the maters grow.

[Ernie]

Boy I love this Forestry Forum

Spring is almost here and I cant wait to get my maters and peppers planted, this drooling on the keyboard isn't good for my puter ;D ;D

[Paschale]

Hey there Johncinquo,

You're talking my kinda language!   8)  I always wing it from scratch, and my salsas are never the same batch twice.  The basics start with maters, peppers, garlic, red onions, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper and then anything else I might wanna add on top.  I grow heirloom maters, so I have all kinds of variety in color--I like having some orange or yellow maters next to the red ones.  This year I grew Green Zebras, so that should add some nice color too.   8)  I also make my own hot sauce, and vary that from year to year.  Homemade hot sauce always gets rave reviews too.  My personal favorite was when I smoked all the ingredients--that hot sauce came out a nice, dark, rich auburn color and was packed with flavor.  This year, with my first experiment with canning salsa, I'm definitely going to smoke the habanero peppers and maybe some other stuff too.  I might smoke a red onion, then grind it up in the food processor, then drain it so I just have smoky onion juice and add that to taste.  But for me, salsa is best when it's as simple as can be, and plenty of kick too!

Oh, and I do exactly the same thing as you:  dry the peppers, then grind 'em up in the coffee grinder.  And 1/8 of  a tsp of habanero pepper powder in a big ole pot of chile will knock your socks right off your feet!  I like the talk about homebrew too--I've done one batch, and hope to do some this fall, as soon as the weather cools.  Plus, I'm hoping to brew up a batch of hard cider, and rootbeer for my nieces and nephews to bring to Thanksgiving.   8)

Love to come up sometime and try your homebrew and salsa--we could have a mini West Michigan F.F. gathering.   8)

Hmm...thinking of homebrew made me wanna post my pic from beer making.  I found these bottles at an antique store with my family name on 'em.   8)  Perfect for some homebrew!

[Buzz-sawyer]

How did your brew turn out? Did ya ever brew some apple jack?

[submarinesailor]

Made some raisin jack on a submarine one time. ;D ;D ;D  Boy was there he** to pay when the ship's captain found it.  All thou he did like the taste of it.  ;) ;)  He was a good old mountain boy who done good. :D :D :D

Bruce/subsailor

[Paschale]

Hey Buzz,

Never did brew up some apple jack last season, and when I was finally ready to do it, all the good cider was gone.   :  Definitley going to do it this season, since I want to take some home for Thanksgiving.  I still have those recipes you sent me--and I do like the sound of apple jack with some raisins, though I think dried cherries could be fun though too!

[Don P]

Our neighborhood salsa party is this weekend. Everybody brings a batch and a bag of chips and we line up and judge the winner for the year. Been going on about 10 years now. A couple of years ago I was talking to one of the guys there and we realized nobody had ever entered a smoky salsa...believe me we've tried about everything else...it is not uncommon to see folks step away for a breather and cold refreshment partway down the line  :D. Anyway last year I figgered I'd smoke some, didn't know the first thing about it so I smoked everything, good. I watched as he got to mine, looked up and said "what did you make woodstove salsa :D?"  I think I'll just go back to "A-hoo-a hot salsa"  ;D.

[CHARLIE]

I've always stuck to my salsa recipe year after year so my salsa is consistant in flavor.  I gave the recipe to my son and he revised it a bit to his liking and makes his hotter.

When I used to work at IBM, I would instigate, Salsa Day, Chili Day and Johnny Appleseed Day. My rule was, it had to be homemade...No storebought allowed.  It's interesting that we'd usually have 10 to 15 people bring in their recipe (depending on which Day it was) and every DanG one of them tasted different.  People that didn't bring in Salsa or Chili or an Apple dish would bring in sides like chips or crackers or cheese.  Lots of fun.  8)

[Paschale]

Got a batch done last night, and it's in the pantry today.   8)  I made less than I thought I did, so I'll be making a couple more batches before the maters are gone.  I made it nice and chunky! 



I made it with maters from the garden, and multi colored peppers I found at the farmer's market, along with the garlic, onions and cilantro I found there too.  Ya gotta love the farmer's market!   8)

[Jodi]

If any of you do end up making some salsa, you should consider bringing it to Next years pig roast. See who has the best recipe?  ;)

[CHARLIE]

Jodi, there is no question that my salsa is the best. ;D

[Jodi]

 :D :D :D

[Linda]

Funny how I stumbled onto this thread just minutes after finishing my first batch this year. ;D  It'd been simmering since sawmill closing time at noon.  We are building another shed, so I could only check it every hour or two, but it turned out great. 8)

I can 40-60 quarts of salsa every year.  Unfortunately, my tomatoes and peppers aren't doing very well this year (our rainfall has not been very good).  We'll be down on all canned tomato products unless I buy from the farmers market.  My garlic didn't survive the drought at all. :(  Good thing I had plenty of onions.

[LIL]

 

OH OH Jodi - WHAT HAVE YOU STARTED  :D

[Patty]

Linda, what a difference on hour west makes. We have had the perfect season this summer for lush crops; the rains have come just in time all summer long. My garden is going great guns. Everyday we dig a few potatoes, onions, or garlic; and pick a few tomatoes or peppers for dinner. Today Norm is cooking up a double batch of Charlie's salsa. Man does it ever smell wonderful!  8)   I love processing the goods from the garden. Yesterday we made up a batch of jam....rasberry rhubarb. A couple weeks ago it was strawberry rhubarb. The rhbarb makes the other fruits go farther. We give little jars of it away to our customers at work. It is fun.

[Norm]

Charlie's salsa recipe smells and tastes just as good as he described. I used serano and some other pepper that's supposed to be just as hot as habaneros to add heat to it. Patty got a big laugh out of me drinking everything in sight trying to clear my throat from the fumes chopping them.



And for good measure I made up a batch of roma tomatos to freeze up for sauce. These are baked and then frozen