Salsa

Posted by on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Salsa

This is a recipe I got from a good friend whose family resides in Utah.  So it is an authentic western dish. Salsa is a versatile condiment and a staple for cooking around here. We love it and have found many ways to use salsa. I’ve made western dressing by adding equal portions of salsa with ranch dressing.  This dressing is delicious served over a salad with western items such as lime chicken, greens, black beans, and corn chips.  I’ve made western omelets and garnished each with a spoon of salsa.  I’ve also served many a group of hungry teenagers mounds of chips and bowls of salsa.  And one of my favorite ways to taste salsa is to marinate chicken breast in it before baking.

Prepare about 15-17 pint jars, lids, and rings.  I sterilize my jars on the SANITIZE /HEAT DRY cycle of my dishwasher – keeping the door closed until ready to use.  I place the lids and jars in a pan of steaming water (about 180 degrees) to sterilize – leaving them in the hot water until ready to seal the jars.

The night before canning, make Mixture #1:

Mixture#1:

  • 2 gallons tomatoes, skinned and whole (I used Roma tomatoes)
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped bell pepper
  • ¼ cup Morton’s canning/pickling salt

Bring water to a boil in a large pan.  Throw in tomatoes for a minute and then put tomatoes in a sink of cold water.  This will make the skins peel easily.  Leave tomatoes whole and put in large pot.  Add other ingredients from Mixture #1.  Put lid on and marinate overnight.  This mixture does not have to be refrigerated while it marinates.

Salsa-Mixture

Mixture #2:

  • 2 4oz cans chopped green chilies
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup white vinegar (or half vinegar and half lime juice)
  • 1 TABLESPOON mustard seed
  • 1 ½ TABLESPOONS cilantro (I used the kind in the tube)
  • 1 TABLESPOON cumin
  • 6 fresh chopped jalapenos (more or less to suit taste- remove seeds to reduce the heat)
  • 2 yellow wax (Hungarian banana) peppers chopped

Blend all of Mixture #2.  Drain Mixture #1 well and chop in food processor.  Pour both Mixture #1 and Mixture #2 in large kettle or pot. Bring to a boil. I let my mixture bubble for 15-20 mintues, and stirred frequently.  However, the recipe instructed only a minute of boiling. I think the extra boiling time produces more flavor.

Salsa-Cooking

Fill jars leaving ½” headspace.  Place jars in a ready water bath canner and process jars for about 30 minutes. (A ready water bath canner would have enough nearly boiling water to cover all the jars about an inch when placed in the canner.  The water should be heated enough to keep a low rolling boil as jars process).  Recipe yields about 15-17 pints, but varies with size and variety of tomatoes.

For a tangier salsa, in my second batch I used half vinegar and half lime juice and added some additional cilantro.

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Salsa

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Filed in Appetizers,Canning | 3 responses so far

3 Responses to “Salsa”

  1. Ashleighon 04 Aug 2009 at 10:56 am 1

    I’m excited about this one too. It looks easy.

  2. Taraon 04 Aug 2009 at 4:08 pm 2

    Good Luck Ashleigh. Having a food processor and large bowls and pans helps. I want to know if the flavors will magnify over time. Since I’ve made 2 batches – I’ll have quite a while to find out.

  3. Ashleighon 05 Aug 2009 at 1:07 pm 3

    The flavors should definitely magnify over time…especially the peppers.