Last Summer I decided to start a garden, I planted tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers, serrano peppers, basil, and oregano. Oh, what a joy it was to see my veggies grow, the tiny little peppers were the cutest things ever and my bell peppers were amazing. I knew from the start that I wanted to can salsa with my home grown veggies. Thanks to my sister Martha and her visiting teacher who helped us and guided us through the entire process below is what I ended up with. I can eat a whole jar just by myself! Challenge yourself and can some salsa this summer.
Ingredients
· Tomatoes - 10 cups peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes, which takes about about 8 lbs (remove the skins, seeds and a lot of the water)
This makes about 6 pints of salsa! · 4 to 5 cups seeded, chopped long green chile peppers (about 2 lbs worth, less if you want a milder salsa)
· 1/4 cup seeded, chopped jalapeno peppers
· 5 cups chopped onions (about 1.5 lbs)
· 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
· 1.5 cups cider vinegar and 2Tbls. lemon juice
· 1 teaspoon ground cumin*
· 1 tablespoon oregano leaves*
· 2 or 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro*
· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
IMPORTANT: Follow the directions carefully for each recipe. Use the amounts of each vegetable listed in the recipe. Add the amount of vinegar listed. You may change the amount of spices, if desired. Do not can salsas that do not follow these or other research tested recipes. (They may be frozen or stored in the refrigerator). Do not thicken salsas with flour or cornstarch before canning. After you open a jar to use, you may pour off some of the liquid, add tomato paste or thicken with cornstarch.
Process - How to Make Salsa from Fresh Tomatoes
Step 1 - Selecting the tomatoes
Its fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality tomatoes! The best variety of tomato to use: Roma; also called paste tomatoes. they have fewer sides, thicker, meatier walls, and less water. Also, you don't want mushy or rotten tomatoes!
Step 2 - Removing the tomato skins
Here's a trick you may not know: put the tomatoes, a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for no more than 1 minute (30 - 45 seconds is usually enough) then....Plunge them into a waiting bowl of ice water. This makes the skins slide right off of the tomatoes! If you leave the skins in, they become tough and chewy in the sauce, not very pleasant.
Step 3 - Removing seeds and water
After you have peeled the skins off the tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half. Now we need to remove the seeds and excess water.
Step 4 - Squeeze of the seeds and water
Just like it sounds: wash your hands then squeeze each tomato and use your finger or a spoon to scoop and shake out most of the seeds. You don't need to get fanatical about it; removing just most will do.
Step 5 - Drain the tomatoes
Toss the squeezed (Squozen? :) tomatoes into a colander or drainer, while you work on others. This helps more of the water to drain off. You may want to save the liquid: if you then pass it through a sieve, screen or cheesecloth, you have fresh tomato juice; great to drink cold or use in cooking! By draining the water off now, you'll end up with a thicker spaghetti sauce in less cooking time! And that preserves vitamins (and your sanity).
FYI, the 20 pounds of raw, fresh, whole tomatoes you started with should produce about 7 - 9 pints of "squeezed" tomatoes
Step 6 - Get the jars and lids sterilizing
The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sterilize" cycle. I get that going while I'm preparing everything else, so it's done by the time I'm ready to fill the jars. Be sure to let it go through the rinse cycle to get rid of any soap!
Lids: Put the lids into a pan of boiling water for at least several minutes.
***Note: everything gets sterilized in the water bath (step 7)
anyway, so this just helps to ensure there is no spoilage later!)
Step 7. Make your own seasonings?
I use an electric chopper (food processor) to dice the seasonings fairly fine, about 1/8 inch cubes.
· 4 to 5 cups seeded, chopped long green chile peppers (about 2 lbs worth -less if you want a milder salsa)
· 1/4 cup seeded, chopped jalapeno peppers
· 5 cups chopped onions (about 1.5 lbs)
· 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
· 1.5 cups cider vinegar
· 1 teaspoon ground cumin* optional
· 1 tablespoon oregano leaves* optional
· 2 or 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro* optional
· 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt* optional
· Chili powder or hot sauce - 1 teaspoon * optional
** Optional Spices: The optional spices add flavoring to salsas. The amounts of spices and herbs may be altered in these recipes. Cilantro and cumin are often used in spicy salsas. You may leave them out if you prefer a salsa with a milder taste. For a stronger cilantro flavor, add fresh cilantro just before serving the salsa.
Step 8 - Mix ingredients in the pot and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer
<-- Start with the chopped tomatoes in the pot...Add the seasonings and bring to a gentle simmer/boil, just to get it hot (180 F, if you have a thermometer) there's no need to cook it; only to get it hot enough to ready it for water bath processing to kill any bacteria and enzymes.. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste it as it cooks. If you like the sauce hotter, add 1teaspoon of
chili powder.
Step 9 - Fill the jars with sauces and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, seat the lid and hand-tighten the ring around them. Be sure the contact surfaces (top of the jar and underside of the ring) are clean to get a good seal!
Step 10 - Process (Boil) the jars in the canner
Put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water. Keep the water boiling. Process the pint (or smaller) jars in a boiling-water bath for
· 15 minutes at 0-1,000 feet altitude;
· 20 minutes if you are at 1,001-6,000 feet; OR
· 25 minutes if you are above 6,000 feet.
Step 11 - Done
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Tomatoes are on the border between the high-acid fruits that can be preserved in a boiling-water bath and the low acid fruits, vegetables and meats that need pressure canning.
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