Lessons from the Barn: Some like it hot!

There has been a couple requests lately for the actually salsa recipe that I use. So I thought I would make my first post back to blogging in a while be the recipe for that salsa that I use. My friends who use Tapestry of Grace and participate in the Secret Sister program at Christmas have had it sent to them, when I have them for my secret sister. Rumor has it that last year's secret sister has rationed out hers to even now a couple tablespoons left in the jar in the refrigerator. So that she and others can enjoy it throughout the year, here is the recipe.

I got this recipe from The National Center For Home Food Preservation.

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Preparing and Canning Salsa

Chile Salsa II

10 cups peeled, cored, chopped tomatoes
6 cups seeded, chopped chili peppers*
4 cups chopped onions
1 cup vinegar (5 percent)
3 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

*A mixture of mild and hot peppers is recommended.
Read more about ingredients. Yield: 6 to 8 pints
Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.
Procedure:
Caution: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes.
Preparing Peppers: The peppers do not need to be peeled, but many may prefer to peel certain types. The skin of long green chiles may be tough and can be removed by heating the peppers. Usually when peppers are finely chopped, they do not need to be peeled. If you choose to peel chiles, slit each pepper along the side to allow steam to escape. Peel using one of these two methods:

Oven or broiler method to blister skins - Place chiles in a hot oven (400°F) or broiler for 6 to 8 minutes until skins blister.
Range-top method to blister skins - Cover hot burner (either gas or electric) with heavy wire mesh. Place peppers on burner for several minutes until skins blister.
To peel, after blistering skins, place peppers in a pan and cover with a damp cloth. (This will make peeling the peppers easier.) Cool several minutes; slip off skins. Discard seeds and chop.

Hot Pack: Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and heat, stirring frequently, until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot into clean, hot pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner according to the recommendations in Table 1.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Chile Salsa II in a boiling-water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Hot	Pints	15 min	20	25

IMPORTANT:
The only changes you can safely make in this salsa recipe are to substitute bottled lemon juice for the vinegar and to change the amount of pepper and salt. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe.
Nutrition Information (Estimated values using Nutritionist Pro™ software)
Per 2 Tbsp: Calories 10, Total Fat 0 g, Sodium 75 mg, Fiber 0 g, Protein 0 g.
Daily Values: Vitamin A 5%, Vitamin C 27%, Calcium 0%, Iron 1%.
Percent Daily Values based on Dietary Reference Intakes.

Adapted with permission from Salsa Recipes for Canning, PNW0395, by Val Hillers and Richard Dougherty, Washington State University. Pullman, WA: Pacific Northwest Extension Publications, 2000 revision. (National Center for Home Food Preservation, August 2004)
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The revisions that I make to it are the following: I use 5 cup of sweet bell peppers(any color) to 1 cup of jalapeno peppers.

I also peel and chop the tomatoes-by hand, removing the seeds. Cut the Roma in half length-wise and just run your thumb through the tomato to remove the seeds. Then cut each half in half and into 3-4 pieces. You want them fairly large as they break down some during the cookdown process. Leave them overnight in the strainer so that the juice runs off of it. You can see about the size of things in the pictures below.

For the onions and peppers I place them in the food processor and pulse it to the size we like. Then we put it into a gallon ziploc bag overnight and poke holes in the bottom of the bag, squeezing out the juice before putting all of the ingredients into the large stockpot and adding the vinegar and salt and pepper.

Hope you enjoy this! Have a great week!

Anita

For the onions and peppers I place them into a gallon ziploc bag overnight and poke holes in the bottom of the bag, squeezing out the juice before putting all of the ingredients into the large stockpot and adding the vinegar and salt and pepper.