Friday, August 3, 2007

Homemade Salsa (canned)




1/2 bushel tomatoes (about 24 lbs. or 45 large tomatoes)
20 Anaheim peppers
5 black jalapeno peppers
7 yellow banana peppers
5 green bell peppers
6 cloves garlic, pressed
3 Tbsp. oregano powder
2 cups sugar
6 large onions
1/2 cup salt
3 Tbsp. cumin

Scald tomatoes and peel. Cut up fine and place in large canning stock pot (or you can pulse quickly in a blender or food processor before adding to pot). Use food processor to chop all peppers until a nice, almost mashed, consistency (cut stem off and use the whole pepper, seeds and all). Add remaining ingredients and bring to a low boil for 2-3 hours on stovetop, stirring often. Pour into pint jars, filling to within 1/4" from top. Process in steamer for 35 minutes. Makes about 18-21 pints.

NOTES: I don't currently have a canning steamer, so you can just pour the hot salsa into hot pint jars and turn them over after you have added the hot lids and rims. After they have sat for several hours or overnight, turn over and the lids should have sealed. The salsa has a shorter shelf-life this way, however, and is only recommended to last one year - so just be mindful of that (we're lucky to have this recipe last even half a year around here anyway!).

I should also note that right after you make this salsa, it is more of a medium hotness at first, but the longer it sits, the more mild it becomes. Even after we open a jar and refrigerate it, it becomes milder. So after the jars have sat for several months in the jars, they become "mild". This is our favorite salsa and we plan on growing a salsa garden every year just so we can make multiple batches of this each season!

2 comments:

emily said...

gosh, that looks so good! and since i'm due in 4 weeks, i'll be able to tolerate hot and spicy things again soon! wahoo.

so, have you ever halved the recipe? it doesn't sound like it since you sure go through it, but i was just wondering if that would work?

thanks for the recipe!

Deanna said...

Hey Emily,
I haven't ever tried halving the recipe, but I don't imagine that it would cause any problems.
Good luck with the new baby in a few weeks!