Salsa!

This summer provided us with a bumper crop of tomatillos, with a successful experiment growing some jalapeño and baby bell peppers. As a result, we cooked up a ridiculous amount of salsa, which is good thing, because we use it a lot in cooking. I found an invaluable resource for canning recipes at the National Center for Home Preservation, as well as the Bernardin canning website.

Here are some salsas from the summer. All were processed using the boiling water bath method. If you're not familiar with canning techniques, you definitely need to read up on it before proceeding. Check out the "How Do I ... Can" section of the National Center for Home Preservation's site.

Some general instructions first:

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 Tomatillos: Remove the dry outer husks from tomatillos; wash thoroughly. They do not need to be peeled or seeded.

Preparing Peppers: 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 skinned. 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.

The jalapeño peppers do not need to be peeled, but seeds are often removed.

IMPORTANT: The only other change you can safely make in these salsa recipes is to change the amount of spices and herbs. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe. Do not substitute vinegar for the lemon juice.

Tomatillo Green Salsa (original recipe here)

5 cups chopped tomatillos
1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped red bell peppers
1/2 cup seeded, finely chopped jalapeño peppers
4 cups chopped onions
1 cup bottled lemon or lime juice
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp green coriander berries (unripe seeds of cilantro plants)
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Yield - about 5 pints

Hot Pack: Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir frequently over high heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2O 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.

Note: You may use green tomatoes in this recipe instead of tomatillos.

Tomato Salsa (original recipe here)

6 cups peeled, cored & chopped tomatoes (we used yellow plum, black zebra, novi sad & calabash)
6 cups seeded & chopped bell peppers
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup seeded, finely chopped jalapeño peppers
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp dried oregano leaves
3 tsp pickling salt

Yield: about 6 pints

Hot Pack: Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir frequently over high heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 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.

Orchard Fruit Chili Sauce (not exactly a "salsa" but we use it the same way; original recipe here)

4 cups chopped tomatillos
1 cup chopped green tomatoes (or only use 5 cups total tomatillos instead)
4 1/2 cups pitted, chopped purple plums (we used Italian prune plums)
3 cups cored, chopped pears and/or apples
3 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup seeded, chopped bell peppers
1 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp pickling salt
2 tbsp pickling spice
2 tsp celery seeds

Yield: about 6 pints

Combine pickling spice* & celery seeds in spice bag (folded square of cheesecloth) or stainless steel herb diffuser.

Hot Pack: Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir frequently over high heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes until thickened, 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 Salsa 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

*Pickling Spice

4 cinnamon sticks (3" long), crumbled
1 dried ginger root (1" long), crushed/crumbled (with mortar & pestle)
2 tsp yellow mustard seed
2 tsp whole allspice
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 tsp whole cloves
2 tsp dill seed
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp whole mace
8 bay leaves, crumbled fine

Mix all together and store in a clean, dry sealable jar. Yield about 2/3 cup total.