First Fresh Salsa of the Season!

The tomatoes had a slow start this year due to the cold spring but they are doing well now!  The first batch of fresh salsa is always the best every year.

This batch won't make it until sundown - the first batch never does.  I also have lots of bell peppers and onions in the garden so I think I'll make fajitas for dinner.

Fresh salsa with fajitas - YUM!

Mrs. Wages Salsa Mix

A friend gave me this package of Mrs. Wages Salsa mix and it has just been sitting in my cupboard. I saw it the other day and thought since I have an overabundance of tomatoes right now it might be a good time to try it out.

I followed the directions exactly on the package - it was super easy to do. I weighed out my tomatoes, skinned them and then cut them up. Then you just have to add the mix, vinegar (I used cider) and cook. If you don't have fresh tomatoes, you can even use canned tomatoes.

There is nothing artificial in the ingredients that I could see - just seems to be dehydrated vegetables and seasonings.

It tastes as good as my own salsa and I didn't have to mess with the seasonings a zillion times and I only had to cut up tomatoes and not onions, peppers and garlic.

This is what the finished salsa looks like.

I will probably continue to make my salsa totally from scratch but if you want to make a batch of "homemade salsa" without using everything from scratch -this will definitely do.

Making Salsa to can

My home canned salsa is something that my family looks forward to.

Making salsa is a lot of work but oh so worth it.

Step One: Prepare the tomatoes. I cut mine up and run them through a food mill to remove the peels and seeds. If you don't have a food mill, you will need to peel and seed them. You want to cook them down to the consistency of tomato sauce or your finished salsa will be runny. I start with about 8 quarts of tomato puree - for smaller batches, you can cut the recipe down.

The type of tomato that you use will make a big difference. I use roma times that have more meat and less juice.

After I have started the tomatoe puree cooking down, I chop up the rest of the vegetables.

Step Two: Cut up 8 cups of peppers. I make a mild salsa that my child can eat so it is about 3 cups of hot peppers and 5 cups of bell. The hotter you want it, increase the amount of hot peppers while reducing the amount of bell. Also take into account the heat of the peppers you are using - some peppers are hotter than others. Always better if you aren't sure to go milder.

Add the peppers to the tomato puree as it continues to simmer and cook down.

Step Three: Next chop and add 5 cups of onions. I use a mixture of red and white onions, but any will do.

Step Four: Next I mince 6 cloves of garlic. Use less if you aren't a garlic fan. I am of the school that you can never have too much garlic in anything. It is so healthy and good for you and I just like the taste.

Step Five: Add 1 1/2 cups of vinegar. This is a necessary step to raise the acidity of the salsa so you can safely can it in a boiling water bath.

Step Six: Add 1 tablespoon of salt. Always use canning/pickling salt - never use table salt - it will discolor.

Step Seven: Optional - add minced fresh cilantro. I add it if I have it but don't worry about it if I don't.

Step Eight: Let the salsa cook down until it is a good consistency. To test I take some and put it in a small dish and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Then test it on a chip and see if it is too runny. This is also a good time to see if the flavor needs adjusting before canning.

The salsa has cooked down to the right consistency. I have about 6 quarts in my 8 quart stock pot. The tomatoes have reduced themselves by about half - it was down to 6 quarts when I added the other vegetables and that brought it back up to full, now it has cooked down again to the 6 quart mark.

The salsa in a small dish for sampling.

Nice and thick on the chip.

Step Nine: Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Making sure you sterilize the jars and lids right before using.

The finished salsa. This recipe makes 6 quarts.

Fresh Salsa

There is nothing like the taste of fresh salsa made exclusively from ingredients that you grew. This is my first batch of salsa this year and I predict it won't last through the weekend!

Making salsa to can

I spent my day today in the kitchen making salsa to can.


I got tired of the manual food strainer I used last year so I used my holiday bonus last year to buy this attachment for my Kitchen Aid Mixer. This will be my first time using it.


I also bought the food tray so it will hold more on top. I read several reviews before making the purchase and everyone advised buying it and it looks like I will be glad that I did.


And here it is attached to the mixer and ready to go.


First wash the tomatoes - I have approximately 16 lbs of tomatoes here. I also had 2 lbs of tomallitos.


Then cut into chunks and heat on the stove so they will go through the food strainer easier - if your pot is as full as mine, carefully stir so you get the bottom ones up and off the bottom - don't want anything burning!


Then run through the food strainer. This worked so well - I can't believe I have had this mixer for years and never knew they had an attachment to do this! The juice comes out the bottom and the seeds and skins out the other end all ready for the compost pile.


Then I put it on a burner and start it heating right away while I am cutting up the rest of the ingredients - it will be way too thin and you need to reduce it by at least half. I just add the other ingredients as I cut them up. I started out with 8 quarts of tomato juice.


I cut up 1 pound of hot chili peppers. I use the long anaheim type peppers.


I cut up 3 pounds of onions (not all are shown here ) and 2 oz. of garlic.



Then I added 1.5 pounds of bell peppers - I used a variety of colors because that is what I grow - lots of colors - they will all look green in the end - the pigment cooks out.

Then I added 3 cups of vinegar and 1 Tablespoon of salt.

And I continued to let it all cook down - stirring it occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom and burns.


And here it is 7 hours later - reduced by about half. I went out to the garden and cut some fresh oregano, basil and parsley which I chopped up and added. You don't want to add fresh herbs until the end.


I filled 7 sterilized jars, put on 2 piece seals and processed in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.


And here is the finished product.

There is no right or wrong way to make salsa. This made a mild to medium salsa - mild enough for my son to eat, but spicy enough to taste. If you like it hotter add more chili peppers or use a hotter variety. Want more onions - add more. Don't like garlic - add less (I love garlic and always go heavy on it in all of my recipes). Just experiment and taste as you go.

I'm tired now - but it is so worth taking the time to homemade salsa.

Yummy Homemade Salsa from my Garden

Fresh produce from my garden this morning! The tomatoes are Opalka and Grape.


Here is the finished product.

Usually when I make salsa I just throw things together and taste as I go - but since I wanted to enter the recipe into my new software, I measured everything out - so here is the recipe.

Salsa
1 lb. 4.45 oz tomatoes, chopped
5.7 oz chopped onions
.65 oz green chili pepper
.25 oz garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
.05 oz. fresh oregano
2 tablespoons lemon juice

And here is what my new software can do:

Salsa

The finished salsa. It needs to chill for a couple of hours - I predict it will not last 24 hours!