How does your garden grow? Part 23: Salsa recipe for canning.

This is my first attempt canning salsa. I make fresh salsa all the time. I really could live on chips and salsa alone. Really. I stumbled across a recipe that a bazillion people raved about and then tweaked it to my liking. Here goes.

Annie's Salsa

Go get it:

8 cups tomatoes, peeled (blanched), chopped and drained

2 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper
2 chopped jalapenos (1 seeded)
2 chopped serrano (1 seeded)
2 chopped chili peppers
10 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
16 oz. tomato sauce (I used homemade, but store bought is fine)
12 oz tomato paste

1.) Heat a big pot full of water to just a boil. Rinse tomatoes. Cut an x on bottom of tomatoes. Get the biggest bowl you own and fill it full of ice. Add water to create an ice bath for your tomatoes. Put a few tomatoes in pot at a time for about 1 minute or until skins start to peel back. You will see the skins are peeling back for easy removal. Place tomatoes in ice bath to stop the cooking process.

2. After all the tomatoes are cool enough to touch peel them. Remove the seeds. Great items to add to your compost pile. Chop tomatoes and place in a colander in your sink to drain.

3. Add all the rest of your ingredients to a big pot. Stir well. Add the chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes. Taste to see if you need more of anything.

4. In your canning pot sterilize the jars. Keep them hot until you fill them. The last couple of minutes put the lids in the hot water. Do not boil them, though. When ready fill the hot jars with your yummy salsa. Leave a 1/2 inch of headspace. Use a wet towel to dampen the clean rim of the jar so the lid stays in place. Place the lid on and and the band. The bands should just be just finger tight.

5. After the lids and bands are on the jars place them in your canning pot and process for 15 minutes. Make sure there's plenty of water covering the lids. After 15 minutes remove jars and cool. Test them to see if they have sealed. You will even hear the popping of the lid on most of your jars. Any jars that did not seal need to be refrigerated. Oh darn, you'll just have to eat those. :)

Your salsa should be kept in a dark, cool spot. Your university extension offers great tips and recipes. Here is the UW Extension website. The great thing about these sites are that they are updated yearly so everyone stays safe. It doesn't matter how organic and how tasty your canned goods are if safety measures aren't taken. I would enjoy it if you shared your favorite preserving tips and recipes. I love sharing recipes and things I make with friends, family and neighbors. Happy canning!