Rahab222
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Okay, here's the salsa recipe with the tweaks I made tonight. I'm posting the link to the salsa's recipe so you can read all about it (I also cut and pasted the information here.) It's approved for canning. Below the link, I'm going to put the tweaks I made, as I used Sam's roasting technique for his spaghetti sauce recipe but used Mexican spices. Let me know if the link doesn't work.
http://blog.hippoflambe.com/2010/10/annies-salsa-one-to-judge-all-other.html
Annie's Salsa: One to judge all other salsas by
Everyone should have a great salsa canning recipe. A great salsa recipe is the perfect answer to what can I snack on, but even more importantly can be brought to a potluck with a bag of tortilla chips and not be frowned upon, even by the guests who slaved over their stoves before attending the party. I remember one time I brought this salsa, we decided to attend at the last minute as we were getting ready for vacation. In a panic I grabbed a jar of salsa and tortilla chips as we wrangled the boys into the car. My salsa was not the only one in attendance, although it was the only one that was home canned. It sat on the table, mostly forgotten, the other salsa was in front of it on the table. However 4 months later the hostess called, asking if I had any jars of salsa left and if I might sell her one. Apparently a jar of my salsa was the only thing her husband asked for at Christmas time.
"My salsa" is really my friend Annie's salsa. She spent years perfecting the recipe, once she could get everyone in her family to agree it was perfect, she somehow managed to get it tested to see if she could safely can it. I know she had a friend who worked for her local extension service, however I suspect she also bribed them with salsa. This salsa is safe to can as written. There are a few things you can change while still maintaining the proper balance of acidity and texture so it is safe to can. It is important not to alter the recipe in a way to lower the acidity or texture. Salsa is consumed straight from the jar without any further cooking which means it has no safety back up.
ANNIE’S SALSA
Tomatoes are roughly chopped into about 1/2 inch or larger pieces and the other vegetables should be cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper (substitute red or spicy peppers so long as total volume is the same or less)
3 – 5 chopped jalapenos
6 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp black pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar (or substitute bottled lemon juice)
16 oz. tomato sauce, this refers to cans of plain tomato sauce, not pasta sauce
16 oz tomato paste
Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head space, process pints for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.
(note: This recipe can be safely canned in pints, not larger. If you wish to can it in smaller jars use the same processing time)
Approved Salsa Tweaks
Tomatoes: Green tomatoes or tomatillos can be substituted for some or all of the red tomatoes, do not reduce total volume.
Onions: total quantity may be lowered or eliminated to your taste. Do not increase total volume
Peppers: The total volume of green peppers and jalapenos is 1 3/4 cups, you may use any combination of spicy and sweet peppers including red peppers to make up the total volume of 1 3/4 cups. I usually use a mix of spicy peppers for a more complex flavor instead of all jalapenos. Do not increase total volume.
Garlic: Do not increase the total volume of garlic
Cumin, Black Pepper, Canning Salt, Sugar: It is safe to vary the total of any of these dried spices and seasonings either up or down as you prefer
Cilantro: total quantity may be lowered or eliminated to your taste, you can also substitute fresh parsley if you prefer. Do not increase total volume
Apple Cider Vinegar: You may use any vinegar that is 5% acidity or more in place of the apple cider vinegar. You can also use bottled lemon juice in place of the vinegar. Do not reduce total volume, may be increased
Tomato paste and sauce are both optional items, they are only there to improve the texture of the finished product.
Jar Size: You can process this salsa in smaller jars if you want, it would need the same processing time in the water bath canner. It is not tested and approved for larger jars. (Because there is no guarantee that the salsa will get hot all the way to its core in a water bath in jars larger than a pint.)
*Note: These are the tweaks I made - mostly the roasting of the tomatoes as per Sam's technique, but with the Mexican spices used in Annie's recipe.
I washed and then cut the tomatoes in half, removing the top part of the core only. I left the seeds in and used this technique to add a roasted flavor and enable me to remove the skin. It was well worth the effort and extra time.
Place the tomatoes skin side down in a large, deep roasting pan and form a solid layer of tomato halves.
I brushed each tomato half with olive oil. I then sprinkled 1 tsp. of cumin (total/layer) over the face of the tomatoes and sprinkled them all generously with black pepper. I minced 3 cloves of garlic and spread that over the tomatoes, along with 1/2 cup of chopped onions/layer. (Don't add any salt or it will be too salty with the canning salt required by the recipe.) Repeat these same steps until you have three layers of tomatoes in your pan. Cover with the roaster's lid. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
I baked these on 350 degrees for one hour. The next time I do this recipe, I will probably check the tomatoes after 45 minutes to see if the skins come off easily. If they do, I'll probably cut the roasting time to 45 minutes to make the tomatoes less soft, as I lost a lot of the meat when I peeled the skins off.
This recipe calls for you to drain the liquid off the tomatoes and believe me, you'll want to. I poured everything through a strainer and set a large pot beneath the strainer to capture the juice to use as a soup broth or for Mexican rice. This tomato broth is actually quite good, all by itself - like soup.
I then peeled the skins off the tomatoes. I left them the size they were after peeling, because they were soft enough that I didn't need to cut them into 1/2 inch pieces.
I then measured out 8 cups of roasted tomatoes and put them in a deep stew pot with a lid.
I then followed the Annie's Salsa recipe listed above. All of the minced garlic and onions strained out of the tomatoes, so I basically used the roasting technique just to get my 8 cups of tomatoes called for by the recipe. I used all different kinds of tomatoes, the biggest ones first. I added back the same amount of cumin, black pepper, minced garlic and chopped onion called for in the recipe to my 8 cups of tomatoes. I also used the tomato sauce and tomato paste called for in the recipe (I only used 12 ounces of tomato paste, because that's how much was in the can and I didn't want to waste any by opening a second can to get 16 oz. I bought my tomato sauce in 8 oz. cans, so this worked out to the full 16 oz. called for.
I also read lots of reviews on this recipe and decided to use the 1 cup lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar, because I'm not a fan of apple cider vinegar, most Mexican dishes use lemon or lime juice, and many reviewers said they didn't like the recipe with the apple cider vinegar - so they, too, used the lemon juice.
I actually came out with 8 full, pint jars that I water bathed; after I poured out 1/4 cup, hot, for sampling. It was AWESOME and absolutely ADDICTING!
I only roasted the tomatoes, not any of the peppers, onions, etc. when I put the recipe together for boiling in the pot. I'm sure these, too, would have strained out when I drained the broth. This is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, GREAT STUFF! Texans KNOW and LOVE their salsa! If you're looking for a salsa recipe for canning, make it this one! I highly recommend you serve it warm.
http://blog.hippoflambe.com/2010/10/annies-salsa-one-to-judge-all-other.html
Annie's Salsa: One to judge all other salsas by
Everyone should have a great salsa canning recipe. A great salsa recipe is the perfect answer to what can I snack on, but even more importantly can be brought to a potluck with a bag of tortilla chips and not be frowned upon, even by the guests who slaved over their stoves before attending the party. I remember one time I brought this salsa, we decided to attend at the last minute as we were getting ready for vacation. In a panic I grabbed a jar of salsa and tortilla chips as we wrangled the boys into the car. My salsa was not the only one in attendance, although it was the only one that was home canned. It sat on the table, mostly forgotten, the other salsa was in front of it on the table. However 4 months later the hostess called, asking if I had any jars of salsa left and if I might sell her one. Apparently a jar of my salsa was the only thing her husband asked for at Christmas time.
"My salsa" is really my friend Annie's salsa. She spent years perfecting the recipe, once she could get everyone in her family to agree it was perfect, she somehow managed to get it tested to see if she could safely can it. I know she had a friend who worked for her local extension service, however I suspect she also bribed them with salsa. This salsa is safe to can as written. There are a few things you can change while still maintaining the proper balance of acidity and texture so it is safe to can. It is important not to alter the recipe in a way to lower the acidity or texture. Salsa is consumed straight from the jar without any further cooking which means it has no safety back up.
ANNIE’S SALSA
Tomatoes are roughly chopped into about 1/2 inch or larger pieces and the other vegetables should be cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper (substitute red or spicy peppers so long as total volume is the same or less)
3 – 5 chopped jalapenos
6 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp black pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar (or substitute bottled lemon juice)
16 oz. tomato sauce, this refers to cans of plain tomato sauce, not pasta sauce
16 oz tomato paste
Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head space, process pints for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.
(note: This recipe can be safely canned in pints, not larger. If you wish to can it in smaller jars use the same processing time)
Approved Salsa Tweaks
Tomatoes: Green tomatoes or tomatillos can be substituted for some or all of the red tomatoes, do not reduce total volume.
Onions: total quantity may be lowered or eliminated to your taste. Do not increase total volume
Peppers: The total volume of green peppers and jalapenos is 1 3/4 cups, you may use any combination of spicy and sweet peppers including red peppers to make up the total volume of 1 3/4 cups. I usually use a mix of spicy peppers for a more complex flavor instead of all jalapenos. Do not increase total volume.
Garlic: Do not increase the total volume of garlic
Cumin, Black Pepper, Canning Salt, Sugar: It is safe to vary the total of any of these dried spices and seasonings either up or down as you prefer
Cilantro: total quantity may be lowered or eliminated to your taste, you can also substitute fresh parsley if you prefer. Do not increase total volume
Apple Cider Vinegar: You may use any vinegar that is 5% acidity or more in place of the apple cider vinegar. You can also use bottled lemon juice in place of the vinegar. Do not reduce total volume, may be increased
Tomato paste and sauce are both optional items, they are only there to improve the texture of the finished product.
Jar Size: You can process this salsa in smaller jars if you want, it would need the same processing time in the water bath canner. It is not tested and approved for larger jars. (Because there is no guarantee that the salsa will get hot all the way to its core in a water bath in jars larger than a pint.)
*Note: These are the tweaks I made - mostly the roasting of the tomatoes as per Sam's technique, but with the Mexican spices used in Annie's recipe.
I washed and then cut the tomatoes in half, removing the top part of the core only. I left the seeds in and used this technique to add a roasted flavor and enable me to remove the skin. It was well worth the effort and extra time.
Place the tomatoes skin side down in a large, deep roasting pan and form a solid layer of tomato halves.
I brushed each tomato half with olive oil. I then sprinkled 1 tsp. of cumin (total/layer) over the face of the tomatoes and sprinkled them all generously with black pepper. I minced 3 cloves of garlic and spread that over the tomatoes, along with 1/2 cup of chopped onions/layer. (Don't add any salt or it will be too salty with the canning salt required by the recipe.) Repeat these same steps until you have three layers of tomatoes in your pan. Cover with the roaster's lid. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
I baked these on 350 degrees for one hour. The next time I do this recipe, I will probably check the tomatoes after 45 minutes to see if the skins come off easily. If they do, I'll probably cut the roasting time to 45 minutes to make the tomatoes less soft, as I lost a lot of the meat when I peeled the skins off.
This recipe calls for you to drain the liquid off the tomatoes and believe me, you'll want to. I poured everything through a strainer and set a large pot beneath the strainer to capture the juice to use as a soup broth or for Mexican rice. This tomato broth is actually quite good, all by itself - like soup.
I then peeled the skins off the tomatoes. I left them the size they were after peeling, because they were soft enough that I didn't need to cut them into 1/2 inch pieces.
I then measured out 8 cups of roasted tomatoes and put them in a deep stew pot with a lid.
I then followed the Annie's Salsa recipe listed above. All of the minced garlic and onions strained out of the tomatoes, so I basically used the roasting technique just to get my 8 cups of tomatoes called for by the recipe. I used all different kinds of tomatoes, the biggest ones first. I added back the same amount of cumin, black pepper, minced garlic and chopped onion called for in the recipe to my 8 cups of tomatoes. I also used the tomato sauce and tomato paste called for in the recipe (I only used 12 ounces of tomato paste, because that's how much was in the can and I didn't want to waste any by opening a second can to get 16 oz. I bought my tomato sauce in 8 oz. cans, so this worked out to the full 16 oz. called for.
I also read lots of reviews on this recipe and decided to use the 1 cup lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar, because I'm not a fan of apple cider vinegar, most Mexican dishes use lemon or lime juice, and many reviewers said they didn't like the recipe with the apple cider vinegar - so they, too, used the lemon juice.
I actually came out with 8 full, pint jars that I water bathed; after I poured out 1/4 cup, hot, for sampling. It was AWESOME and absolutely ADDICTING!
I only roasted the tomatoes, not any of the peppers, onions, etc. when I put the recipe together for boiling in the pot. I'm sure these, too, would have strained out when I drained the broth. This is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, GREAT STUFF! Texans KNOW and LOVE their salsa! If you're looking for a salsa recipe for canning, make it this one! I highly recommend you serve it warm.
