salsa

This is a bottling recipe so be prepared that it is big. There are two ways to bottle hot and cold. Both are pretty self explanatory to bottle hot what goes into the bottle is hot then you hot water bath can it to seal it. Cold bottling is just cold ingredients going into the bottle, it usually has a longer processing time since it cooks while it seals. There's also pressure canning but for the point of this- hot water bath canning it is. This actually has the constancy of salsa you can buy in the store. The flavor of a fresh garden and is mild (want more heat add more peppers). I got 11 pints.

Ingredients:

• Lots of tomatoes (plum works well but any tomato will work)
• Divide the tomatoes, chopped 1/2 of what you have (we had about 6 cups of chopped tomatoes)
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1/3 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Place most tomatoes into water to loosen skins and set color. Drain, peel and crush. Otherwise you can use canned whole tomatoes (3 large cans which is what we did) and just use fresh tomatoes for the chopped tomatoes.
2. Mix chopped tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, salt, cayenne pepper and cumin into the saucepan with crushed tomatoes. Whip to desired thickness. Bring to a boil. Mix in red onion, yellow onion, jalapeno peppers and cilantro. Continue boiling until vegetables are soft and mixture has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat and bottle.
3. I assume anyone trying this has actually bottled before. If not after you fill each bottle to the neck wipe the rim of the bottle off with a wet, hot, clean rag. Place the prepared seal on top and secure with a band. This recipe is then put into a water bath canner for 20 minutes (please adjust for altitude as necessary ie I personally boil them for 30 minutes because I live at a high altitude). Pull them out from the canner and let cook completely before checking seals. FYI any unsealed bottles can be reprocessed with a new seal within 24 hours just use common sense with that some things shouldn't be cooked twice.

Ryan's Fresh Salsa

4 medium tomatoes (for thicker salsa use 6 roma tomatoes)
1/2 small white or yellow onion
1 jalapeno pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 pinch of oregano
salt to taste
splash of lime juice

Fill a medium sauce pan half way with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, place the tomatoes in the water. Boil the tomatoes until the skin just barely begins to crack (about 6 minutes.) Place the onion, garlic, jalapeno,, cilantro, salt, and oregano into a blender or food processor. Place the cooked tomatoes on top and blend until mixed, but not smooth. Taste and salt as needed.
For chunkier salsa, add some extra chopped onion or cilantro after it is blended.
Salsa needs some time to reach it's potential. Place it in a container and place it in the fridge about 1/2 hour before serving. Enjoy with your favorite chips or Mexican Dish.

*A note about mild/medium/hot salsa: If you want a mild salsa, then slice and remove the seeds from the jalapeno. Try not to touch the inside with your hands. A spoon works well. For medium salsa, boil the jalapeno with the tomatoes. This will help leach some of the heat out of the pepper. Add it to the blended ingredients in parts starting with 1/2 until desired heat is reached. All jalapenos are not the same. Sometimes 1/2 will be enough, sometimes not. For hot salsa and the best flavors (according to Ryan Rowan), add 1 to 2 jalapenos. Always remember to remove the stems.