Old Faithful Salsa
Salsa came on with an explosion in the early 90s. For years Canadians had been chopping up their tomatoes and onions with a soupcon of peppers, simmering it down with sugar, vinegar and spices and calling it chili sauce. All of a sudden a tangier, hotter and more aromatic sauce became a great big commercial success - and a home canner's sauce of choice. Salsa.
Not the dance and probably more accurately called a pico de gallo. But the sauce came labelled salsa ("salsa" means sauce in Spanish), and salsa it's stayed. One of the first recipes I tried and published in the magazine became the Cooking Lesson. It was straightforward and didn't require a lot of exotic ingredients to make a mildly hot and pleasing relish. Letters from readers told the story of it success among home canners and repeated phone calls every preserving season reminds the test kitchen how many readers have enjoyed our "Peppy Salsa".
We can only imagine how many readers have spooned the salsa over grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese, rolled it up with fajitas or added it to zip up dips and quesadillas. While the pepper crop is at its most gloriously crisp and colourful, and late harvest tomatoes still available, it is wise not to waste a moment getting into the kitchen to make at least a modest supply of your own salsa. You'll be glad in December when you wrap the jars labelled "Christmas Salsa" and offer them to your best friends. Think ahead and include a recipe so your friends can make their own next summer. Maybe they'll follow your example, and share.
A word of warning, invest in rubber gloves when seeding and chopping hot peppers.
You may say that you can handle the heat, but in this salsa recipe you are working with 8 oz (250 g) jalapeno peppers and the heat accumulates to the burning point. And you never know, even if you're sure you're never going to touch your eyes or lips, you will. That fatal touch will cause your eyes to water, your mouth to burn. You will be miserable. So, before buying the peppers and tomatoes, get yourself either the looser and more awkward dishwashing rubber gloves or the form fitters available in drug stores and some supermarkets.
While you can "chop" the vegetables, dicing or cubing them makes for a more attractive sauce.
Tried and True Salsa
When peeling a large quantity of tomatoes, cut a largish but shallow "x" in the bottom of the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes, top down, in a heatproof bowl or basin. Cover with boiling water and let stand for up to 60 seconds or until tomato skins loosen especially at the "x". Lift out with a slotted spoon, chill briefly in cold water and peel.
Prepping vegetables for any salsa, sauce or relish is rather time consuming. Try to have some diversion - a friend who will help and then share the spoils, a favourite program or movie or the music that matches the salsa beat.
Ingredients:
6 large jalapeno peppers (8 oz/250 g)
8 cups (2 L) peeled and coarsely diced tomatoes (about 8 to 10 large, 4 lb/2 kg)
3 cups (750 mL) coarsely diced Cubanelle, Anaheim or mild banana peppers (3 large, 3 lb/1.5 kg)
2 cups (500 mL) diced onions
1 cup (250 mL) diced sweet yellow or red pepper
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and diced
2 cups (500 mL) real apple cider vinegar
1 can (5-1/2 oz/156 mL) tomato paste
2 tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) salt
2 tsp (10 mL) paprika
1 tsp (5 mL) each dried oregano and ground cumin
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh coriander
. On a cutting board and wearing rubber gloves, cut jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise. With a small spoon, scrape out seeds and membranes. Trim off stems; dice finely to make 1 cup (250 mL). (A little extra won't go astray, but will make the salsa a little hotter.)
. Place the jalapeno peppers in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or saucepan; stir in the remaining vegetables - the tomatoes, Cubanelle peppers, onions, sweet yellow pepper and the garlic. Stir in the vinegar, tomato paste, granulated sugar, salt, paprika, oregano and cumin.
. Bring the salsa ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until the liquid is no longer watery and individual ingredients are cloaked in the tomato sauce, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Stir in the coriander now, or add a little chopped fresh coriander to salsa when you serve it. The flavour will be fresher and more pungent - for coriander lovers a dream come true.
. Pour into prepared 1-cup or 2-cup (250 or 500 mL) preserving jars, leaving 1/2-inch (2 cm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs, and bands. Boil in boiling water canner for 20 minutes. (See Canning Basics below).
. Makes about 11 cups (2.75 L) salsa.
Canning Basics:
. Ensure that you have enough preserving jars in perfect condition. Wash, rinse and air dry.
. Always use new lids. Place in a bowl and five minutes before filling jars, cover the lids with hot, not boiling water to soften the sealing compound.
. Before starting to cook the salsa, fill a boiling water canner about two-thirds full; add the preserving jars, letting them fill with water. Cover and start to heat about 30 minutes before preserve is ready to jar.
. Using canning tongs, move the jars from the canner to a tray beside the stovetop. Increase heat under the canner to bring the water closer to the boil while filling the jars.
. Using a funnel and a 1/2 cup (125 mL) metal dry measuring cup, fill the jars to within 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) of the top. If you've used the funnel and scoop chances are there won't be any salsa on the rim of the jars. Or, not much. But inevitably, some will slop over; wipe any off using damp paper towel.
. Place the prepared discs on the jars, and with a firm but not forced motion, screw on the bands until resistance is met, then tighten just to finger-tip tight.
. Use canning tongs to transfer the filled jars safely to the rack in the canner. Lower rack into the water. Add more boiling water if necessary so that the jars are covered by 1 inch (2.5 cm).
. Cover the canner; bring the water to a vigorous boil. Time the boiling from this point.
. At the end of the boiling time, turn off the heat. Remove the cover and let the boiling subside. Lift the rack and with canning tongs, transfer the jars to a rack or folded thick towel.
. Let stand for a day; wipe, label and check each jar. Properly sealed jars have lids that curved down. Jars with lids that didn't snap down need to be refrigerated and relished within 3 weeks. But before you think you'll lose half your preserves, note that if you have used new lids, real preserving jars and respected the headspace and sealing gospel given above, it will be extremely rare that a jar doesn't seal properly.
The lids are all curved down and the jars, now cool enough to label, will be stored in a cool dark spot until needed for gift giving, or to partner with the perfect extra old Cheddar and Dijon mustard grilled cheese sandwich on really chewy whole grain bread.
