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.

Ricardo Larrivee has the kind of boy next door look and charm that has made him a print, radio and tv star. But his work is not just personality and appearance, his recipes are rigorously tested and edited.

Ricardo Larrivee is a neat guy. Passion to burn. Talent to project his love of food and its importance in the lives of Canadians. He wants everyone to know how to cook, and he wants everyone to sit down together and eat.

No time! Too much going on! You counter. According to this father of 3 whose successful Ricardo and Friends plays on Food Network Canada, whose magazine Ricardo and cookbooks are bestsellers, everyone deserves an hour to have dinner with family. About  half of it to cook, the rest to eat and spend time with these people you love most. Sitting around the table, Ricardo recounted, there might not be a lot of talk at the beginning. You know the situation: "What happened at school today", parent asks. Child's answer: "Nothing" and so it goes, but after a few minutes, real conversation began as food gets passed around and everyone relaxes. Kids learn how to help and to enjoy food, even as they take the requisite "one bite" of something new.

Ricardo was in Toronto recently to promote his newest cookbook, Ricardo, Meals for Every Occasion (Whitecap, $35), and together we had a public conversation as part of the arts program of First Canadian Place. He talked about how eating together generates conversation not just with family. For example, the idea for the handsomely photographed book, came out the kind of glow-time around the table at the end of a dinner with friends. They found themselves discussing the sometimes awkward, sometimes challenging entertaining situations they found themselves in and needed solutions. What do you do, for example, when people arrive before dinner and stay on? Or, stay over. What do you serve people who come from Europe and think Canadians eat wild food all the time. What's on the menu when the guests are always late, or when someone important, say your boss is coming for dinner, or when it's men only and they can't be trusted to follow a recipe?

Ricardo takes a lighthearted approach to these situations and the food, but the solutions are practical with just that touch of inventiveness that gets someone turning  the pages of the book have regular "Great idea" moments, as she patches a sticky onto the page.  Here are a couple of "Great idea" stickies you too might enjoy too.

A quick and easy appetizer tray with Dukka in the bowl at the top, and the Red Bell Pepper Spread bottom left. Good bread, olives and extra virgin olive oil give guests something to nibble on while you, the host, gets cracking with dinner.

Red Bell Pepper Spread

When friends and family drop in...and stay, a few quick recipes go a long way to keeping you smiling and still happy to see them. You love them, after all. Ricardo claims this recipe is too simple to be a proper recipe and tried adding all sorts of things. Eventually he gave up and went back to the original 4 ingredients. "Sometimes, simpler really is better."

4 red bell peppers, halved and cored

1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 With the rack in the top position, preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2 Place the peppers on the baking sheet, skin-side up. Brush lightly with some of the oil. Broil until the skins blacken, about 15 minutes.

3 Place the peppers in an airtight container. Let cool and slide the skins off.

4 In a food processor, puree the peppers with the remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with mini pitas, spread on slices of baguette as hors d-oeuvres or as a dip for crudites. 

. Makes 1-1/2 cups (375 mL).

Dukka

Strange name for a seed and nut combo originally written about by Claudia Roden in her landmark book, The Book of Middle Eastern Food  back in the late '60s. The book introduced North African and Middle Eastern food to a world that knew very little of its delights. In England, it created an enormous interest  and caught on in Australia. When she and I were both in Adelaide, Australia for the first Tasting Australia conference/celebration in 1998, she was intrigued to see one of her recipes from the book, the recipe for dukka, so popular and widespread, with so many variations - and so far from its origins. Ricardo tasted dukka in New Zealand, and comments that it's a way better paired with olive oil than the usual oil and balsamic.  "Super classy" is Ricardo's description.

2/3 cup (150 mL) whole blanched almonds

2 tbsp (30 mL) sesame seeds

2 tsp (10 mL) turmeric

1 tsp (5 mL) onion salt

1 tsp (5 mL) celery salt

1 tsp (5 mL) cumin

1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander

Cayenne pepper to taste

Olive oil

Cubed bread for dipping

1  Using a mortar and pestle or a small food processor, crush the almonds into small pieces. Add the remaining ingredients except the olive oil and bread and mix well. Transfer to a small bowl. Pour the olive oil into another bowl. Serve with bread cubes that diners dip first in the oil and then into the dukka. 

Serves 6 to 8

.

Foods come and go, and foods come and stay. Think of the meat and potatoes Canadian diet before pizza, pasta, stir-fries, curries and quiche added their variety and zing to our daily eats. And when you're casting your thoughts over this menu, think of hummus. 

Two versions of hummus - the smooth one on left served with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a few oil-cured black olives, and the whole chickpea version on the right. See below for both recipes.

It must have been the 60s when I first tasted the smooth chickpea dip. This was the decade when dipping went mainstream. Savvy hosts were moving beyond the bowl of French onion soup mix combined with sour cream, surrounded by potato chips ( a 50s innovation)  - moving onto the vegetable crudite platter, and the beginning of an appreciation of ethnic food. Fuelling an appetite for new cuisines was travel, immigration and an aspect perhaps not so well known, the Time Life series, Foods of the World. It was in the Middle Eastern Cooking volume that many of us were introduced to hummus. And then as the decade moved on and morphed into the 70s, the dip became part of the back to the land, all-natural, granola and whole grain phase - hippie food.

Every once in a while I get a real craving for hummus - not that I was ever a hippie, having missed being a boomer by a few years. I just like it.  And yes, I know hummus is available in 250 mL tubs in supermarkets everywhere, and I can go out and buy a tub to calm my desire for hummus. But when it comes to hummus, you can't beat fresh, homemade. That way the cook gets to add more lemon or garlic, and save money doing so. 

A Fine Bowl of Hummus

I'm sure the arrival of the food processor had its impact on the spread of hummus. Whizzing up a batch is a whole lot easier with the processor's speedy blade. No hand mashing or pressing through a food mill. But there is one time when I like to stop the blade, and that's when it comes to adding the garlic. Whirling garlic in the processor can bring out its bitterness, so I recommend chopping garlic cloves finely and stirring them into the finished hummus. Even then, choose the best fresh firm garlic you can find, and if the cloves are doing what garlic does in the spring, i.e. sprout, halve each bud lengthwise and remove the bitter green sprout. 

1 can (19 oz/540 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup (125 mL) cold water (approx)

1/2 cup (125 mL) tahini*

1/3 cup (75 mL) fresh lemon juice

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

1 tbsp (15 mL) extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp (15 mL) finely minced garlic (3 large cloves)

. Combine all of the ingredients except the garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Whirl until smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl several times to ensure an even smooth paste. Add more water for a thinner hummus. Stir in garlic. (Make-ahead: Scrape into an airtight container, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.) 

. Makes about 2-1/2 cups (625 mL) hummus.

Tip: If you like to accentuate the sesame flavour, drizzle in a little dark sesame oil with the olive oil.

Hummus Variations

. Cumin Hummus: Add 1 to 2 tsp. (5 to 10 mL) ground cumin and a dash of hot pepper sauce to hummus.

. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: Whirl 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped roasted red pepper and a splash of hot pepper sauce with the chickpeas and other ingredients. Jarred flame-roasted red peppers are a handy ingredient to keep in the fridge. 

. Hummus with Herbs: Add 1/4 cup (50 mL) finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley to finished hummus.

. Other Legumes Hummus: Substitute white kidney beans for the chickpeas. 

* All About Tahini: This is the secret to hummus appeal. Tahini is the ground paste of sesame seeds and is available wherever Persian, Lebanese, Israeli  - Middle Eastern and healthfood groceries are sold. In my local supermarket, tahini is available in the aisle of  international dry goods. Since the oil tends to rise to the top, a lot like natural peanut butter, you need to stir tahini thoroughly before measuring. 

To Go with the Hummus: Pita bread, warmed and served in a covered basket is what to order at a Middle Eastern restaurant such as the Jerusalem Restaurant in Toronto. Like tahini, pita bread is now available in grocery chains. To turn pita bread into crisp dippers, or the base on which to spread hummus, the breads need to be split in half, then brushed on the rough cut side with olive oil and seasoned,  if you like with a sprinkle of dried oregano or thyme. Toast on a rimmed baking sheet in a 400°F (200°C) oven just until crisp and browning around the edge, about 5 minutes. Or, grill outside on the barbecue until grill marks make a nice pattern on both side, about 2 minutes per side. Cut the rounds smartly into wedges and serve hot, or cool to serve later. Choose whole grain pita breads for extra nutrition.

Here's where healthy comes in. Carrot sticks or slices make the most reasonable dippers, and there's celery, jicama, fennel, endive spears, hearts of romaine, broccoli or rutabaga sticks for variety. 

The Many Ways with Hummus

So, a big tub of homemade hummus chills in the fridge.

.Serve it with celery sticks or crackers for after-school snack.

. Pack with vegetables for lunch as a change from sandwiches.

. Put a bowl out on the table to spread on baguette instead of butter.

. For company, serve a bowl of hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of black cured olives as a living-room appetizer with a glass of wine.  

. Add a nice spoonful of hummus to a grilled veggie burger, or slathered on grilled portobello mushrooms tucked into a pita bread.

. If you have a panini or sandwich press, a grilled or roasted vegetable salad with hummus is a bit of heaven.

. Then, there's always the option of going to the fridge with a cracker and dipping into the bowl of hummus for a bit of a private chickpea pick-me-up.

Whole Chickpea Hummus

There is a Syrian version of hummus made with whole chickpeas in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian (Potter, $62.00). The recipe below, adapted from  hers, is not pureed, rather a chickpea salad accented with garlic and lemon, as in hummus, but with the addition of chopped tomatoes and flat leaf parsley. You can include it in an antipasto tray or incorporate it into a lunch with feta or creamy goats cheese, pita breads and olives.

2 large cloves garlic

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

3 tbsp (45 mL) extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp (30 mL) fresh lemon juice

Pinch cayenne

1 can (19 oz/540 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp (30 mL) minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

. Chop the garlic coarsely on a cutting board. Sprinkle with salt and with a fork or angled blade of knife, mash the garlic and salt together to make a fairly smooth paste. Scrape into a medium bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice and cayenne; stir well to combine flavours. Stir in chickpeas. (Make-ahead: refrigerate, covered, for up to 1 day.)

. Add tomatoes and parsley; stir to combine.

. Makes about 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) salad, enough for 4 modest servings. 

Chickpea Thrift

While canned chickpeas make hummus in a hurry, on a day when you have a little more time you can cook a batch of chickpeas from scratch, measure them into  2-cup (500 mL) amounts - the quantity in 19 oz (540 mL) can, and freeze them so they're handy for hummus, salads, chilis, curries and stews.

Here's how: measure 2 cups (500 mL) dried chickpeas into a large saucepan. Cover with 3 times their volume of cold water. Let soak for 12 to 24 hours, or  for a quick soak, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat slightly and boil for 2 minutes; remove from heat and lets soak for 1 hour. If you want to remove chickpea skins, rub peas together in the water. The skins will rise to the top of the water. Skim off the skins. Drain and rinse chickpeas.

Combine chickpeas with 3 times their new expanded volume of cold water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until the chickpeas are tender, depending on the age of the dried chickpeas, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Drain, discarding cooking water. 

Makes about 6 cups (1.5 L) cooked chickpeas.

Tip: If you use your own cooked chickpeas in recipes calling for canned, you may want to increase the salt slightly.