Salsa Deliciosa

May I just say, "Yum".  I made a second batch of salsa today.  This time around I added more jalapeno peppers.  The first batch was flavorful and delicious, but a little too "kick" cautious, if you know what I mean.

A couple of years ago, I made a batch of salsa that was so hot it just about knocked our heads off.  This time around, I tried a different recipe, but I started out mild and worked my way up to spicier once I had the lay of the salsa land, so to speak.  For today's batch, I jumped from one to three jalapeno peppers.  To my taste, the kick is just right.  If you really like spicy salsa, you can add more jalapenos or you can leave the ribs and seeds in the three I've added.  I removed them.

So...want to know how I did it?  First off, I adapted my recipe from Marisa McClellan's recipe in her new book, Food in Jars.

But I want to say right here that, in preserving, it's best not to monkey around with a recipe too much because the acidity must be kept above a certain level to be safe.  Tomatoes are a high-acid food, but the remaining ingredients are not.  In my case, I added more tomatoes, but kept the rest of the ingredients the same.  Also, Marisa's recipe suggests sauce tomatoes.  My first batch was entirely San Marzano tomatoes, which are cultivated for sauce.  Today's was a mixture of everything in the greenhouse, and so they had more water.  The yield obtained from your tomatoes will change depending on how much water they contain.  With that caveat, here is the recipe I used today:

Basic Tomato Salsa

slightly adapted from Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan

8 cups chopped tomatoes -- preferably Roma or San Marzano

2 cups chopped yellow onion -- about 2 medium

1 cup chopped red bell pepper -- about 1 large pepper

1 3/4 cups cider vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed -- minced

4 garlic cloves -- minced

2 tablespoons bottled lime juice

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Prepare a boiling water bath and 4 regular-mouth 1-pint jars with lids according to the manufacturer's directions. 

Combine all ingredients, except the cilantro in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the salsa no longer looks watery.  Off heat and stir in the chopped cilantro.

Ladle hot salsa into prepared jars, leaving 1/2-inch of head space.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, adding 5 minutes of processing time for every 1,000 feet of elevation.

When processing time is up, remove jars and cool completely before storing.

Enjoy!

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