Monday, August 6, 2012

Homemade Summer Salsa

I used to hate August - it was such a blah do nothing month.  
Now I love it - the kids are back in school and I have been spending a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen canning veggies from my garden.

My favorite thing to make is summer salsa!  
With Dan and Greg loving it, it doesn't last for long around our house so I usually end up making at least 2-3 batches. 

I have tried several recipes but our favorite by far is my sister-in-law, Mindy's recipe.  Her family should write a cookbook they are such great chefs!

Mindy's Summer Salsa
1/2 bushel tomatoes, peeled and quartered 
(about 30#, I like to use a variety of toms for a better tasting salsa, Cherokee Purples, Big Boy, Romas, Early Girls, etc)
2 red peppers
2 green peppers
6-8 anaheim peppers
 4-6 jalapenos (or less if you would like it mild)
2 med onions (I mix 1 yellow and 1 red)
6 cloves of garlic.
Grind all of the veggies in the food processor and add to tomatoes. 

1/2 to 3/4 cup salt
1 T oregano
4 T cumin
 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 (12oz) cans tomato paste.
Simmer 3 to 4 hours (to the consistency of your liking) some yummy add ins..... I always use.. 4-5 tomatillos, lime juice (about 1/4 cup) and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. 

I'll have to write a separate post on how to actually can this - it's fairly time consuming but well worth the work involved! 

1 comments:

Doreen said...

This looks great! I love salsa, and I'm an 'old hand' at canning. Tomatoes are in season now, so I'm thinking I'll make this for sure. Found you on Serenity Now and hope you'll stop by and say 'hi'.