Salsa!

Salsa is never as good as when you make it yourself.  October is the last chance for cases of tomatoes, and big bags of mixed peppers and the freshest garlic and onions.  Salsa just saves all the flavour for a cold winter snack with family and friends. 

My sister-in-law Kath and I have been on the hunt for the perfect salsa recipe for about 15 years.   We’ve tried lots of different versions and used to spend hours stirring the pot to get it to reduce and thicken.  But as a tomato grower I had tons of cull and left over tomatoes.  We started roasting and freezing them for sauce.  Then there was no need to buy tomatoes for salsa so we became super geniuses and used roasted tomatoes for salsa instead of chopping up fresh ones!  The other great part is that you can do it in two stages.  Roast and puree the tomatoes one day or evening and keep it in the fridge or even freezer and then make the salsa later. (see the Roasting Tomato post earlier this week for details on roasting tomatoes)

Finely chopped garlic

The other handy tool for making salsa is some friends or kids with chef's knives and maybe a small chopper or food processor.  One of Kath's friends got to come and learn how to make salsa just because she had one of those Pampered Chef chopper thingys.   It makes it so much more fun to work with other people.  And some sort of chopper gets the garlic, onions and hot peppers chopped up nice and fine. 

Small food chopper

Hot peppers

WARNING: Wear gloves when dealing with the hot peppers.  I went to a conference about 15 years ago where I heard Lois Hole (Former Lt Govenor of Alberta and greenhouse/garden guru) tell a story about her husband helping her chop hot peppers for salsa and then taking a break to go have a pee.   Well apparently it transfers from hands to other body parts!!!!  She laughed, we laughed...I'm sure he wasn't laughing. 

The cool part about salsa is that you can vary the ingredients to use what you have. 

So this year’s version was

8 L of roasted tomato puree- approx. 25 lbs of tomatoes.

3 large onions

4 heads (not cloves) garlic

30 fresh roma tomatoes chopped (sometimes I use green tomatoes as they stay in chunks better)

10 sweet peppers- red, green, yellow, banana

15 semi-hot/hot peppers (remove most of the seeds- set aside some seeds as they are the hottest part to adjust to taste later)

2 ½ cups vinegar

4 Tbsp salt

4 tsp smoked paprika

Combine in a large stock pot and simmer until desired thickness- or you get tired of waiting.  (be sure to scrape the bottom so it doesn’t stick and burn) 

Taste to see if it is spicy hot enough for your taste.  If not then add some of the hot pepper seeds that you set aside.  Transfer into hot jars- top with sterilized tops and then add the screw top just finger tight.  

Jar grabber and canning funnel

Canning pot for water bath processing.

I process my one litre jars at a rolling boil for 15 minutes and the 500 mL jars for 10 min. 

Hot hot hot

 Set aside to cool.  Tighten the lids and check that the centres have popped down to seal.  If any don't seal properly just store it in the fridge and use it first.  

 

This batch ended up with 8 x 1 L jars  and 9 x 500 mL jars.  If you don't want to tackle the processing yet- just make a small batch and keep it in the fridge.  It should last up to 3 weeks if you don't eat it all first.

You will be a superstar if you give this as gifts for Christmas.  Keep the 1 L jars and give away the smaller ones.  A lot of work and love goes into homemade salsa which you'll find out if you try it, but it is so worth it in the middle of winter.  

Roasting Tomatoes

When I was a greenhouse tomato farmer my first wholesale customer was Mark Klaudt of Route 40 Soup Co. fame.   He taught me how to roast tomatoes to enhance the flavour and reduce the water content.   As growers we had tons of cull and left over tomatoes we started roasting and freezing them for sauce.  This method works for any kind of tomato- roma, beefsteak, cherry....

You have two choices- roast at 350 F and come in and out of the kitchen and be more relaxed or roast at 425 F and have to watch more carefully.  If I am trying to really develop flavour I go for the hotter faster method and if I mostly want to decrease moisture (like for salsa) I use the slower- longer method. 

For both lay the clean tomatoes out in a shallow roasting pan- enamel or cast iron - as the acid from the tomatoes eats off a non-stick coating on aluminum pans.   Put in the oven and check every 20 minutes if you have the oven at 350 F or every 10 min if roasting at 425 F.   

The tomatoes turn brown, start to let out juices and collapse a little.  

If you want the skins off they just slip off at this point.   I like to keep the skins on, as they add flavour with the brown caramelized part.   For a juicier sauce or soup you can then puree or chop the whole thing juice and all, or if you are going for a thicker sauce or for salsa you can drain off the liquid and just use the solids.    I like to puree it and put it in bags or containers in the freezer for sauce in the winter.   It makes a really great base for pizza sauce.  

Check back soon for how to use roasted tomatoes for the best salsa!