Thursday 9 October 2014

All photos have disappeared....

So it seems that all my photo's for my recipe's have disappeared.  It is going to take me some time to try and fix this problem.  I'm so sorry for the inconvenience .

Saturday 6 September 2014

Medium - Hot Salsa Recipe ~ Smoky Chipotle Salsa

Today I made a nice big batch of Salsa.  I like to call it Smoky Chipotle Salsa.  It is so yummy and tasty!  I tried making it for the first time last year.  Well, a few weeks ago we finally ran out and I just couldn't bring myself to go out and buy a jar of the store bought stuff.  So I made another batch.



Medium-Hot Salsa

16 cups very ripe tomatoes, cored & chopped (no need to peel or seed)
5 cups yellow onions, chopped
4 cups green peppers, chopped
1 canned chipotle chili (optional– or you can add more for super hot salsa)
1 sm can of chopped green chili's
5 small green hot peppers (can't remember the name)
12 cloves garlic
3 teaspoons cumin
4 teaspoons black pepper
4 Tablespoon canning salt (also called pickling salt — it has no iodine)
2/3 cup white vinegar
30 ounces tomato sauce (homemade or from the store)
24 ounces tomato paste (homemade or from the store)
juice of 2 lime
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Chop tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and chipotle chilies by hand or in a food processor. Make it as chunky or fine as you like. In a large non-aluminum pot, mix everything together except the lime juice and cilantro.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Continue boiling 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro.

Fill jars with hot mixture. Wipe rims and add lids and screw-bands. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Make sure the boiling water is deep enough to cover the jars by at least one inch, and start timing when the water returns to a boil after adding the jars.

Check the jar seals. If any haven’t sealed, you get to eat that right away! Keeps in the fridge for several weeks once opened.

If you want a very mild salsa, start by omitting the chipotle, cutting the cumin to 1 teaspoon, and removing the seeds from the hot peppers. Once the mixture has cooked for about 5 minutes, give it a taste, and season to desired “hotness” by adding the cumin, hot pepper seeds and chipotles (with or without the adobo sauce in the can). The recipe as listed makes a medium-hot version.

If it is not spicy enough, you could add a cup of chopped jalapeno peppers with or without the seeds.

This recipe is doubled so if you want a smaller batch, just cut the recipe in half.  I got 16 pints of Salsa today.


Enjoy!


Tuesday 29 July 2014

Excellent Zucchini Salsa

This salsa has a really delicious flavor, and keeps you going back for more.


Zucchini Salsa

10 cups zucchini, peeled and shredded
4 onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1/4 cup pickling salt
1 tablespoon pickling salt
2 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon black pepper
5 cups chopped ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cans of 156ml tomato paste

In a large bowl combine; Zucchini, onions, green pepper, red pepper and the salt Mix together cover and let stand over night.

This time I used Yellow Zucchini.

Next day rinse, drain well and put into a large pot then add mustard, garlic, cumin, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper flakes, cornstarch, nutmeg, pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste.

I like to premix the dry ingredients.  I find that doing it this way helps to prevent the Corn Starch from clumping.


Mix well.


Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Pour into sterilized jars and seal.


Water bath jars if they have not sealed properly.

Note: If you want it "HOT" just add a dozen finely chopped jalapenos 

*** Note from my kitchen****
I used 4 - 6 cloves of Fresh pressed garlic instead of the tablespoon of powdered.
I used 3 tablespoons (heaping) of Crushed Red Pepper flakes instead of the called for 2 because I didn't have jalapeno's.  It turned out quite spicy.  So Reduce or add pepper flakes depending on how spicy you like it.  I think next time I will try 1 1/2- 2 tbsp pepper flakes, so it's a little less spicy.