Salsa...CAN You Dig It?

One of the random talents of the Ham Sandwich family is salsa making. My mom's mom made jars and jars of salsa every summer with the tomatoes and peppers my grandpa would grow in their backyard garden. Salsa making talent reappeared in my brother, who not only made salsa, but hot sauce as well , AND made a viable company selling spicy condiments to folks that are apparently referred to as "chiliheads." This weekend, I dug deep into my genetic code and tried my hand at making and canning my own salsa...boiling water bath and all. Surprisingly, it was not that hard, and was rather satisfying. The only investment I had to make was a box of mason jars and the canning kit with a funnel, jar and lid grabber, and spatula. (Wal-Mart is good for some things...) I'd already inherited grandma's canning kettle, and the garden supplied me with just about all the ingredients.
The most time consuming part of all this is the prep: blanching, peeling and seeding the tomatoes, roasting the other veggies, and getting the canning pot boiling. Above, tomatoes getting ready to be blanched (the cuts help in peel removal). Below, naked tomatoes.
I consulted with my brother before undergoing this endeavor, and he recommend roasting the peppers I planned on using in the salsa. On hand, I had a couple green peppers, a whole slew of jalapenos, one left over poblano, and a pepper from my yellow pepper plant that had turned red. Splash of olive oil and into the oven on broil until charred:

While broiling, I started heating up the water in the canning pot--it takes a while, so get it started right away. Also, I put the jars and lids in the dishwasher and ran them through on the "hot/sanitize cycle." That way, they're hot, clean, and ready to go when it's time to fill them. For the tomato base, my brother recommends taking 1/3 of your chopped tomatoes and pureeing them in the food processor for a better texture in your finished product. Since I didn't have enough fresh tomatoes, I pureed two 14 ounce cans of chopped ones, then dumped those and the chopped, seeded tomatoes in my cooking pot:

He also recommended having all the other veggies pre-chopped and ready for dumping, which in this case included two smallish onions, the peppers (total of four jalapenos plus the other stuff), four cloves of garlic, one tablespoon of salt, some fresh pepper, and a half teaspoon of cumin. I also chopped up about 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro--but held off on adding it until the last second.

Simmer the tomatoes and pureed tomatoes until the reach 180 degrees, the add the bowl of chopped veggies. At this point, I also added 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, just to up the acidity...high acidity keeps the toxins at bay, which in turn means you won't kill your friends with your salsa.

Bring the heat back up to 180 degrees and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, just keep an eye on the color--too long and your peppers will turn an unappetizing shade of grey.

Here's when you stir in the chopped cilantro. Take a quick taste to check the seasonings, then get ready to jar it up. Get the jars out of the dishwasher, and using a ladle and funnel, fill them up with 1/4" space left at the top. Screw the lids on securely but not too tight, then drop them into your (hopefully) boiling pot of water in the canning pot.

Set a timer and boil the jars for 20 minutes, then using the jar grabber, remove the jars from the water, place them on a rack or towel, and let them cool. If the jars are sealed you'll hear them "pop" as the seal gets sucked down. I found that if I barely touched the lids, they sucked themselves down....success!!!!

Now, I just have to try and avoid the temptation of digging in...Must. Save. For. Winter...

On a slightly promotional note--due to circumstances beyond my brother's control, his company Sauce Cartel is no longer producing hot sauce, but still has some inventory he's willing to sell--namely, his awesome jerk paste (great on ribs), as well as a large selection of hot sauces in various degrees of hotness. I think he still has some hot salsa left as well. If you're interested, he can be reached at redrocketz@gmail.com. Trust me, it's great stuff...there's some reviews of their product here and here.