Salsa time - to save for later

This is the end of my garden harvest.  I have about 8 pounds of tomatillos- both green and purple, some ugly but tasty tomatoes, purple and green Jalapeño peppers and some onions and garlic from the garden.  Let's make some salsa; can it up and have it on a cold January day.

ready for a cold January day

I started with my tomatillo salsa

4 pounds of tomatillos- hulled, washed and chopped
1 cup onion- chopped
4 Jalapeno peppers - seeded, chopped
4 cloves garlic - minced
1 Tbs ground cumin
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup bottled lime juice- remember this is going to be preserved so we need the acid
1/4 cup fresh cilantro - chopped fine

mise en place

Combine the tomatillos, onion, jalapeños, and garlic in a large pot.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Add the cumin, sea salt, lime juice and cilantro.
Cook and additional 10 minutes.  Taste the salsa and add more salt, cumin, or lime juice if necessary
Ladle the hot salsa into 1 pint jars that have been heat/water processed,* leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe the rims, apply sterilized (boil in water bath 10 minutes) lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.  When the processing time is up, remove the canning pot from the heat and remove the lid.  Let the jars sit in the pot for an additional 5 minutes.
Makes 4 pints

This recipe is taken from Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan - a great little book for small batches of yummy processed food.

NEXT:

End of harvest tomato salsa:

uncooked salsa

So I had a basket of vegetables that I had picked from my garden- the end of everything,  mostly tomatoes, a variety of peppers- mostly Jalapeños,  red onions, a few tomatillos I missed , young garlic I had to dig for- you get it.  I am going to list a basic tomato salsa recipe from "Food in Jars" for the guideline of ingredients but it was basically whatever was left:

makes 4 pint jars:
6 cups tomatoes ( about 3 pounds) chopped
2 cups onions - chopped
1 cup bell pepper- chopped( 1 large pepper)
1 3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 Jalapeno peppers, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs sea salt
1 cup fresh cilantro - chopped

Prepare a boiling water bath and 4 --1 pint jars.  Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover them with water, and simmer over very low heat.

Combine the tomatoes, onion, chopped red pepper, vinegar, sugar, Jalapeños, garlic, lie juice and salt in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the salsa no longer looks watery.  Stir in the chopped cilantro.

Taste and add additional jalapeño, lime juice or salt if necessary.

Ladle the hot salsa into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

When the procession time is up, remove the canning pot from the heat and remove the lid.  Let the jars sit in the pot for an additional 5 minutes.  This helps to prevent the salsa from reacting to the rapid temperature change and bubbling out of the jars.

NOTE:  I live a mile high and must add 10 minutes to my procession time because of the altitude.

If your last jar is a little shy of salsa place it in the fridge and it will keep a couple of weeks - I didn't say it would last a couple of weeks

Goodbye garden 2016

Pickled Zucchini

Pickled Zucchini

Another great recipe from Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars book on preserving small batches of food.  We do feel like master gardeners when it comes time to growing zucchini but what do we do with all of it?  I have spiraled it into noodles, baked it with Parmesan cheese, grilled it, added it as a pizza topping.....but today I tried pickling it.  I am surprised how crisp it is...especially with the refrigerator method.  The cumin adds a great difference.  Make sure the cumin is fresh.  Here's the recipe:

3 pounds young zucchini, cut  into 1/2" rounds

2 cups apple cider vinegar

3 teaspoons ground cumin

3 TBS pickling salt

1 lime sliced

2 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cumin seed

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp red pepper flakes, I use chipotle

Combine the vinegar, 2 cups water, ground cumin and pickling salt in a pot and bring the brine to a boil.

Meanwhile place a lime slice in the bottom of each sterilized jar.  Divide the pickling spices among your jars

Pack the sliced zucchini in each jar

Gently pour the hot brine over the zucchini leaving 1/2 inch headspace

If canning, gently tap the jars and use a wooden skewer to release any bubbles trapped.  Wipe the rims of the jars.  Add lids and rings  Process for 10 minutes in boiling water.

If going directly to the fridge.  Let the zucchini soak up all the flavor for 48 hours if you can wait that long.

Happy summer eating.

mise en place

pickling spices, lime and a sprig of lavender

zucchini in jar