One can only make so much 'Chow Chow' from green tomatoes, unless of course you ask my wife who would tell you you can never have to much 'Chow Chow'. So I decided to make some Green Tomato Salsa as we were inundated with tomatoes this year (that's a good thing by the way!). Traditional Salsa Verde is made form tomatillas, but green tomatoes are a great substitute. My version of Green Tomato Salsa is based on a recipe from Ball called 'Green Tomato Salsa Verde' one that can be easily found on the internet. You can adjust the heat to meet your specific tastes by adding or subtracting the number of jalapenos used in the recipe. I make a especially hot and spicy version for my grandson using habanero peppers. It's good, but it will definately make you sweat!
Todd's Green Tomato Salsa
2 quarts green tomatoes, minced (about
5-6 lbs.)
6 to 10 jalapenos, whole
4 onions, large
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¾ cup lime juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried cilantro
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper.
Make sure you have about a dozen or so
clean pint jars that are ready to be sterilized for the canning
process. If you haven't cleaned yours jars, then do so before you get
started. At this point they do not have to be sterile, just clean. We
will sterilize them later.
Fill your water bath canner about ¾
full with water and put on the stove and set it on high. You want to
do this first so that you are not waiting 30 to 45 minutes or longer
depending on your stove after you have finished processing your
vegetables. If you do this step first, your canner should be ready
just about the time you are ready to process your green tomato salsa.
Wash the tomatoes, core and cut out any
bad spots and cut into halves or quarters depending on the size of
the tomatoes you are using. Process the tomatoes in small batches (2
to 3 cups) in your food processor or blender by using the pulse
button until the are reduced to a small mince. Wash and cut the tops
off the jalapeno peppers, cut the onions in chucks and and process
them together.
Combine the tomatoes, onions, jalapenos
and the remaining ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a
boil. Once it begins to boil reduce the heat to simmer and cook for
30 minutes while your are sterilizing your canning jars. Taste salsa
and adjust seasoning and liquid as necessary. If your salsa looks to
dry add some regular white vinegar, lime or juice to your preference.
Take a small saucepan and fill with
water and set it on high and heat it just until it starts to boil.
Turn off the heat and add your rings and lids.
At this point your water bath canner
should be simmering or even possibly boiling which is a good thing
because before we process our green tomato salsa, we are going to use
the water bath canner to sterilize our pint canning jars. Using your
jar tongs place no more than 3 pint jars in your water bath canner at
a time and leave for 30 seconds to sterilize the jars then remove to
a rack to cool. If you do not have a metal rack, a bath towel folded
in half to protect the counter will work, however be careful not to
knock the jars onto the floor.
Once your jars are ready and your green
tomato salsa has cooked for 30 minutes, take your canning funnel and
fill the jars leaving a ½ inch of headspace. With the rim of the jar
with a damp paper towel and remove a lid and ring onto the jar and
then using your jar tongs place the jar into the water bath cannner.
Repeat this process until your water bath canner is full or you run
out of green tomato salsa. Once all the jars are in the water bath
canner, make sure the jars are covered by 3 to 4 inches of boiling
water, then cover the canner to maintain the heat and process for the
required time.
If you have more green tomato salsa
than you have space in your water bath canner, only fill the enough
jars to fill your canner and once you have finished processing the
first batch, then fill any additional jars and follow the same
procedure you did to process your first batch.
Processing Time:
Pints 20 - 25 minutes in a water bath
canner.
Quarts 30 to 35 minutes in a water bath
canner.
Remember, any time you are canning in a
water bath canner, the processing time does not start until the water
bath canner is boiling. To ensure food safety and proper processing,
I will repeat you do not start counting your processing time until
the water is boiling after adding your canned goods. It is also
important that you make sure that your canner continues to boil
during the entire process.
If you want to know more about growing
an awesome garden and increasing your garden's yields, go check out
my friend Steve Coyne's blog and Facebook page on the links below.
Vegetable Blog:
http://igrowvegetables.blogspot.com/
YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/IGrowVegetables
If you would like to see the original Ball 'Green Tomato Salsa Verde' recipe, you can find
it here:
http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipes/green-tomato-salsa-verde-recipe
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