Salsa Fresca

 

Started with several kinds of tomatoes. Here's a small pile of what I used- tha garden yielded bowlfulls the past couple days. On the right are the Cherokee Purples, ugly things but delicious, to the left rear are Brandywines, left front small Ball's Beefsteaks, and in the center, Tomatillos, in the front Roma's- the last two I got at the store this morning.

 

 

Got plenty of chile peppers this morning. In the back row are the Tabasco, center left to right Jalapeno, Cayenne, Serrano, and in the front Habanero. Yes, they all went in, but then I made a lot of salsa.

 

 

Not shown are the 8 lbs each white and red onions, as well as 13 limes, whose juice was squeezed by the wonderful Mrs Rivet helping out.

 

Took the Jalapenos and roasted them over briquettes and mesquite.

 

 

Followed by all the tomatoes and tomatillos, six or seven iterations on the grill, I'd guess 30 pounds or so. Here are the Romas-

 

 

I chopped, pureed and frappe'd all the tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, tomatillos and garlic as the base, then coarsly chopped the fresh chiles picked this morning-

 

 

I also chopped up the steeped chiles, taking out the dried lemons- didn't want them chopped up.

 

Used the vinegar they were in as well, then added the lime juice...they 13 limes yielded well over 3 cups.

 

Added about 4 cups fresh chopped cilantro, 2 cups fresh chopped parsley, and various amounts of spices and herbs, then mixed well. Tasted magnificent!

 

 

Eighteen pints to start with then five full quarts plus a whole huge bowlfull to eat with tonight's NFL game!

 

 

Pressure canning at 10lbs for 25 minutes for the pints, 30 minutes for the quarts. Food safety is primary!

 

I'm really curious to see how the salsa fresca comes out after the canning-cooking. I'm betting it is going to mellow out, the flavours deepen, and meld into just what I planned for~ we'll soon see! More pics later.......................................

 

 

 

 

 

Very impressive results, I think. The indirect "cooking" of the salsa during the canning process did indeed change the raw freshness of the Salsa Fresca into something deeper, richer, and drew out the smokey overtones of the grilled tomatoes, tomatillos and Jalapenos. Very nice, just what I was hoping for!

 

In its fresh state, it was a crazy quilt of flavours, all good and bright, delicious as-is, but I wanted the canning procedure to deepen and at the same time, flatten the different flavors screaming for attention. I got that in spades! This is a grown-up, mature salsa.

 

 

There were occasional thick chunks of tomato, chiles and onions throughout the batch and in this jar we got a chile pepper. Real nice color; the tomatoes got a richer red hue than they had yesterday. At first bite, there is a wave of smokey jalapeno/tomato flavor mixed with rich tomato goodness underlaid by onions and indistinct spices gently swimming about. Then comes a nice breeze of fresh heat, bright warmth from the tabascos and habaneros, not too much, but there- this is a medium salsa, not mild.

 

 

Big pieces of onions and thick tomato sauce make for a solid mouthful, yet the liquids from the fresh garden vegetables thin it out enough for the sauce to be light enough for a hot summer day.

 

Overall this is one of the better salsas I've made and glad I did it. Got a secret piece of advice on an ingredient to add depth and knock off the hot-edge of the chiles and it worked very well. If you liked Satan's Salsa, you'll love this one even more!