Homemade Roasted Jalapeno Salsa

With  the abundance of tomatoes we are  (and will be for the coming weeks) blessed with this year , I am canning salsa, tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce. My crew here goes through salsa very fast . We eat it with tortilla chips, add it to cream cheese for an awesome chicken enchilada base, added to  black  beans and chicken broth for black bean soup, and baked on top of chicken or pork for an easy weeknight  meal. The tomato sauce I use as a base for tomato based soups (green pepper soup,  hamburger soup etc) and the spaghetti sauce is for rigatoni,lasagnas and quick pasta dishes.I just add ground beef, turkey or sausage and simmer.

This recipe for canned salsa is very easy. I think the only tedious part is chopping all of the vegetables. but once that is done, it comes together quickly.I use the hot water bath method on all of my tomato based canning.My nana always made her canned tomatoes that way, and I am carrying on the tradition. I doubled  this recipe and came away with 12 pints of salsa. Stay tuned for pictures and recipes for other canned food.

*note -you can adjust the amount of hot peppers to make your salsa as hot or mild as you  like.I made one batch as written and the second batch with less peppers, for my younger boys.

Ingredients

• 10 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
• 5 cups chopped and seeded bell peppers
• 5 cups chopped onions
• 2 cups jalapeno peppers, roasted, chopped, seeded (more or less to your taste)
• 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except tomato paste in large sauce pot.
2. Simmer until desired thickness.
3. Stir in tomato paste.
4. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head-space.
5. Process 25 minutes in a hot water bath.

Cherry Butter

I am about to bombard my blog with recipes using fresh cherries. Sorry, not sorry! My bestie and I wrangled up our husbands and kids this weekend and headed to our local orchard and picked an insane amount of cherries. It was so fun and hopefully we will do it again next year. I swear I didn't think we picked so many, but when I got home and had to pit 18 lbs of cherries, then yeah, we picked so many dang cherries. But I had a folder full of recipes for them, so I have spent the last few days knee deep in cherries. I made cherry pie filling , cherry crisp, cherry cheesecake popsicles, dark chocolate cherry ice cream ( recipes to follow ) and this cherry butter. I have never made cherry butter before, and after tasting the final product I am so glad I did. It is basically apple butter, but with cherries. Slow cooked cherries with sugar and spices ! This recipe made 4 small jars full. I highly recommend trying this recipe. Smooth, velvety cherry butter to slather on biscuits, or over ice cream or spooned into oatmeal. So many possibilities.

CHERRY BUTTER

Ingredients
6 cups sweet cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
1.5 - 2 c sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 (scant) ground allspice
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar, cinnamon, allspice and lemon juice and zest . Mix well and bring the cherries to a simmer.

2. Stir the cherries and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it slowly reduce, while stirring every 5 minutes or so. It will need to  cook for about an hour to thicken up.

3. Take the saucepan off of the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the fruit to a smooth consistency. 

4. Ladle the butter into prepared jam jars. Seal and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

5.If you do not want to can  , just keep the jars refrigerated and eat within 3 to 4 weeks.

Spicy Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles

One of my most favorite things to do in the kitchen is can. It seems so old fashioned, doesn't it?  You can buy any food shelf ready at any grocery store these days. But there is just something about using fresh produce and making it into yummy food in jars. Right? My family and I love to open the cabinets and see our summer bounty ready to eat all year round! And we are huge fans of pickles. I  can pickles all summer for us to nosh on in the colder months. We are still waiting for our cucumber crop to come in, so in the interim I made a batch of refrigerator pickles from  cute little pickling cukes I picked up last weekend at our local farmers market.  This recipe makes 3-4 jars of spicy garlic dill goodness! And I make these as refrigerator pickles because I know they will be eaten  within a month of making them. And they are super easy. Basically just add the herbs, spices and cukes to the jars and pour over the hot brine! That's it! Just let the pickles sit in the fridge for about a week and dig in. I promise you will not be able to stop at just one. If you do not like hot spicy, or you have little ones, just omit the red pepper. Or, if you like hot, feel free to add more! Totally up to you. I will be adding many more canning recipes over the next few months, so be sure to stop back and check them out!

Spicy Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients

12 small pickling cucumbers, Cut lengthwise into fourths
2 cups water
1 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
12 sprigs of fresh dill ( 3 sprigs per jar)
1/2 cup white sugar
6-8 cloves fresh garlic (2 per jar)
1 1/2 T coarse salt
1 T pickling spice
1 1/2 tsp dill seeds
1/2-1 tsp dried crushed red pepper

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the dill sprigs. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours until the sugar and salt dissolve.

Place two garlic cloves from the bowl into each pint jar.  Fill each jar with the cucumber spears. Tuck 2-3 sprigs of dill in with the cucumbers. Stir the brine well.

Pour pickling brine over the pickles in each jar. Leave about 1/2 inch of head space. Cover the jars with the lids tightly. Refrigerate for about 10 days . They will keep for about 4 weeks. Keep refrigerated.

{ Old Fashioned Refrigerator Pickles }

One of my family's most requested snack recipes are these sweet, crunchy pickles. They are so addicting. I  always have a jar of these in the fridge, and the kids  munch on them when they open the refrigerator looking for food. The trail of pickle juice from the refrigerator door to the kitchen table can attest to many forks stuck in the jar for a taste of these ! They are completely old fashioned and super  easy to make. I pop the jar in a cooler and take them on picnic lunches in the spring and summer with the boys. I always add the onions, and I am the only one who will eat them, but that works for me. Crunchy  sweet onions are just as good as the pickles. You can use more celery seed than called for in this recipe if you prefer a stronger celery flavor. I think that 1 tsp is perfect for our tastes. These keep for  about a month in the refrigerator, but I tend to have to slice a cucumber every three days or so and add it to the jar to keep it replenished. They are rally good on hot dogs and hamburgers too. And please note that these are refrigerator pickles. They will keep in the refrigerator for a month or so. You do not have to can these. No hot water baths or waiting on the lids to pop. Just put on the jar lid and pop in the fridge. And they  do get better as the weeks wear on.

Old Fashioned Refrigerator Pickles

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups sliced cucumber
1 onion, thinly sliced

Place sliced cucumber and onions in qt or pint jars.
In a separate non reactive bowl, stir vinegar, sugar, water and salt together until dissolved. Add the celery seed. Mix well. Pour mixture over cucumber and onions . Place lids on jars and refrigerate.
Keeps for 2-3 months.


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