Salsa / Picante Sauce

[ol_hoot]

Tomatoes are making pretty good here.

I'm starting a bunch in a pot to boil right now so I can make some salsa.

I boil about 20 or so (various sizes) till they get wrinkledy skinned and then flush them with cold water until they are cooled enough to handle.
I decore and chop up a little then add 3 or 4 chopped onions, a couple bunches of chopped cilantro (this is taste specific - from 1/2 cup to whatever you like), several (5 or 6, again taste specific, the more the hotter) jalapenos ( I use pickled ones as they give it better flavor than fresh ones do and I take most of the seeds out), 3 or 4 spoon fulls of chopped garlic, a 1/4 t-sp of red pepper and a t-sp of salt + a little more to taste.

Bring it all to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Ladle into a blender and blend until desired consisitency is achieved.
You can pour straight from the blender into jars but be sure to taste test that first batch to see if it is like you want it ... if not you can pour it all back in the pot, add whatever is missing and start over till you get it like you want it.

I don't know how long this will keep as it never stays around long enough to find out a shelf-life.

Good on stuff as a condiment, for dipping tortillas in or for chips.

Anybody else have any salsa recipes that I could try ?

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Hey Hoot. I like to make a salsa similar to yours. I don't forego the seeds, though. I like to sweat Indoors! My recipe calls for a little bit of corn kernals that are ever-so-lightly browned in a skillet of oil to add a little bit of fibre to the mix.
I hadn't considered the blender idea but might give it a try for variety.
Do you ever make a verde salsa with green tomatoes at the end of the season? I like that sweet with lime juice and more corn.

[Dawgus]

We generally make ours at the end of the summer, to use up the last of the tomatos and peppers. What we do is dice everything into small chunks( we both like ours chunky) and slow roast it all day in the oven at 250, then can in pint jars. Our mix sounds about the same as yours, but I like to add a few hungarian hot peppers and more garlic & onion.

[ol_hoot]

I had to make an adjustment to the recipe ... I had a tablespoon of salt and of red pepper.

It should have read (and now does) a t-spoon of salt and 1/4 t-spoon of red pepper

[ol_hoot]

Never have Ozark, I like it when I've had it in restaraunts but we always use the green tomatoes for fried green tomatoes.
They go quick around here when the family is in.

[CarolAnn]

I use Roma tomatoes so they don't have much juice, and I never skin 'em! I just chop up a bunch of Romas, some onions, some peppers (red, yellow, green and sometimes weird colors of bell and usually also banana peppers - whatever kinds we've got.) Chopped cilantro - a large bunch, and a dash of olive oil, some vinegar & salt & pepper. My family varies so much as to how hot they like it, I put out a bottle of sport peppers and they shake the hot vinegar from that on to taste. If we have summer squash or cucumbers, that also gets chopped up fine and put in. I don't think it's possible to go wrong with salsa - somebody'll eat it!

[ol_hoot]

Those Roma's sure have a good flavor.
They are my go-to for salads when we have to buy them at the store through the winter.
Wish they would get bigger though.

[flowerstimber]

Ol Hoot,

I too enjoy roma tomatoes but I plant a hybrid brand and the fruit is at least twice as big.

Flowers

[firegirl969]

This is my first year growing Roma's and I love them. They have grown prolific and out performed my wildest imagination.