Cue the old school Zelda theme song, because I’m on a quest: make a canning salsa that is spicy enough for my husband to enjoy the heat all winter long. This recipe came from the Food Channel. The result is a salsa with a decent amount of spice (but my quest is not over yet). I know that I can just add some habaneros for some serious heat, and that would be great for a salsa to stick in the fridge and eat within the week. However, whenever I want to put tomatoes in the cabinet for a year, I am wary of playing with the ingredients. That’s because I know that it has to have the correct level of acidity, etc. in order to avoid spoiling the food. Does anyone out there know of a tested recipe for a spicy canning tomato salsa? I think there are a still a few weeks left of tomato season, and I would like to give it one more try.
That being said, this salsa is fairly easy and pretty delicious. Adjust the number of jalapeños, or take out some seeds if that’s your preference. This recipe could also use a bit more salt, but I would taste it first and decide what you want to do. These tomatoes came from a farm stand in Amagansett, and the jalapeños came from the rooftop garden.
One more note: My makeshift canner holds 4 pint jars at a time. I only processed 4 jars and put the other two directly in the fridge. Then when I noticed how the salsa wasn’t salty, I started to doubt that it would stay good in the cabinet. The next day, I noticed some air bubbles in a few of the jars, so I decided put three more in the fridge. I didn’t want to take any chances. I only have one jar left in the cabinet. I will open that one in a few months and let you know if it worked.
For more information about canning, you can check out my other experiments:
Peach Salsa (this one has details about how to can)
Ingredients:
- 6 pounds of tomatoes
- 10 jalapeños, chopped (seeds included)
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 9 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/3 cup lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 3 onions (preferably 1 white, 1 yellow, 1 red)
- 6 pint jars (either small mouth or wide mouth is fine)
- Lids and rings
- Water bath with rack
- Sterilize jars and seals. (I did this by putting them in my dishwasher which gets super hot. Some dishwashers have a sterilize cycle, and that would work, too.)
- Start heating up your water for your water bath, if canning
- Put clean tomatoes in boiling water for 30-45 seconds, and then plunge them into ice water. The tomatoes will be easy to peel as a result.
- Peel tomatoes and cut out cores or bad spots. Chop the tomatoes to desired size (they will cook down so leave them slightly larger than you want them to be in the salsa).
- Mix tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, salt, and cumin and bring to a boil.
- Add onion, peppers, and cilantro. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 7-10 minutes.
- Remove 1 cup of liquid (to thicken the salsa).
- Put salsa in sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch of headroom. (Stop here and put lids on if you are not canning)
- I did not do this, but I will next time: Use a chopstick or knife to slide around the jar to get rid of air bubbles.
- Wipe the rim of the jar, place sterilized seal on jar, and tighten the ring.
- Place jars in water bath for 15 minutes (time depends on altitude – more time for higher altitudes).
- Remove jars and let stand for at least 24 hours. Remove rings (optional) and store. If the jar did not seal, place it in refrigerator and use within a week.
Guest blogger day! My mom sent me this beautiful and tasty-looking recipe. One thing that I like about this recipe is that it doesn’t include a ton dried spices, so you won’t find yourself running to 12 different stores trying to find 1 teaspoon of some random spice that you will never use agin. She said that this recipe filled a quart sized mason jar perfectly.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 Cup apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 3X1/2″ strip lemon peel (NO WHITE, just yellow)
- 12 oz little tomatoes (any kind) (I mixed!)
- 1/4 Cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (I used 4)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
Directions:
- Pour vinegar and water into saucepan. Add salt, sugar and lemon peel. bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Remove from heat. Let cool 20 minutes.
- Pierce each tomato 2 times with slender wooden skewer or toothpick. (I did 2 pierces, making 4 holes, and I cut the bigger ones in half)
- Toss tomatoes with dill, garlic, and crushed red pepper in large bowl.
- Add cooled vineger mixture.
- Let stand at room temp at least 2 and up to 8 hours.
These can stay in fridge about 2 weeks.
The roof is exploding with spicy peppers. My tomatoes are not doing as well, so I have only been able to make small batches of salsa. What to do with excess jalapeños? Poppers! Thanks to my friend BC for introducing me to the site Skinnytaste, where I got this recipe. Skinnytaste has a variety of light recipes, beautiful step-by-step pictures, and clear directions. Of course, I have this bad habit of taking a low fat recipe and adding some more fat into it. However, the only real difference between her recipe and mine is that I used regular rather than light cream cheese. These poppers would make a great appetizer for a party because you can prepare them in advance.
Ingredients:
- 12 jalapeño peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
- 4.5 oz cream cheese
- 5 medium scallions, green part only, sliced
- 2 oz shredded low fat sharp cheddar (I used Cabot 50%)
- 1/2 cup egg beaters or egg whites, beaten (I used 4 egg whites)
- 3/4 cup panko
crumbs
- 1/8 tsp paprika
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp chili powder
- salt and fresh pepper
- spray oil
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Wearing rubber gloves, cut peppers in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and membrane.
- Combine cream cheese, cheddar and scallions in a medium bowl.
- Combine panko, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper in another bowl.
- Fill peppers with cheese filling with a small spoon or spatula.
- Dip peppers in egg beaters.
- Place pepper in panko mixture, using a spoon to make sure all the seasoning doesn’t fall to the bottom of the bowl.
- Spray a baking pan with oil spray. I lined my pan with parchment for easier cleanup. Lightly spray the peppers with a little more oil spray.
- Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until golden and cheese oozes out.
- Remove from oven and serve immediately. Serve hot.
Ingredients:
- 6 medium beets (1 1/2 pounds), trimmed (I used 4 very large beets)
- 2 small garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small red chile, seeded and minced (I used dried chile flakes instead)
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon za’atar
- Salt
- 1/4 cup roasted skinned hazelnuts, chopped
- 2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- Warm bread, for serving
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Put the beets in a small roasting pan and add 1/4 cup of water. Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour, until tender. Let cool slightly.
- Peel the beets, cut into wedges and transfer to a food processor. Add the garlic, chile and yogurt and pulse until blended. Add the olive oil, maple syrup and za’atar and puree. Season with salt. Scrape into a wide, shallow bowl. Scatter the hazelnuts, goat cheese and scallions on top and serve with bread.
These are like little salads you can eat with your hands. You can really improvise and use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Also, you can add shrimp, chicken, or tofu to these for some more protein. However, I liked them nice and light for these hot summer days. You may have to go to a larger store or an Asian market to get the rice paper wrap. The 3rd store was a charm for me–I picked some at at Pacific Green on Court Street in Cobble Hill. As a bonus, I also picked up some of their wonderfully fresh-cut watermelon for dessert.
These fresh summer rolls (as opposed to deep-fried spring rolls) are great to bring to a picnic or anywhere else. Just put a layer of damp paper towels on the bottom, seal them tightly with saran wrap, and they should be good to go a day in advance. If you want to store them in layers, put a layer of paper towels between the layers of rolls to keep them from sticking to each other.
The quantity of the ingredients list is flexible. It depends on your preference: you can make each roll with as much of each ingredient as you choose. One cucumber and one carrot will be good for about 8 rolls, which are each cut in half.
Ingredients:
For the rolls:
- 1 package very thin rice noodles, cooked according to package directions
- 1 cucumber, cut in half cross wise and then into thin strips
- 1 carrot, shaved with a vegetable peeler
- 4 radishes, cut into matchsticks (First cut the radish into thin slices. Then, cut each round slice into strips.)
- 20 or so whole basil leaves (fewer if your leaves are bigger)
- 20 or so whole cilantro leaves
- 20 or so whole mint leaves (fewer if your leaves are bigger)
- 1 package rice paper wrappers: they look like this
For the dipping sauce:
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- water as needed to thin out the sauce
- optional: one clove or garlic, minced
Directions:
- If you did not cook the noodles ahead of time already, get those going according to package directions.
- Prepare the dipping sauce: mix all ingredients together. Thin out with a few tablespoons or water at at time until you get your desired consistency. I added a bit more vinegar as well,so just taste and keep adjusting the amounts until you like the flavor.
- Fill a large sauté pan with warm water. Hopefully it is large enough for you to quickly dip the wrappers in without crushing them. The wrappers I got this time were HUGE (larger diameter than any of my pans) so I just dipped one half at a time. Here’s how it works: The wrapper needs to sit in warm water for a just a few seconds to become pliable so you can actually wrap with it. Then, you need to work fairly quickly but carefully so that you don’t tear the wrapper. Just do one at a time.
- After softening the wrapper, place it carefully on a work surface. Fill the middle with the goods: a small handful of noodles, a few cucumber sticks, a few radishes, a few carrots, a few of each: cilantro, basil, mint, whatever else you feel like.
- Then, get rolling. Fold the top and bottom up to close off the edges of your roll. Then, start wrapping from one side until you get the shape you want. You’ll need to be a little forceful with your vegetables to get them into roll-shape. Its ok, they can handle it.
- Cut each roll in half, and serve with dipping sauce on the side.
Here is Part 2 of my preserving projects from yesterday. This jam is an addicting combination of spicy and sweet. We had it with crackers and cheese last night, and a lot of people recommend serving it with cream cheese. Do you have any other good ways to serve jalapeño jam?
This recipe came from the Pick Your Own site. It is such a detailed recipe, including the canning method, that I am not going to attempt to repost it. Just check out the link. It’s an extensive site if you are interested in other preserving projects.
A few notes about my own experience with this recipe: I only had 12 peppers from the garden ready to go, so I halved the recipe. Also, I did NOT use food coloring, but I love the amber color that naturally came through. Finally, I did not use gloves. Big mistake. Big. Huge. Putting my contact lenses in this morning was torture. I recommend gloves when dealing with this many hot peppers.
Here is Part 1 of my 2 preserving projects from this rainy day. This recipe is another great one from Sherri Brooks Vinton’s book: Put ’em Up!
I also made an addicting jalapeño jelly this afternoon, and I will post that one next.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds beets
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cumin seed
- 1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap the beets individually in foil and arrange on a single layer on baking sheets. Roast until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Use a wad of paper towels to a paring knife to take the skins off. Cut the beets in half and then into 1/4-inch slices.
- Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt, and then remove from the heat.
- Pack the beets into 3 clean, hot pint pars, arranging them snugly but with enough room for the brine to circulate. Divide the cumin seed and cloves among the jars. Pour the hot brine over the beets to cover by 1/2 inch. Leave 1/2 inch headspace between the top of the liquid and the lid.
- Cool, cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.
If you want to can the beets, process for 30 minutes. They should be good for up to one year.
UPDATE: I made the salad again, and this time I took a photo of it. I used 1 clove of regular garlic instead of garlic scopes this time around.
I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how to deal with the mess from peeling beets. I know, I know, I am part of some riveting conversations. Below, I explain a trick I learned.
I never cooked with fava beans before. The internet warned me that they are time-consuming, and this is true. However, the internet also let me know it would be worth the time. Also true. Wow, the internet is so smart.
Ingredients:
- 3 medium-sized beets
- 1/2 pound fava beans
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta
- 2 garlic scapes
- juice of 1/2 juicy lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. First, you need to get the beets in the oven. Jack Bishop, author of “Year in the Vegetarian Kitchen” suggests heating an oven to 400 degrees, wrapping the beets (cut off any dangling roots and the stalks) in two layers of aluminum foil, and cooking for 1-1.25 hours. After an hour, test your beets to see if a skewer glides easily through them. If so, they are done. Then, allow the beets to cool a bit before handling. Last, take a wad of paper towels to rub off the skin. (that’s the cool trick!) The last step for the beets is to cut them into the shape you want for your salad. Then, place the beets in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Once your beets are in the oven, start to deal with the beans. Get some water boiling. While you are waiting for it to boil, peel off the stringy part to reveal the beans inside. As a bonus, you will discover that the inside of the pod is pillowy. Fascinating! The sad part will be when you realize that you don’t get a heck of a lot of beans for all that work. But you will get over it once you eat the beans (says the internet).
3. Next, put the beans in boiling water for a little under a minute. While that’s happening, prepare a bowl of ice cold water. Then, spoon out the beans and put them directly into the cold water to stop the cooking.
4. One more step before you eat the beans. Pinch off the outer shell to get to the edible part. You did it!
5. In a food processor (I used the mini prep), combine garlic scapes, lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the beets and stir to coat the beets
6. Arrange the dressed beets on a serving dish. Top with feta cheese and beans. (You can toss the ingredients all together, but the result will be a very pink salad.) Enjoy!
New York City is the big apple, so I went to town with some Empire apples from the Carroll Street Farmer’s Market this morning. I don’t own a food mill, and I dislike peeling apples because I feel like I am wasting so much food in the process (plus I was feeling lazy). So, I just made this applesauce with the peels. You can peel the apples for a more traditional take on applesauce, but you won’t get this gorgeous pink hue. It will also take a lot longer. Since I was planning on canning the sauce, I wanted to save my time and energy for that step.
Applesauce is not just for kids or other people without teeth! I’m looking forward to putting this applesauce on latkes come December.
For more fun and seasonal preserving projects , take a look at my strawberry jam post from the spring, or my pickled green beans post from the summer. For detailed directions about canning, the Peach Salsa post is the one to check out.
Ingredients (if you want less applesauce, just cut the recipe in half–they might cook a bit more quickly)
- 6 pounds of apples ( I used 18 Empire apples)
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons sugar (optional; to taste)
- Combine lemon juice and water in a very large pot.
- Core and chop apples into approximately 1-inch pieces, and toss into the pot with the lemon juice mixture as you go to prevent apples from discoloring.
- Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender.
- Blend in batches in a food processor, or use an immersion blender.
- Return applesauce to the pot, and add sugar to taste. Heat briefly until sugar is dissolved.
- Refrigerate and serve within 5 days. Alternatively, you can preserve it in jars for up to a year: I processed 8 half-pint jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Here is another take on lemon dressing (remember the first one?). This one is Alice Waters’ version, and is great served on something as simple as romaine leaves alone. It involves heavy cream, but don’t be scared–just a small amount goes a long way.
One of my favorite stops at the farmer’s market is Milk Thistle . They have different types of milk, yogurt, and cream, all served in glass bottles that you return to them. Also, once I tasted the freshness of their products, I realized what milk is supposed to taste like. Now I understand that milk is much more than just an excuse to get a milk moustache.
Since this recipe requires just a touch of heavy cream, what can one do with the rest of the bottle? Perhaps add a bit to a tomato sauce for pasta, or to pureed carrot ginger soup (recipe to come in fall…) Also, you can quickly and easily make fresh butter or sweet whipped cream. Here’s how:
1. Butter: Pour room temperature cream into a jar with a secure lid, at least double the size of the cream. Start shaking. Keep shaking. With Milk Thistle cream, you only need to shake for 5-10 minutes. (I have tried this with store-bought mass-market cream and it takes longer. I have also tried this with 26 5th graders from NYC and they think it is the absolute best thing ever.) Then, the cream will turn into a ball. Shake a few more times. Then, strain out the liquid. That liquid is buttermilk, which you can reserve for pancakes, dressing, etc. Now, get back to shaking. Strain out more liquid. Add a few tablespoons of water and shake some more, then strain (once you add water you will not save that liquid anymore). Add water, shake and strain 2-3 more times until liquid runs clear. Optionally, add salt. Enjoy immediately or refrigerate.
2. Whipped Cream: Pour cream into a large bowl, and start whisking. Keep whisking until it starts to get very thick. (Apparently, peaks will start to form but since I don’t bake I just know to stop when it starts to get thicker and a bit harder to whisk.) Then, add a a little bit of vanilla and some sugar depending on how sweet you like it, and whisk a little bit more. DO NOT overwhisk or it will basically turn into butter. This whipped cream is delicious of fresh berries or any other fruit.
And now, the Creamy Lemon Dressing Recipe!!
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions:
- Stir together vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust as necessary.
- Whisk in olive oil and heavy cream. Taste and adjust as necessary.
- Toss with greens. Optionally, top with chopped herbs you have on hand, such as basil, chervil, chives, and tarragon.
fresh from brooklyn 