THE HOMESTEAD SALSA RECIPE
We're taking home canning to a new level. We are canning our salsa over a wood fire. This is something that you rarely see today. But years ago when canning first came into practice, people did all of it over a wood fire. Today, most people do their canning over electric or gas heat but when you factor in the cost of the fuel or electricity, you're saving very little money if any at all by doing your own canning. The only benefit is that it's food that you grew and didn't purchase.
Our family LOVES salsa and we eat over a 100 pint jars a year. These pictures are from last year and we are gearing up for another season of canning jars and jars of yummy spicy salsa! Today, we are going to go through a whole days process of canning our salsa with our own homegrown garden ingredients! YAY!! We use our salsa for lots of quick recipes during the year and not just for dipping chips into. We use it for tacos or sauces and recipes that call for tomatoes. A jar is perfect for anything we want to spice up!
Pressure Canning Over Water Bath?
First you may ask why would we pressure can our salsa when you can simply water bath your salsa? The simple answer is that it's faster. If you're only making a dozen jars of salsa, Yeah, water bath canning is fine. But if your putting up 30-40 jars in a day, pressure canning is the way you want to go with a large canner.
So This is starting our day! My oldest, Joshua 
Here is Jaimie, is she hiding? NOPE, just busy getting to all those red ripe tomatoes!
It's me, picking and recording at the same time. The variety we grow the most is the Arkansas Traveler. It's an heirloom tomato that will grow back on its own here every year. We just try and save as many seeds as we need.
Jaimie is busy collecting one of the most IMPORTANT ingredients. PAPALO! Papalo taste very similar to cilantro and long after your spring cilantro plants have bolted and gone to seed, the Papalo plant is growing strong and is ready for summer salsa making! YUM!
Inside, Jaimie is now cutting up all the ingredient including harvested peppers, tomatoes, garlic, papalo and onions.
The fire is going and we're beginning to cook all the ingredients together. This is one reason people love our salsa. The wood smoke adds a hint of flavor to the mix and makes it taste way better than store bought!
Keep stirring! It's all coming together now!
The cooking is done, now we need to get this amazing homestead food into the jars for canning! Each jar is carefully loaded with salsa.
Then the jars are wiped around the edge to make sure nothing obstructs the lids from being put on.
Jaimie begins loading the All American brand canner carefully stacking the jars so they won't fall over. This canner is big enough to hold two levels of pint or quart jars. It's also important to add a splash of vinegar to your water inside the canner. This will keep the jars clear and keep them from clouding over.
Now we just have to lock down the lid and wait for the fire to come up to pressure. The lid is a metal to metal seal so the inside rim of the lid is simply wiped down with a paper towel dipped in olive oil. This will help to make the lid easy to remove once the pressure has come down and we want to remove the lid. IMPORTANT: It's important to regulate the heat of the fire so the canner does not go over pressure. When the canner is at the right pressure, we place a large piece of metal over the fire underneath the canner. This basically separates the fire from the canner and keeps the canner from getting too hot.
All done! When the timer is up, Jaimie and I carefully remove the canner to the ground and allow the pressure to start dropping. Whew! Then we start the process all over again for the next batch. YES! It's hard work, but it's very rewarding work to eat of the food you grew, and stored all winter long!
FULL RECIPE
An American Homestead Salsa
Yield: makes 6 pint jars
8 cups tomatoes (peeled and chopped with juice removed)
2 cups onions (finely chopped)
2 cups sweet peppers (finely chopped)
1 cup chopped jalapeno peppers (more or less to your liking)
1 head of garlic (peeled and chopped)
1/4 cup chopped papalo leaves or 2 tsp. dried cilantro
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbs. salt
1/3 cup white vinegar
12 oz. tomato paste
Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil and simmer
between 15 and 30 minutes. Depending on the amount of juice you still
have in your tomatoes, this may take a shorter or longer time. You want
the salsa to cook and some of the liquid to evaporate so that it is a good
salsa consistency.
Using a ladle and canning funnel, pour the hot salsa into pint jars, leaving
about 1 inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars and cover with new
lids. Screw on the bands and tighten.
Process your jars in a pressure canner for 15 minutes at the appropriate
pressure for your altitude.
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