Joy of Cooking

[OldAgePensioner]

DanTien,
Just call me Trumpet-Al.

[Dawg52]

Hey,* I just whipped up some apple tuna salad! Feel a little like Emeril right now. Not bad if I say so myself.*

[Danny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldAgePensioner DanTien, Just call me Trumpet-Al.

OAP - You and Al need to get a horn band together - you'll have the audience laying in the aisles.

[brewer12345]

OK, here's the salsa recipe:

6 pounds tomatoes, diced
15 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups diced red onion
6 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, tightly packed
1 T salt
1 to 2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
3/4 cup red wine vinegar

Toss everything in a big pot. Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer to thicken (length of time depends on your tomatoes and the size of the batch). Ladle into cleaned mason jars, put the lids on and process in a hot water bath, 10 min for pints, 15 min for quarts.

A few tips:

- Boost the chipotle if you like it hot
- Recipe can be multiplied. We typically do 7 recipes at a time cooked in an 8 gal pot.
- We like a 50:50 mix of romas and beefstake-type tomatoes. All beefstakes is too ketchup-like, all romas comes out too watery.
- This stuff keeps well for years at room temperature.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Brewer - pretty close to my recipe except I dont cook it or bottle it, and use lime juice instead of the red wine vinegar, although I often put a good dash of balsamic in.

I use the romas, but seed and devein them with a spoon so I just have the flesh.

I also dont use much cilantro, or use some basil in addition to boost the tomato flavor.

I've discovered that the hand crank 'food processors' or 'food choppers' are really nice for making salsas. Since they're not motor powered, you can keep the salsa from being turned into puree. I can get nice medium dice with just a few turns of the crank. $6 a pop at my local discounter.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by () Brewer - pretty close to my recipe except I dont cook it or bottle it, and use lime juice instead of the red wine vinegar, although I often put a good dash of balsamic in. I use the romas, but seed and devein them with a spoon so I just have the flesh. I also dont use much cilantro, or use some basil in addition to boost the tomato flavor. I've discovered that the hand crank 'food processors' or 'food choppers' are really nice for making salsas.* Since they're not motor powered, you can keep the salsa from being turned into puree.* I can get nice medium dice with just a few turns of the crank.* $6 a pop at my local discounter.

Well, we do one batch a year when tomatoes are at the height of the season, and it does us for the year (plus some for gifting purposes).

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Another case of being spoiled by california weather...I've been using our cherry tomatoes that came in in early April and will be producing well into November.

I've thought about freezing the stuff as I do like it crunchy with a bite, although I know a lot of people prefer the smooth, cooked varieties.

Actually, funny part about the cherry tomatoes...besides the two plants I grow every year, a tomato must have fallen off our plants last year and rolled off the patio into the dirt. In March a little tomato plant popped up there and I left it alone. Its now waist high and about 10' across.

Pretty good for a straggler...