Salsa/Sauces

b54red · August 30, 2019

I don't know if this has been discussed or not. After years of freezing our homemade salsa we decided it just wasn't good enough. When it thawed out it was always very watery even though it was thick when frozen so we would have to strain in in order to enjoy it.

We decided to go back to canning it with one big change. We no longer put the cilantro in the salsa before canning it. We found that after opening a jar and adding fresh chopped cilantro that the flavor was so much better. We use another trick that keeps the flavor more fresh and that is after cooking the tomatoes a bit we strain them and put all that tomato water in a shallow wide pan and boil it down til it is about the consistency of tomato soup then add it back into the tomatoes before canning it. This makes the salsa much thicker and richer without overcooking the tomatoes.

Our salsa ingredients are:
Tomatoes
onions
garlic
jalapeno peppers
bell peppers
fresh lime juice
salt
sugar
cumin
cilantro- added when a new jar is opened not before canning

Pretty much each batch is done to taste so it is always a bit different but it is such a treat from December til June when the fresh tomatoes start bearing heavily.

Bill

Bill

August 30, 2019	#1
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I don't know if this has been discussed or not. After years of freezing our homemade salsa we decided it just wasn't good enough. When it thawed out it was always very watery even though it was thick when frozen so we would have to strain in in order to enjoy it. We decided to go back to canning it with one big change. We no longer put the cilantro in the salsa before canning it. We found that after opening a jar and adding fresh chopped cilantro that the flavor was so much better. We use another trick that keeps the flavor more fresh and that is after cooking the tomatoes a bit we strain them and put all that tomato water in a shallow wide pan and boil it down til it is about the consistency of tomato soup then add it back into the tomatoes before canning it. This makes the salsa much thicker and richer without overcooking the tomatoes. Our salsa ingredients are: Tomatoes onions garlic jalapeno peppers bell peppers fresh lime juice salt sugar cumin cilantro- added when a new jar is opened not before canning Pretty much each batch is done to taste so it is always a bit different but it is such a treat from December til June when the fresh tomatoes start bearing heavily. Bill Bill