Homemade salsa

I've been a little busy & a little sick over the last couple weeks. I think I'm finally in full control of my sinuses. One of the things I've been up to has been bottling homemade salsa from farmer's market vegetables.  I didn't get much in the way from the peppers or tomatoes I planted this year.

Here's this is based on my mother's recipe she used for decades:

Chop, dice, or blend (your choice of consistency) the following vegetables:
40 tomatoes (I used 20 Romas & 20 regular)
6 Serrano peppers
2 Poblano peppers
3 Anaheim peppers
3 Jalapeño peppers
1 large onion (2 cups)
5 cloves garlic
* my mom adds 2 cups bell peppers, my wife is allergic to them.
** this yields a mild-medium salsa. More peppers = hotter. Fewer peppers = milder. I personally prefer salsa much hotter than this, but I wanted it to be enjoyable for younger taste buds. My mom recommends 9 - 12 Jalapeños for hot salsa. I'm guessing that would translate to "pleasantly medium-hot" level.  (My mom has less robust tastebuds than I do)

Put vegetables in a very large stockpot. Add:
1/4 cup sugar (I'm investigating the potential to use less))
1 Tbsp non-iodized salt (I use kosher salt)
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp cilantro
Juice 4 limes
1 cup vinegar


Slowly heat to a boil. Almost all the liquid for the salsa is coming from the tomatoes. If you heat it too fast, it will scotch.

I turned the knob to simmer and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then I turned it up 1/2 of a number on the dial every 5 minutes until it boiled. Then I turned it down 1/2 a number every 5 minutes until I found a nice simmer.

Boil/simmer for 60 minutes.

Ladle from stock pot to bottling jars. Leave about a 1/2 inch space in the jar. Jars need to be clean but not sterile. Lids should be sterile. Put lids on.

Bottle per your bottling device instructions. I have an old steamer they no longer recommend using because its impossible to know the internal temperature of what is in the bottle and thusly if all pathogens are destroyed. However, since salsa cooks an hour, I'm pretty sure it's sterile after.

This recipe yielded 16 pints.

Dinner at the Green Pig

One of the trends that I’m starting to notice in Salt Lake is that some bars and restaurants are paying local breweries to make house beers for them.   Iggies has a couple house beers and as I discovered last night, so does the Green Pig.

The Green Pig ) is a nice sports and music bar in down town Salt Lake (31 East 400 South).  It is one of the newer bars in Salt Lake started up by the former owners of Port O’ Call – a very popular bar in Salt Lake that was the victim of Eminent Domain with the construction of the new Federal courthouse.

In the interest of full disclosure – I don’t know the owners of The Green Pig but I do have friends that are in a funk bank, The Vision, and they perform at The Green Pig frequently.

I was there last night with friends and my wife enjoying the open jam – electric blues night.  Highly recommended.  I’m hoping to be back on Friday (August 3) when The Vision will be performing again.

Last night, I sampled the chips & salsa, the hot wings, a Reuben soup, and the Green Pig Pilsner.  The chips are traditional homemade tortilla chips (much thicker than something you would typically buy in a store) and were quite tasty.  The salsa, however, was mostly chopped tomatoes.  While the tomatoes were fresh and very good, it takes more than chopped tomatoes to make a salsa fresca.  My opinion, it could have used some cilantro, onions, and peppers.