Salsa

I'm starting to think "If I can make it at home, I will" should be this blog's motto.

I've never made my own cooked and canned salsa before, and wasn't quite sure what I was looking for in a recipe. I found this one on Allrecipes.com and it looked like a good start. 

This salsa is hot, but balanced with acidity and a faint hint of sweetness. 

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com 

Updated and revised Sept 10 2011

yield: about 5 pints (I got 5 1/2 pints out of my last batch)

2 small onions

4 pounds tomatoes

2 bell peppers

4-9 hot peppers

5 garlic cloves

1 cup white vinegar

1 lime juiced

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 cup cilantro chopped finely

Finely chop the vegetables (let the tomatoes drain in a colander while chopping other vegetables) and put in a large pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Bring the pot to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour.

Meanwhile prepare your canning pot by bringing water to a boil and heating up pint jars. Place lids in a bowl and set aside.

Taste salsa and adjust if necessary (more salt, more vinegar, more spice etc). 

Remove hot jars from canning pot, pour water back into canning pot and set jars on a towel nearby. Ladle boiling water from canning pot onto lids in bowl. Ladle hot sauce into each jar leaving 1/2 headspace. Wipe jar rims clean with damp paper towel. Drain water off lids and place lids on jars. Screw metal rings onto jars (just finger tight) and place jars into boiling water in canning pot making sure that there's 1 inch of water covering jars. Process in boiling water for 30 minutes. Remove jars from canning pot and place on towel. Let sit undisturbed for 12 hours. If after 1 hour any seals haven't popped down refrigerate immediately. Label and store sealed jars in a cool dark place.