Home canned salsa question

[weebiscuit]

I have been canning salsa for years, but I have never made green salsa with green tomatoes. How does that stuff taste?

The reason I ask is that I have a ton of green tomatoes that just aren't going to ripen and I hate to waste them and thought maybe I should do a few canner loads.

Also, does anyone know... can I use green tomatoes right in the salsa I make with red tomatoes? I thought I read somewhere that you can combine them, but I can't remember where and I can't remember if the processing times are different.

And another question: I haven't been able to find the answer to this anywhere... but I know that you have to follow recipes really close and not add more green peppers than called for or you throw off the ratio of the acid. We like more green peppers in ours, and I only loosely follow the salsa recipes so I always pressure can my salsas just to be safe. But if I add more green peppers, do I have to increase the amount of vinegar or lime juice, or will the pressure canning be sufficient? It's really hard to find recipes out there for pressure canned salsa!

 

[Riverrose28]

I can't answer your question about green tomatoes, as I've never tried that before, but on the question of adding extra green peppers, I've done it without any problems, also I not only add jalapenos I've also added yellow hot peppers and red hot peppers and not added any extra vinegar. I've won several first prizes at our local county fair with my salsa, and I also can some in small jelly jars to be served with chips during football games without decreasing processing time. I looked in my ball canning book and couldn't find a recipe for green tomatoe salsa. Last year I even made a batch with chili powder added and it was great. If I were you I would try any combination and see how it turns out, it won't hurt. Have you tried green tomatoe relish? If you want the recipe I'll type it out for you.

 

[weebiscuit]

Thanks for the reply, Terry! I am just leery of adding a lot of peppers over and above what the recipe calls for because I've read over and over again that you shouldn't do that because then there won't be enough acid and botulism could develop.

But what I *can't* find info about is whether that just means WITHOUT the added lime/lemon/vinegar acidifier. If you add like a cup and a half of lime or vinegar to a load which will make maybe 8 quarts, is that acid enough to offset the addition of extra pepppers?

I called my local university extension office, which is supposed to have ALL the answers about home canning, and they had no clue! LOL!

And yes, I would LOVE your green tomato relish recipe. I've never had it! I have a great pepper relish recipe, basically with green and red and yellow green peppers, that you can leave unspiced or make as spicey as you want, and it's to die for! Love it on burgers, hot dogs, and brats!

 

[Ashley]

Why not put the tomatoes in a box/bag for them to rippen? I wish we had tomatoes this year. Out of 20 plants I got two tomatoes.

 

[kristen_tg]

Green salsa (salsa verde) is not made with green tomatoes, it's made with tomatillos. I personally wouldn't buy any tomatillos up north where you are- they're a very hot weather plant and imo don't travel/store well at all.

The tomatillos have a sweeter finish, very mild flavor and with some citrus can have a very strong sour "twang" on the backside of the flavor.

Most verdes tend to be milder with sweet heat and citrus, although you can just as easily get a really hot searing salsa. If I'm using a really high-acid tomato base in a red (rojo) I'll throw a tomatillo in to counter some of the acid and even out the burn.

(I make a lot of salsa. *_*)

 

[weebiscuit]

Green salsa (salsa verde) is not made with green tomatoes, it's made with tomatillos. I personally wouldn't buy any tomatillos up north where you are- they're a very hot weather plant and imo don't travel/store well at all.

The tomatillos have a sweeter finish, very mild flavor and with some citrus can have a very strong sour "twang" on the backside of the flavor.

Most verdes tend to be milder with sweet heat and citrus, although you can just as easily get a really hot searing salsa. If I'm using a really high-acid tomato base in a red (rojo) I'll throw a tomatillo in to counter some of the acid and even out the burn.

(I make a lot of salsa. *_*)

Green salsa can be made with tomatillos, or it can be made with regular green tomatoes. That I know for a fact because I found that info on our state's university extension website on home canning. They didn't have the information I needed about adding more vinegar to offset the addition of extra peppers, though.

I usually make about 50 pints and an additional 20 quarts of salsa each year. I love the stuff! It's really one of those yummy foods that is totally good for you, isn't it? No bad additives and no sugar! Just good stuff!

I like making Pico de Gallo every week to eat fresh, too. Can't get enough of it, but oddly, I don't really like raw tomatoes. I couldn't eat a plain one or one on a sandwich for anything, but I love them chopped up with onions, garlic, cilantro, and lots of peppers, as long as it's fresh. Can't stand canned or stewed tomatoes either.

When I used to go to Ixtapa, Mexico, for three weeks every winter (the drug killings put a kibosh on that two years ago), I ate a lot of salsa verde and when I'd ask about it sometimes they told me they used tomatillos, and sometimes others said they used regular green tomatoes. I'm a former Spanish teacher, so our conversations were in Spanish and I know they were talking about regular green tomatoes.

Incidentally, tonight I made more Pico de Gallo, and I used half green tomatoes and half red ones, and it was really good! I've never really eaten green tomatoes before, other than in canned salsa. But not raw, and they had a really neat flavor!

I've never bought tomatillos. We have them growing wild all over the place here and we pick them and use them a lot. but since I've never had raw store-bought tomatillos, maybe the good tomatillos from the south would taste a ton better. I just don't have a basis for comparison!

 

[Sonya]

We make "Fire Balls" out of green cherry tomatoes...awesome. Here is a link, it's not the exact recipe we use though, there is also a recipe for "bread"...hmmm, not so sure about that...lol. green tomatoes

I don't see why you couldn't use full size tomatoes in the fireball recipe though, just cut them in chunks or slices maybe.

 

[Riverrose28]

sorry it took me so long to respond, horse show weekend. "piccalilli or green tomatoe relish"

4 quarts peeled cored, chopped green tomatoes, ( about 32 medium.)

2 quarts chopped cabbage ( about one large head)

2 cups chopped sweet red peppers ( about 4 medium)

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup salt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 tablespoons mustard seed

1 tablespoon celery seed

4 1/2 cups vinegar

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Sprinkle salt over vegtables and mix thoroughly: let sit for 3 to 4 hours. Drain thoroughly. Press to remove free liguid. Add sugar, spices and horseradish and vinegar: simmer 15 minutes. Add vegtables and heat to boiling. Pack hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield about 7 pints.

 

[weebiscuit]

We make "Fire Balls" out of green cherry tomatoes...awesome. Here is a link, it's not the exact recipe we use though, there is also a recipe for "bread"...hmmm, not so sure about that...lol. green tomatoes

I don't see why you couldn't use full size tomatoes in the fireball recipe though, just cut them in chunks or slices maybe.

I have never heard of these "fireballs" before, and found the recipe to look really interesting! I definitely think I'll use my bigger green tomatoes and cut them into chunks like you suggested and see how they turn out!

And about the green tomato bread... I think it would probably be really delicious! I love zucchini bread and the recipe for the tomato bread said it was similar to the zucchini bread. I'm actually going to try to find time to make a batch of this in the next few days. I'll let you know how it turned out.

 

[weebiscuit]

sorry it took me so long to respond, horse show weekend. "piccalilli or green tomatoe relish"

I appreciate the recipe! It looks really good and I'm going to try and get some made in the coming week. Do you eat this relish on hot dogs or sandwiches, or just "on the side" as a sort of side dish?

 

[Riverrose28]

You can eat it on sandwiches, hot dogs, brats, etc. Hubby likes to garnish his pork with it, and I've added some to sauces before.