I found a particular delight in tomatillos in my journey of cultivating a sustainable lifestyle through gardening and home food preserving. These vibrant green gems have become a favorite among the many fruits and vegetables I grow and preserve. Here I share the versatility of tomatillos in this salsa-filled adventure!
Let me introduce you to one of the culinary treasures of Mexican and Central American kitchens - tomatillos, scientifically known as Physalis philadelphica. Tomatillos belong to the nightshade family and are small round fruits that captivate with their unique traits. Encased in a papery husk and sporting a vibrant green hue when ripe, tomatillos boast a tantalizingly tangy, citrus-like taste. They have a burst of flavor and offer a wealth of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber, making them a scrumptiously nutritious addition to your culinary journeys.
I have used the following tried-and-tested home canning recipe to capture the vibrant color and tangy flavor of my garden's tomatillos, ensuring I can enjoy them all year.
I hope this tomatillo salsa recipe opens up diverse culinary possibilities! Whether eating it as classic chips and salsa or as a marinade on chicken, this jar of salsa will infuse every dish with a distinctive, tangy taste. Embrace the joy of culinary exploration as you whip up delightful recipes and share the flavorsome results with your loved ones, amplifying the pleasure of home preservation to a whole new level!
Tomatillo Salsa
Yields approximately 5 pints
Ingredients:
5 cups Tomatillos (Cleaned, Husked, Cored, and Chopped)
4 cups Onions (Chopped)
1 ½ cups Green Chilies (Chopped)
½ cup Jalape?o peppers (Chopped Finely )
1 cup Bottled Lemon Juice
6 Garlic Cloves (Chopped Finely)
1 tablespoon Cumin
3 tablespoons Oregano Leaves (Chopped finely)
1 tablespoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
Procedure:
- Wash and rinse jars and lids; keep jars hot until used. Follow the manufacturer's directions for lid preparation.
- Combine all ingredients in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally.
- Fill jars with hot salsa, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust the headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids.
- Process in boiling water canner according to Table 1.
Table 1 Processing Time for Tomatillo Green Salsa
Process Time at Altitudes of:
Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0-1,000 feet | 1,001-6,000 feet | Above 6,000 feet |
Hot | Pints | 15 Minutes | 20 Minutes | 25 Minutes |
Recipe from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning.
Photo courtesy of Nicole D. George, UCCE Master Food Preserver
/span>
Vinegar products have various acidity levels. For canning, a 5% acidity level is required for safety reasons. The recipe requiring 5% vinegar level is because the produce that is being used in the recipe is low acid food. Any less than a 5% level will not destroy the dangerous bacteria that cause botulism. There are vinegars with a higher acidity level, and they aren't what you want either, as these have not been food safety tested and approved for home canning.
Homemade vinegars should never be used when canning. Using pH test strips is not reliable when it comes to food safety.
Distilled White Vinegar and Apple Cider Vinegar are the two
Distilled white vinegar is derived from grain alcohol. It has a sharp and pungent flavor. Since it is clear in color, it is preferred when you don't want the produce to change color. It also plays well with herbs and spices.
Cider vinegar is derived from apples. Its color is light golden, and it has a tart fruit flavor, being milder than distilled white vinegar. Because it is not colorless, it may darken light colored produce. If apple cider vinegar is not filtered, it will contain its mother. The mother is created naturally during the vinegar fermentation. The mother appears as a cloudy, sometimes stringy substance. If you want to avoid mother in your vinegar, then look for filtered or pasteurized apple cider vinegar.
There are specialty vinegars, which include wine vinegars, balsamic, malts and various other flavors. They should not use these unless when specified in research tested (approved) recipe.
Disclaimer: The images are for illustration purposes only and are not an endorsement of any specific brand.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sherida Phibbs and used with permission.
Resources: PennState Extension, Advice About Vinegar https://extension.psu.edu/advice-about-vinegar
What is too hot for home canning and storing canned foods? With the temperatures we have seen here in California's Central Valley recently, that is an excellent question! Seasonal produce is abundant and canning season is now in full production.
Any extended periods over 75 ° F or in direct sunlight can be detrimental to the seal and/or the food contents. Temperatures above 95 ° F can cause the growth of harmful pathogens causing the product to spoil and rendering the food potentially unsafe.
The excessive heat can cause the loss of nutritional value. Light exposure can contribute to the loss of nutrients and color changes, as well as hasten rancidity for products that contain fats or oils.
Light and/or high temps can heat the headspace air which may result in it to expend with the possibility of breaking the seal.
It is best not to process your canning in kitchens/rooms or outdoors when temperatures are over 75 °F. The jars “cool-down” time could become compromised with a negative impact. When jars cool down too slowly, thermophilic bacteria could grow causing the food to spoil, and rushing the cooling process is not an option.
Resource: El Dorado UCCE Master Food Preservers https://ucanr.edu/sites/mfp_of_cs/files/385761.pdf
Photo credit: Image by No-longer-here from Pixabay
Our local hardware store is the only place I can find local canning supplies. The “Ball Jams & Jellies” Fresh Apricot Jam recipe I found on the Ball website.
The recipe had me finely chop apricots, which made a very pretty jam. The process was very easy. Apricots, lemon juice, liquid pectin, and sugar. Prep time was about 20 minutes. Processing time 10 minutes, I used a steam canner for processing. After resting the processed jars for 24 hours, my husband and I delightfully opened a jar and spread the yummy jam on our toast.
FRESH APRICOT JAM
Makes 6 Half Pints (8oz)
Ingredients
3-1/2 cups finely chopped apricots (about 30 medium)
1/3 cup bottled lemon juice
1, 3-oz pouch Ball® Liquid Pectin
1/2 tsp butter or margarine, optional
5-3/4 cups sugar
1.Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
2. Combine prepared apricots with lemon juice and sugar in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Add up to 1/2 tsp butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring frequently.
3. Add pectin, immediately squeezing entire contents from pouch. Continue hard boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.
4. Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
5. Process jars 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat, remove lid, let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal, they should not flex when center is pressed.
- Author: Jim Farr
When I was growing up, when we ran out of Welch's grape jelly for our breakfast toast next in line was a jar of my mother's homemade apple butter. Besides apple butter which was a staple in many homes in the 50s and 60s, there are now recipes for making a variety of fruit butters beyond apple.
Among their many uses, those soft spreads make an excellent filling for layer cakes and the basis for a delicious trifle. Just spread the fruit butter of your choice on sliced pound cake, then layer with fresh fruit, vanilla pudding and, if desired, whipped cream. They also make an excellent filling for sandwich cookies. Simply spread butter on a plain cookie and top with a second cookie. Fruit butters can also be substituted for some of the fat in many baking recipes to produce delicious baked goods that are lower in fat.
Tips on Cooking Butters
Butters are cooked over medium to medium-high heat. To prevent scorching, stir butters frequently, especially as they thicken and reach the doneness point. Cooking times will vary depending on the diameter of the saucepan, the type of fruit and the intensity of the heat. Most butters will need 30 to 60 minutes of cooking time. Butters cook best in a wide diameter, heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan. The extended cooking time evaporates moisture, thickening the fruit mixture and creating a spreadable, buttery texture.
Tips on Testing Fruit Butters for Doneness
Butters are cooked until they thicken and begin to hold their shape on a spoon. To assess doneness, spoon a small quantity of cooked mixture onto a chilled plate. When liquid does not separate, creating a rim around the edge, and the mixture holds a buttery, spreadable shape, the butter is ready to ladle into jars and process.
Below is a typical example of a fruit butter recipe. For any given recipe there are also variations often included in the recipes depending on uses for the butter and personal tastes.
Peach Butter: makes about eight 8 ounce jars or four pint jars
Ingredients
4 1/2 lbs Peaches, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
½ cup water
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 cups Granulated sugar
- In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine peaches, water and lemon zest and juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until peaches are soft, about 20 minutes.
- Working in batches, transfer peach mixture to a food mill or a food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree just until uniform texture is achieved. Do not liquefy. Measure 8 cups of peach puree.
- In a clean large stainless steel saucepan, combine peach puree and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring ot a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and holds its shape on a spoon.
- Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids
- Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot butter. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
- Place jars in canner ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
Variations:
For a more sophisticated fruit butter, reduce the sugar to 3 cups. When butter has begun to thicken but does not quite mound on a spoon, add 1 cup of your favorite spirit, such as amaretto liqueur or a sweet wine, and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until mixture mounds on a spoon.
Another variation is to replace peaches in the above recipe with pears. The 4 1/2 lbs of peaches is replaced with 7 lbs pears, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped. The rest of the recipe is same as the peach recipe above with the exception that grated orange zest and juice as well as nutmeg (1 tsp) may be added.
There are other fruit butter recipes using for example: crabapples, apricots, yellow tomatoes, prunes and blueberries.
These and other recipes can be found in Ball Canning Books.