For any other "newbies"....which includes me....here's a link to the recipe. I had to dig a bit to find it and thought other newcomers might be interested.

It's Salsa Time!

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Salsa Recipe

Paula, honey, if that's the worst thing you ever do, I believe you'll be all right. lol

For what it is worth, I've often wished there was an oops button too.

Annie has said several times the extension service canning experts are hard at work revising and updating all the salsa recipes and guidelines. She expects when they do that, the Annie's Salsa recipe will change to meet whatever the new guidelines require.

This is the salsa that was a part of the Christmas gift bags Tim gave to his co-workers last year. They all raved about the salsa and said we ought to bottle it and sell it (sure, if we had the big bucks for a commercial kitchen AND if I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing nothing but making salsa, which I don't). I can't wait to see how they like it with the strong vinegary flavor gone. In one of the original recipe threads long ago, Annie or someone said to let it sit a week or two so the flavors can blend. Ha! In fact ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! We can barely let ours cool enough that it won't burn our tongue before we open a jar and start eating it.

I'm excited that Tim has said this is the one and only salsa he wants, because last year I made 6 or 7 kinds for him, but I was perfectly happy with "only" Annie's Salsa. This will simplify my salsa making a lot. Some people freeze it instead of canning it and I might try that too.

Dawn

Dawn - you did it again - Annie's salsa is the best, except for too much vinegar - your change to cv, lime and lemon juice made it PERFECT! I agree with Tim - it's the only salsa recipe I will use from now on. Thanks for doing all the testing and then sharing with the rest of us.

Dawn,
Do you know whether or not it would be okay to substitute some honey for the sugar in the recipe? The tweak post says that the sugar can be left out all together, so I'm thinking it might be alright, but I'm not sure how it affects everything. I've only canned jams and citrus, so I've never had to worry too much about PH before. I have a huge jar of honey and I'm trying to use it instead of sugar whenever I can. I know I could just leave it out, but I think the sweetness probably helps balance the acid.

I should probably ask in the Harvest Forum, but don't know how patient they are with potentially stupid questions!

Farmgardener, I am so happy you like the Annie's Salsa recipe, but really all the credit goes to the folks on the Harvest Forum (especially Annie herself) as they have tweaked and tweaked and tweaked this recipe to get it to the perfect place, and Annie gets a HUGE amount of credit for getting her extension service to test and approve the recipe. That is something that is almost impossible to do nowadays because of budget cuts at state extension services all over the country.

I am, of course, always happy to pass on any recipe I've tried that we've enjoyed. I don't post at the Harvest Forum (I'd love to, but then I wouldn't have time to garden or can), but I sure do go over there and search for proven, safe recipes. I just this week made another recipe that Annie was involved with, called "Cherry Obsession" which is a cherry-hot pepper jelly. My, oh my, it is wonderful.

Megan, I'm sorry but I don't know the answer to the honey question. Please feel free to ask it at the Harvest Forum. They people there are extraordinarily patient and kind. Their sole focus seems to be on sharing their love of canning with one another and on helping newbies learn how to do things right for all the proper safety reasons. I am sure they would be kind and gentle in answering your question.

I know that honey can be safely substituted for sugar in some recipes, but not in all and I know honey interacts with other ingredients differently than sugar does. I'm not sure if it is a pH issue either. The only time I have used honey in canning is when I have a canning recipe for honey....like making Blueberry Honey, for example.

I did a search and found an old thread on the Harvest Forum where they discuss using honey in a specific recipe. I've linked it below. Note the responses from several of the expert canners there. However, for the best answer that relates to Habanero Gold, I'd still probably go over there to the Harvest Forum and ask specifically about subbing honey for sugar in Habanero Gold. It could be that someone there has done it before and can tell you if it worked for them. Also, that thread is a couple of years old, and approved methods and guidelines change frequently, so it might be better to ask them directly about using honey in Habanero Gold in case there's been any changes in guidelines regarding honey substitutions the last couple of years.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Prev. Discussion on Substituting Honey For Sugar

I don't make Annie's Salsa but an old family recipe that has similar characteristics. I have used honey as a substitute for the sugar in the recipe numerous times. I have always liked the honey better than the sugar. The honey doesn't add quite so much sweet but boosts the tomato taste.

JMHO,

Marcy

Dawn, I think the only bad thing about the harvest forum is that some person gives a recipes that THEY consider safe and then it is shot down by the experts and if you don't read the entire thread (and sometimes more) you don't see the correction or the warning. Canning is kind of a dangerous thing to try and second-guess.

Annie's Salsa is a good example. When I read the recipe there, it was for 1/3 cup vinegar, but was a pressure cooker recipe. Then there was a note that if you were going to only water bath it, the recipe should be changed to 1 cup of vinegar (or suitable sub). Then they said the first one had not been approved for pressure canning or packing in anything larger than pints. I know that the failure to approve is likely a lack of testing because of budget constraints and not necessarily a proven safety issue, but it is a bit confusing.

I just kind of look for things from digdirt, lindalou, anney, and readinglady, and a few others who seem to know what they are talking about. If you read anything current, then it sounds like you should throw away any older canning books and I think I still have a couple.

I have not made the salsa for several reasons (I hate cilantro, I don't like sugar in tomato products, and I never have tomato paste, I don't want to pressure can it, etc). I think it is one of those places that is great for ideas, but you have to make sure you read it all, or in the least, do your own research. Maybe I need to enroll in the on-line course and see if it makes me more comfortable.

I guess I should qualify my opinions by saying if I am canning anything, it is pressure canned. I have the big ol' pressure cooker with pressure gauge, so it is just as easy to use as water bathing for me. Other than that, it is to the freezer.

Carol, you would probably like my salsa recipe: it doesn't have cilantro, it doesn't have anything but fresh tomatoes in it, and the sugar is minimal. I often just leave it out.
I have some to test, if you want to swing by...;-)

Marcy

Thanks Marcy, it sounds like you have a good recipe. We like the one I make but I would like for it to be a little thicker. I guess I just need to let the tomatoes drain as much as possible. I like bar-b-q sauce and lots of things that are sweet, and I occasionally eat catsup, but most tomato things I would rather have without the sugar. When we lived in Ohio, I would never order anything with a tomato sauce base because they always tasted sweet to me.

If I make salsa this week, it will only be one batch. I sent a lot of tomatoes and peppers home with my DIL, DH and I ate about 4 last night, and I am cooking spanish rice as I am writing. Instead of salad last night we had a plate of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cucumbers, with a baked potato (also from the garden) and baked chicken from Walmart. I just didn't want to cook yesterday. Other than the rice, everything else will be cooked outside on the grill while I'm cooking the steak tonight. In addition, I am going to cook a pack of italian sausage for another meal, since I'll be out in the heat anyway.

I picked my garden heavy yesterday, so I didn't have much today. I really need to get out there and work, but you know what our weather is like. I'm ready for a break. Maybe we will get a little break and we can plant fall things, because the summer things are burning up.

Thanks guys!
I'll be water bath canning, so I guess I'll go ask for some opinions on the Harvest forum. This is my first time canning salsa, so I should probably just stick to the recipe and try not to screw it up too badly!

Marcy,
I like the taste of honey better than sugar in a lot of recipes--it's good to know that it will work taste-wise in this salsa. I use it in pretty much everything that calls for sugar except when I'm baking.

Thanks Marcy, it sounds like you have a good recipe. We like the one I make but I would like for it to be a little thicker. I guess I just need to let the tomatoes drain as much as possible. I like bar-b-q sauce and lots of things that are sweet, and I occasionally eat catsup, but most tomato things I would rather have without the sugar. When we lived in Ohio, I would never order anything with a tomato sauce base because they always tasted sweet to me.

If I make salsa this week, it will only be one batch. I sent a lot of tomatoes and peppers home with my DIL, DH and I ate about 4 last night, and I am cooking spanish rice as I am writing. Instead of salad last night we had a plate of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cucumbers, with a baked potato (also from the garden) and baked chicken from Walmart. I just didn't want to cook yesterday. Other than the rice, everything else will be cooked outside on the grill while I'm cooking the steak tonight. In addition, I am going to cook a pack of italian sausage for another meal, since I'll be out in the heat anyway.

I picked my garden heavy yesterday, so I didn't have much today. I really need to get out there and work, but you know what our weather is like. I'm ready for a break. Maybe we will get a little break and we can plant fall things, because the summer things are burning up.

Megan, Oh, I am having a malfunctioning brain. I am in the middle of six batches of Habanero Gold and for some reason I thought you asked about it instead of Annie's Salsa. Where is my head today?

I can't imagine honey wouldn't work as there is such a small amount in the recipe, and I feel better about it knowing Marcy has safely used honey in her salsa.

Carol, I know. When I first found the recipe, I found the pressure canning version and, even though I have a pressure canner, I prefer BWB so I didn't try the salsa until a year or two later when I realized it could be water-bath canned. I, too, watch for the answers from Readinglady, Digdirt, Linda Lou, Annie and a couple of others because I know they know what they are talking about, and with some of the others, I am not as certain. I even miss Ken, even though he had his cranky moments, because his answers were always so technically correct.

I have old canning books too, but if the recipes in them that I've used have worked out well, I keep using them. Many of the more modern changes apply more to pressure canning than BWB canning as far as I can tell, and I mostly BWB or freeze or dehydrate. With the new (OK, it is two years old now but still feels somewhat new to me) glass-topped stove not being ideal for canning, I'm afraid to put a loaded pressure canner on it. If the combination of weight/heat cracked the glass top, I'd be buying myself a new stove because it is not warrantied for the use of pressure canners.

Marcy, I miss using my pressure canner, but the new glass-topped stove has a built-in dehydrator mode, so I like that better than the old stove. My newish glass-topped stove had an instruction manual that said, basically, you cannot can on this stove and if you do and you break the stove's cooktop, your warranty is voided. I do BWB but carefully because I know it is mostly discouraged for other reasons than just the cooktop breaking. The weight of my BWB even when filled shouldn't be heavy enough to be a problem like some people have had with a fully-loaded pressure canner breaking the glass top, and none of the BWB processing times are long enough that the cycling on/off of the heat is an issue. I know my burners cycle on and off to avoid overheating, but they never cool enough that the canner stops boiling, which some folks have experienced with the glass-top stove. Since most BWB times are for 10 or 15 minuts only, I don't think any of the BWB times keep the cooktop hot enough long enough to crack the glass as some people have experienced with pressure canners. If my burner cycled off long enough for the boiling to cease, I'd BWB can on the side burner on our grill outdoors or something. I think most of the people who have trouble with the glasstop stoves breaking or cracking have older models and that the newer models hold up better to canning, but I might be wrong about that.

Also, we put the old stove in the garage and kept it in case I didn't like canning on the new stove, but I suppose we can give it away or sell it or something because I have canned for 3 summers now on the new stove and like it fine.

Carol, My peppers, okra and beans were wilted today, so I put the sprinkler on the garden and I don't care if having wet foliage on the tomato plants kills them all because they are starting to burn up some in the heat too. I noticed the ones on the edge of the garden near the driveway are burning up the most.

I need to get back to the jelly making. After I finish, unless it starts raining or something, I'm going back out to the garden to harvest beans, tomatoes and peppers. I might be making salsa again on Sat. or Sun. afternoon. The paste tomatoes are producing fine, but my heirloom tomatoes are slowing down and the plants are burning up. August might be a 'skimpy' month for tomato production.

Dawn

Dawn, FWIW, I've pressure canned on three different glass top stoves for 15 years now with no problems. My pressure canner holds 8 quarts? I think. Now, don't try standing on it while you're painting the kitchen, though!! No, I didn't do it, but one of our daughters did. It's how I got one of my new stoves, because the old one got handed down to the one with the broken glasstop stove! Great way to rationalize buying something new for the house.

Carol, I hear ya on the cooking. The only time the stove is turned on in the kitchen is when I'm canning. Other than that, raw or on the grill. I've managed to work my way up to surviving for three hours outside in this heat and am working my way around all the garden beds. The kitchen garden gets the most attention, of course, this time of year, and it's really in pretty good shape considering. I've got to get on the big mower this evening though to mow the lots.

Marcy

Marcy - really? wow,....I mean, I've been challenged to just BWB can on my stove which is only 6 years old so I'm really impressed you could use a pressure canner on yours! I just can't afford right now to replace our stove so I'm afraid to try it. Personally, I'm a big fraidy cat about pressure canning ... or natural gas/propane so I'm on the electric glass top in my kitchen for small batches and fire up the camping stove for larger batches out on the back deck becuz it accomodates my big canner.

I'm really tempted to try Annie's recipe this year for at least one batch. Many, many years ago I came up with my own that doesn't have any tomatoe sauce or paste in it. Also very little sugar plus I use lemon & lime juice. DH won't eat anything else and has all his hunting buddies asking him to bring it deer camp, but I'm going to try Annie's recipe and see what they think.

I am vertically challenged so maybe I'll try using the canner on the stove to reach a ceiling that needs painted! Maybe that way I'll HAVE to afford a new one that can stand up to canning! LOL!!

Paula

Marcy,

I'm glad you have been able to pressure can on your glass top stove. I don't understand their constant warnings not to do that because lots of people do it quite successfully. Maybe I'll give pressure canning on it a try in the fall when I have tons of veggies I need to put up. I'll keep the 'standing on the stove while painting' idea in my head. If I ever get to where I think I need a new stove, I could just try standing on it while I paint. lol

I'd rather not cook a lot of meals in the kitchen when it is so hot, and we grill outside a lot too. I willingly cook on even the hottest days, though, when we have yummy veggies from the garden to cook for dinner. Try explaining to someone, though, why you "don't" cook dinner because it is too hot, and yet you'll stand in that hot, steamy kitchen for hours and can multiple batches of food.

Paula, I'm not a big fan of gas either. A friend of mine was killed when a natural gas line apparently leaked gas under his house and no one knew it, and then the house blew up one day while he and his wife were inside. Another time, Tim was working on my brother's propane heater and there was some sort of little explosion and flash fire that burned him severely. Our house has no gas and it was a deliberate choice we made not to have it.

For a long time, I wouldn't try Annie's Salsa because it had added tomato paste and tomato sauce and I wanted my salsa to have only tomatoes from our garden. However, we always thought our canned salsa just didn't have quite the texture we wanted...it was a bit too watery. Then I made Annie's Salsa and it was just the consistency we wanted. Nowadays, I buy a case of organic tomato sauce and a case of organic tomato paste at Sam's or Costco so I'll have enough for the salsa. I don't buy paste or sauce for any other purpose since we cook with our own tomatoes, but I do buy it for the salsa.

I'm vertically challenged too. I guess you and I both could use our big canners as stepstools. Actually, I have a stepladder because without it, I can't reach items on the top shelf in the kitchen cabinet or laundry room. When God was passing out the genes for 'height' I must bave been out of the room or something.

Dawn

I got a response on the Harvest forum that said the honey substitution should be fine.
I'm getting ready to peel tomatoes and start cooking now that it has cooled down a little!

Let us know how it turns out.

DS took three jars of Annie's Salsa to work with him this morning, and texted me before noon to tell me he and his coworkers at the fire station had already polished off the first jar. Those firefighters really liked it, but I need to make them their own version with some hotter peppers.

I hope yours turns out well.