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Growing Tomatoes

Salsas, Tomato Sauces, and Chili Sauces OH MY!

6 years ago

Since harvest is coming soon I figured this forum would be a great place to trade preserve recipes for tomatoes.

This is one of my favourties from my grandma Mennonite cookbook.

Goes great on any kind of meat. Don't be fooled by the name it's not spicy, but SWEET!

really tasty on meatloaf

Chili Sauce

12 cup peeled and chopped tomatoes

3 cup diced onion

2 cup diced green pepper

3-6 diced red bell peppers

5 clove garlic, sliced

2 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

2 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp dill seed

1 Tbsp celery seed

Featured Answer

digdirt2

6 years ago

Stevie - sugar has nothing to do with safety in canning except in a very minimal role. It binds up some of any free water. It doesn't alter the pH of low acid foods and has minimal effect on any density or heat penetration issues.

Low acid vegetables must be either pressure canned, fermented, or have enough acid added to lower the ingredients pH to 4.6 minimum to prevent botulism. This is all discussed in infinite detail on the Harvest/canning forum.

Like I said, freezing the recipe or eating it fresh is no problem. Even pressure canning it would eliminate most of the safety concerns IF one could calculate the amount of time and pressure needed.

But other than pressure canning, sealing it in a vacuum environment with simple boiling water bath canning without pH and density testing would be considered unsafe.

But since the recipe as posted includes no canning instructions we can only assume this is intended for fresh eating (although it would be a big batch) or freezing.

Dave

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Comments (9)

digdirt2
6 years ago
The Harvest forum here is the food preservation forum. It is linked in the "Related Forums" list on this forum's top and covers canning, freezing, dehydrating, etc.

Your recipe above is intended for fresh eating only? Canning or freezing? Freezing would be no problem but for canning, not sure without pressure canning it. Are you sure it meets the safety guidelines? That is an awfully lot of low-acid ingredients (more than 18 cups) for such a small amount of vinegar as most of the approved and tested recipes for chili sauce call for 1 cup of vinegar for much less low acid ingredients.

Dave
stevie
6 years ago
Goes great on any kind of meat. Don't be fooled by the name it's not spicy, but SWEET!

2 cups sugar. i believe you..should have what, 30 year shelf life? ;)
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Chili Sauce???
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The Chile Sauce I am familiar with is a bit on the sweet yet tart/zingy side. Given the spices in it, I would not use it with a Mexican style dishes such as Tacos, Chili Con Carne etc. To me it's more of a relish type condiment. I use on burgers and dogs, in meat loaf, in baked beans, as a condiment with eggs or omelettes or with dishes such as Tourtierre (pork pie) or Shepherd's pie, etc. Here is my recipe. Elaine's Chile Sauce 11 Q basket of field tomatoes peeled and smashed 7 Cup white sugar 4 1/2 Cup cider vinegar 2 Bunch of celery chopped 4 small hot peppers chopped 4 large sweet peppers 2 green , 2 red, chopped 4 large onions chopped 1 Tbl ground ginger 1 Tbl cinnamon 5 Tbl coarse salt 2 Tbl Pickling spice tied in a cheesecloth bag Simmer/low boil chopped veggies with tomatoes for 2 hours then drain off 2 cups liquid. Add everything else EXCEPT sugar and simmer another 3 hours or even more, until nice and thick. Add sugar 1 hour before canning.Fill pint jars and HWB for 15 minutes. Note: If time is tight I make right up to the add sugar part, refrigerate overnight and finish the next day.
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Annie's Salsa - Tomato Sauce??
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Hi garden frog - Annie has mentioned in several past discussions of this recipe that the tomato sauce is optional because of the texture she prefers. Many use canned (store-bought) sauce and some of us use our own basic home-canned tomato sauce and some leave it out all together. But you can use any plain tomato sauce recipe you wish. There is a good one in BBB and the link below is to the basic sauce recipe. Dave If you want to read more about this salsa recipe there are hundreds of discussions here about it. Just search 'Annie's salsa'. Here is a link that might be useful: Standard tomato sauce recipe - NCHFP
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I just finished 11 half-pints of this chile salsa and I love it! I guess Ive never tasted a salsa with so many peppers in it (hot ones anyway). When I have cooked with Ro-Tels, I guess I never tasted the Ro-tel by itself, just in the finished recipe. So I can't compare. But I love this hot salsa. It will suit me just fine in the winter months where there is no fresh tomatoes and peppers for a Mexican dish. As is, I've been using canned whole tomatoes and pickled jalapenos for these meals. This salsa gives me those ingredients in one jar!
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Tomato sauce and salsa only comes in a jar
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I would definitely go for the salsa angle. Much easier to dice up some tomatoes, peppers and onion and bust out a bag of chips, than it is to make a batch of sauce. I did my first sauce last fall, and it's worthwhile, but also a royal PAIN, not to mention that it's handy to have the canning equipment, a food strainer, jars, etc. and requires growing several plants to get enough tomatoes to make a worthwhile batch. Not to be a killjoy, but most people barely even cook from scratch, very few are going to be canning something that Del Monte sells for $1.50. Of course, if you're left with a lot of plants on your hands, you can grow them out, and make that sauce and get rich off of selling it for $8.99 a jar. ;)
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Chippah
Original Author
6 years ago
Woops, my mistake it is canned , didn't realize I left this out.

Combine tomatoes, onions, green and red peppers, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, horseradish, if using, celery salt, mustard seeds and salt in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 1-1/2 hours, until sauce begins to thicken. Add allspice, mace, cinnamon and cloves. Continue to boil gently, stirring occasionally, until thickened and sauce begins to mound on a spoon, about 30 minutes.

Can as usual.
digdirt2
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
"Can as usual."

There is no such thing as "can as usual" when it comes to low-acid foods. And since salsa is eaten right out of the jar with no further cooking after opening to kill any toxins that may have developed, salsa is ranked as one of the most risky foods there is when canned incorrectly.

Dave
lgteacher
6 years ago
Canning times and headspace vary from recipe to recipe and elevation. Dense foods and low pH require pressure canning. Check the National Center for Home Food Preservation and you'll be safe. Or make a small batch, refrigerate it and use it up before it spoils.
rgreen48
6 years ago
I've never tried it, but I'm curious... does anyone know if salsa freezes well?
digdirt2
6 years ago
Yes it does and several people on the Harvest forum, myself included, have reported on it. Wife and I find that it not only allows us to safely add ingredients we couldn't add otherwise but it has a fresher color and taste.

The negative side effect if you like a really chunky salsa is that when thawed freezer salsa tends to be soupier due to the freezing effect on the cell structure. But you can always drain it some before serving to eliminate that issue.

Dave
rgreen48
6 years ago
Thanks Dave. Sounds good!

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