Six Pepper Salsa

CTRmom's Note:

I don't know if this salsa recipe is typical of Brazilian salsas, but I do know this recipe is special. It was my neighbor Nina from Brazil who taught me to make salsa and to can it. It was my first venture into canning. Now we bottle whatever is abundant almost every year, but we never miss canning this salsa. There was a period of several years when we suffered without this amazing recipe. All I can figure is that the carefully copied ingredients must have been thrown out with the remains of the chopped vegetables one fall, because the next year the recipe card was gone. Oh the mental anguish of not knowing if we could ever duplicate our beloved salsa! Oh, the hunger! I began searching for a recipe with the unique combination of six different hot peppers that our recipe had. No luck. I even located our long-lost friend Nina and gave her a call. Sadly, she didn't recall the recipe or me. No matter. I will always be grateful for her friendship and her salsa. I began trying to recreate our salsa by altering other salsa recipes. Thanks to Wonderful Salsa as my starting point, I finally hit upon the right combination of peppers and spices. U-pick farm fresh or garden ripe tomatoes are the only way we've ever made this recipe. One batch usually lasts till the tomatoes are ripe again -- about a year -- plus a couple of pints to share. Preparation time is how long it takes us to chop all the veggies. We are probably too meticulous. We do the tomatoes and onion in 1/4-inch dice so they are easy to pick up with a chip and small enough that we don't bother to peel them. We chop the hot peppers even smaller. Cooking time is cooking plus processing time.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 55 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 192

Yield: 6.0 quarts ...

• 36 cups tomatoes , chopped
• 4 cups onions , chopped
• 3 poblano peppers , chopped
• 3 serrano peppers , chopped
• 3 jalapeno peppers , chopped
• 3 banana peppers , chopped
• 3 anaheim chilies , chopped
• 3 fingerhot chili peppers , chopped
• 24 garlic cloves , minced (about 2 heads)
• 8 teaspoons cumin
• 8 teaspoons pepper
• ½ cup canning salt
• 2⁄3; cup sugar
• 1 1⁄3; cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups cilantro , chopped

Directions:

1. Combine everything in a LARGE pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
4. Wipe jar rim with clean cloth and top with heated two-piece caps.
5. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Reviews

[Chef #1341550]

I tried this salsa recipe and it was wonderful!! I did ADD 2 habaneros with seeds in the food processor, as we like it fairly hot. EVERYONE wanted the recipe!! I also used Roma tomatoes, blanched and peeled as they are the firmest and most tasty for salsa. I will be making this salsa every year!