Parrot Head Spicy Salsa
This is our favorite salsa. Again, it is another Bernardin recipe and it is so easy. The flavour is a great combination of sweet and spicy…a tropical flavour.
BERNARDIN’S RECIPE:
- 12 cups chopped tomatoes, about 6lbs or 24 medium tomatoes
- 2 ripe mangoes
- 1 can (19oz/540mL) crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 pkg (115g) BERNARDIN Salsa Mix
- 1/2 cup (125mL) cider vinegar
- In a stainless steel saucepan, combine Bernardin Salsa Mix and cider vinegar
- Add remaining ingredients
- Stirring continuously until well mixed, bring mixture to a full rolling boil; boil gently uncovered for 5 minutes
- Ladle hot salsa into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles and add more salsa if necessary
- Wipe rim, centre lid and add ring until fingertip tight
- Process in hot water bath for 15 minutes for 250mL jars and 20 minutes for 500mL jars
Put up Total:
- 1 x 250mL regular mason jar
- 4 x 250mL wide mouth mason jar
- 5 x 500mL wide mouth mason jar
Tomato Sauce
Nothing new to report. We continue to plunge into bushel after bushel of Roma tomatoes…making tomato sauce to enhance all of our pasta dishes and home-made pizzas!
As mentioned in a previous post the European Tomato Press from Lee Valley has significantly decreased the amount of time spent making sauce. The food mill makes the process so much easier and so much quicker.
Put up Total:
- 1 x 250mL wide mouth jar
- 16 x 500mL wide mouth jar
- 2 x 500mL regular mouth jar
Stewed Tomatoes
Stewed tomatoes…AGAIN! My belief is that you can never have too many stewed tomatoes on hand. They are a classic staple necessary or beneficial to so many recipes adding a little bit of that fresh summer flavor to ordinary dishes. To prove my point with the 2 jars that didn’t seal…Matt used them to make “the tastiest lasagna to date!” And, I thought no one could make it better than my mom!
Put up Total:
- 15 x 500mL wide mouth jars
- 1 x 375mL diamond jar
Elderberry Maple Syrup
We had so many elderberries is seemed ridiculous to make it all into jams and 
jellies…so we tried something totally new for us. SYRUP!!!
Using our forged elderberries found in plentiful supply throughout the backroads of Muskoka and our Maple Syrup made here on property this spring we came up with what we think will be a classic. ELDERBERRY MAPLE SYRUP.
OUR RECIPE FOR ELDERBERRY MAPLE SYRUP:
- 9 cups elderberries
- SPICEBALL that consists of 1/2 cinnamon stick broken in pieces, 3 cloves, 1 star anise, zest of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 whole nutmeg berry, 2 whole all spice berries
- 1/2 cup Rum (we used Ron Anejo Pamero but any rum will do OR it can also be omitted)
- Place elderberries in a stainless steel saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat, crushing elderberries as they heat through
- Add spice ball and continue to simmer until berries are softened approximately 10 minutes
- Remove spiceball and place elderberries and liquid in a jelly bag and let drip over night
- Use 4 parts maple syrup to 1 part juice
- Heat maple syrup in a stainless steel saucepan to 220F
- Add elderberry juice and return to a boil
- Boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat
- Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace
- Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes
Put up Total:
- 1 x 750mL tall vintage jar
- 1 x 500mL regular mason jar
- 2 x 500mL vintage jars
- 1 x 125mL
Summer Thyme Relish
This peachy relish has a wonderful colour and will add a little kick to those summer dishes! It can have as much heat as you can stand because it’s sweet main ingredient “peaches” will balance out the heat.
RECIPE FOR SUMMER THYME RELISH:
- Makes 3 x500mL and 2 x 375mL
- 12 cups peaches; peeled, pitted and chopped
- 4 cups sweet yellow peppers; seeded and chopped
- 1 cup sweet orange pepper; seeded and chopped
- 1 cup mildly hot banana pepper; seeded and chopped
- 2-3 jalapeno peppers; seeded and finely chopped
- 2 lemons; halved with seeds removed
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsps pickling salt or kosher salt
- Prepare for water-bath canning. Sterilize jars in the oven at 250F for 30 minutes.
- To easily remove the skin on the peaches, blanch them in a pot full of boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and place on a cookie sheet. Once cool to the touch slip the skins. Use freestone peaches that are ripe but firm. DO NOT use bruised fruit or seconds as this will make the removal of the skin very difficult!
- Wash and chop remaining ingredients.
- In a stainless steel saucepan bring peaches, peppers, lemons and vinegar to boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until soft.
- Remove and discard lemon halves.
- Add sugar and salt and return to a boil. Boil uncovered for 40-50 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Skim foam as necessary.
- Pour hot relish into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, top with additional relish if necessary, wipe rims with a damp paper towel, place snaps and rings on jars and fasten until resistance is met, adjusting so they are finger-tip tight. Process in a boiling hot water bath for 15 minutes. When time is up, turn off heat, remove the lid and let the jars stand in the hot water bath for 5 minutes before removing to a folded towel.
- Check seals, label, and store. Refrigerate any jars that have not sealed.
Put up Total:
-
3 x 500mL wide mouth jars
-
2 x 375mL vintage jars
Putting Up With The Turnbulls 