One of the local prepper groups/survival/homesteading groups that I started had a meeting where we learned how to can salsa. I will include a link to the tomatillo salsa recipe we used, and some super awesome knowledge I learned along the way.
The idea behind our local group is that it is separate from my online presence. I don’t want to mix the two business wise. Knowledge wise is another thing. They work hand in hand. It was fun this time around as well. The first meeting we had, I had taught everyone how to power their home from their automobile. This time was someone else’s turn to teach.
Now I had canned food, but for the sake of others, it is important to show up and support each meeting that I can make, so I do this. We were being taught the process of canning salsa. Well, I thought I had known enough. I could can salsa, that was no big deal. We I actually learned a few valuable tips while hanging out with some good people.
One thing that I already knew, that I feel I should revisit, is the fact that we were specifically doing a hot water bath method of canning. When you do this you have to either have a high acid food, or add some vinegar to the food. The reason for this is to inhibit the growth of bacteria.
Now one thing that I really didn’t know is that poblano peppers have a very tough skin that we need to get rid of. The method that was used to aid in this, while also cooking the peppers, was to roast them over an open flame of a gas stove. It quite possibly took 5 or more minutes per side. By doing some research I found out that you can roast them in the oven, and also that probably the easiest way to roast them is by placing them in a toaster for 8-10 minutes where sides are bubbly and blackening. Let them cool afterward so you don’t burn yourself. Once they are cool enough you should be able to pinch and pull the skin right off. Don’t do this unless you have some ventilation, because you will be making a mild pepper gas that will mess you up a bit. When looking more into this, I learned that placing them in the freezer for about 15 minutes is a better way to go and actually works very well, just don’t let the onion get too hard.
Next, when cutting onions, you want to refrigerate them for over half an hour to reduce the amount of burning and tearing when cutting. This just sent me into a researching mode where I found that this method works only mildly:
See how much you can learn when you are actively ingaged in learning skills? I thought I “knew enough” but I learned a lot more, didn’t I?
The recipe that we used may be found at http://simplyrecipes.com/m/recipes/canned_tomato_salsa. IT WAS DELICIOUS with tortilla chips… very fresh tasting and chunky.
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