When in the states I made large batches of salsa that varied in heat from mild to F&$king hot, and gave away pints and pints of it to interested friends and co-workers. Since moving to Australia, I have not been able to find the canning supplies to make a large batch until this week. I happened to find some pint and quart jars in Coles, although they were muy expensive compared what I could find in the USA. My favorite salsa in the states was one that had about half and half tomatoes and peaches, along with some flaming peppers, bell peppers, onion, garlic and vinegar. It was pretty straight forward, and depending on your tolerance of tomato salsas was much better than the store-bought material.
I figured that since we are in Australia and peaches are hard to come by (as well as expensive) I would do as the Australians do and buy some Mangoes for the sweet side of the salsa. I tried both the Bowen's and the R2E2's, and while the Bowens are reportedly the cream of the crop around here, I prefer the R2E2's. The recipe is below, and if you have any suggestions for jazzing it up I would appreciate it. It turned out to be quite good, I thought. It isn't as hot as some of the salsa's on this board (puree'd habaneros with lime juice is a new salsa to me!) but could be heated up by adding more as your tastes dictate.
Mango Salsa
5 kilo's fresh tomatoes
5 R2E2 Mangoes, cut up to small chunks
5 Green Pepper/Capsicums
5 yellow/brown onions
5 bulbs garlic, separated and skins removed
Chillis to flavour, see below for my mix
4 tablespoons salt
1 bunch coriander, rough chopped
2 teaspoons cumin seed, ground
1 cup lemon or lime juice, plus zest
Cut out the stem and hash cut (cut an X into) the blossom end of the tomatoes and blanch for 20 seconds. They should fall out of their skins after immersed in a cold water bath. Mash them into a large, heavy stock pot (we use a 16 quart ceramic lined stock pot). Add mango chunks. Seed and stem the green peppers, skin and quarter the onions. Process peppers and onions in a food processor to desired consistency and add to tomato/mango mix. Food process garlic cloves and add to mix. Remove stems of chillis and process to desired consistency; I prefer really fine as this spreads the love throughout the salsa. For my current salsa I used what was ripe/available, which was two Bhut Jolokias, one yellow Trinidad 7-pod, two orange habaneros and three thai chillis. The original recipe from the states would call for 25 jalapenos (mild) or 15 habaneros (medium) to whatever you wanted to add in combination. Add salt, coriander, cumin seed and lemon or lime juice to the salsa.
Bring to a boil, stirring frequently if not constantly until at a boil, reduce heat and simmer for four hours, stirring frequently to keep from burning at the bottom of the pan, or until the salsa has boiled down to your desired consistency. Four hours gives us the medium chunky consistency we like.
When you get to the last two hours of simmering, add your quart and pint jars to the dish washer for sanitizing. About 10 minutes from completion add the seals to a small pot of boiling water. Pull a canning jar from the dishwasher, fill it with salsa (being careful not to get any on the threads or lip; we use an oversize funnel for this) and add the seal and ring. Set aside and fill the next one. Listen for the seals to pop, and if you lose track or don't think they all pulled in check the next morning. If they are not sealed, refrigerate that jar and use it first.
The above batch yielded 6 sealed quarts and 2 cups of salsa in a tupperware container for the fridge. Again, you can add many more hots or superhots if you prefer it hotter, but I have found that the Australian palate is not up for adventure. If I had gone much hotter, I wouldn't have had many takers.
I figured that since we are in Australia and peaches are hard to come by (as well as expensive) I would do as the Australians do and buy some Mangoes for the sweet side of the salsa. I tried both the Bowen's and the R2E2's, and while the Bowens are reportedly the cream of the crop around here, I prefer the R2E2's. The recipe is below, and if you have any suggestions for jazzing it up I would appreciate it. It turned out to be quite good, I thought. It isn't as hot as some of the salsa's on this board (puree'd habaneros with lime juice is a new salsa to me!) but could be heated up by adding more as your tastes dictate.
Mango Salsa
5 kilo's fresh tomatoes
5 R2E2 Mangoes, cut up to small chunks
5 Green Pepper/Capsicums
5 yellow/brown onions
5 bulbs garlic, separated and skins removed
Chillis to flavour, see below for my mix
4 tablespoons salt
1 bunch coriander, rough chopped
2 teaspoons cumin seed, ground
1 cup lemon or lime juice, plus zest
Cut out the stem and hash cut (cut an X into) the blossom end of the tomatoes and blanch for 20 seconds. They should fall out of their skins after immersed in a cold water bath. Mash them into a large, heavy stock pot (we use a 16 quart ceramic lined stock pot). Add mango chunks. Seed and stem the green peppers, skin and quarter the onions. Process peppers and onions in a food processor to desired consistency and add to tomato/mango mix. Food process garlic cloves and add to mix. Remove stems of chillis and process to desired consistency; I prefer really fine as this spreads the love throughout the salsa. For my current salsa I used what was ripe/available, which was two Bhut Jolokias, one yellow Trinidad 7-pod, two orange habaneros and three thai chillis. The original recipe from the states would call for 25 jalapenos (mild) or 15 habaneros (medium) to whatever you wanted to add in combination. Add salt, coriander, cumin seed and lemon or lime juice to the salsa.
Bring to a boil, stirring frequently if not constantly until at a boil, reduce heat and simmer for four hours, stirring frequently to keep from burning at the bottom of the pan, or until the salsa has boiled down to your desired consistency. Four hours gives us the medium chunky consistency we like.
When you get to the last two hours of simmering, add your quart and pint jars to the dish washer for sanitizing. About 10 minutes from completion add the seals to a small pot of boiling water. Pull a canning jar from the dishwasher, fill it with salsa (being careful not to get any on the threads or lip; we use an oversize funnel for this) and add the seal and ring. Set aside and fill the next one. Listen for the seals to pop, and if you lose track or don't think they all pulled in check the next morning. If they are not sealed, refrigerate that jar and use it first.
The above batch yielded 6 sealed quarts and 2 cups of salsa in a tupperware container for the fridge. Again, you can add many more hots or superhots if you prefer it hotter, but I have found that the Australian palate is not up for adventure. If I had gone much hotter, I wouldn't have had many takers.
