When you garden, you just never know. Last year we had so many jalapenos that I could not keep up with them. This year, the jalapenos are just not happy, and we have no idea why. We are getting a few here and there, but not enough to accomplish anything with them. Fortunately, there is Kevin, who is riding to work with Larry. Kevin has LOTS of jalapenos, which he doesn’t even like all that much. His cucumbers haven’t done well though, but that’s ok – we have had LOTS of cucumbers this year. So, in the way of gardening friends, we have been trading them back and forth.
Then, a few weeks ago, I was ordering some spices from one of the online companies, and I saw they had some jalapeno hot sauce, and I ordered that too, because you can’t ever have too many kinds of hot sauce. Big mistake. It was so good – and SO expensive. I knew I could never justify buying enough of it to keep us happy so the only alternative was to figure out how to make some myself. 4 batches later, I think it’s too good to keep to myself!
The fact is, this stuff is quite amazing. We have been putting it on everything, and if we didn’t have anything to put it on, I think we’d just drink it out of the jar. And, though I was setting out to make a hot sauce, it actually eats more like a salsa. To me, a hot sauce is an ingredient – you might put a certain amount in a recipe, but you don’t just eat it with a spoon. This, I would eat with a spoon, and a pretty big one, too.
I have added small amounts of other hot peppers when the jalapenos didn’t seem quite spicy enough, which is why there are some little red specks in this batch, but not too much, or you lose the thing I like I like best about jalapenos, which is that they can be quite spicy at first, but the heat dissipates very quickly, so that you can enjoy the next zingy jolt. If you like things spicier than this, by all means, add some hotter type peppers to the mix. And, I know this is going to sound like an awful lot of garlic, but trust me – it is not too much, so don’t be stingy with it.
- 2 pounds fresh jalapenos
- 2 fresh green tomatoes
- 1 large onion
- 2 large heads garlic [divided]
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 2 limes [3 - 4 if small]
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 8 – 10 grinds fresh pepper
- ½ cup water
- 1 & ½ cup vinegar
- Using rubber gloves, cut stems from jalapenos, and cut them in half lengthwise.
- Remove stems and cores from tomatoes and chop in a very large dice.
- Peel onion and roughly chop.
- Peel garlic – leave half of the cloves whole. Mince the other half finely and set aside.
- Strip leaves from the cilantro.
- Place all of the above [except the minced garlic] in a heavy bottomed 5 quart pot.
- Juice the limes, and add the juice to the ingredients in pot.
- Add the salt, pepper and water, and turn the heat to medium.
- When the mixtures gets up to a boil, reduce heat so that it stays at a simmer, and
- cook for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the peppers and tomatoes are very soft.
- Remove from heat, and use an immersion blender to liquefy the ingredients, and
- achieve a uniform smooth texture. This can be done in a food processor as well.
- Place back on the heat, add the remaining minced garlic, and the vinegar. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Makes about 6 pints.
- Can be canned – use the directions from your water bath or pressure canner for
- regular salsa. You could also freeze it as well.
- This will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.
- Recipe can be cut in half or a quarter to make a smaller amount.
Prepare to be amazed…
The salsa can be canned – use the directions from your water bath or pressure canner for regular salsa. It can be frozen too, or it will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. The recipe can be cut in half or a quarter to make a smaller amount. 
Then, you too will be looking for more and more things you can put it on – like this breakfast taco, with scrambled eggs and various accompaniments.
Whilst I’m in the process of moving posts to the new blog, I wanted to make sure to add to this one. We are thoroughly enjoying this still, and canning it just seems to have deepened the flavor. We are down to only 2 & 1/2 jars, and it will never last until I can make some more in July. Note to self: Make more of it coming canning season – a LOT more!
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