Tag Archives: spicy

Chili Today Hot Tamale

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Lamb Chili. It's not baaaaaaddddd (hehe. I slay me)

C’mon, you know that old joke. You MUST know that old joke. You’re five years old (well, not now but think back that far which for some of you wasn’t long ago and for others (like me) was so far back that you recall riding on the backs of dinosaurs) and you go up to someone and ask them what the weather is like. They say “I don’t know; what’s the weather like?” You then reply, with all the wit your five year old sense of humor can muster, “It’s chili today and hot tamale!!!”. You then proceed to roll on the floor laughing so hard that you wet yourself and get put in the corner for an hour. Ok, so maybe that last part was just me. But it was funny darn it!!! Funny I say!!! Totally pee worthy.

Moving on 😛 I know some of you (though very few at this point) are still enjoying cool, if not actually cold, weather. And even if you’re not, if you’re anything like me, you agree with the idea that you do NOT have to save chili for Fall and Winter. I said that same thing when I put together
This Chili Recipe Here which is actually my all time favorite non beef chili. Go ahead; check it out. I’ll be here when you get back.

You back now? Didn’t that one look yummy?! It is; trust me. But the one I’m posting now could easily vie with it for first place on favorite non beef chili. This uses lamb, which I love enough that when I saw this recipe online (for the life of me, I’m not sure where I found it and the paper I have it on doesn’t have a web site listed and there are 9 gazillion variations of this so I’m not sure which I changed used.) I knew I had to try it. I’m one of those people that when I am eating a specific meat (or sweet for that matter) THAT’S my favorite. Roast chicken? Favorite. Replace it with roast duck? Favorite. Put a steak in front of me? Favorite. Lamb? Yep… favorite. You get my point. This chili is now my favorite! 😛 Continue reading →

Back Away From The Asparagus & No One Will Get Hurt

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Marinated Asparagus. The taste will "Stalk" you in your dreams. HA! I slay myself! (If you click on the photo, the dressing shows up better)

I was a weird kid. Yes, I know I’m also a weird adult but my point is that it started years ago. It was just a hobby then. Now I have it down to an art form. But moving on. I was a weird kid. I never turned up my nose at things like spinach, brussel sprouts or asparagus. On the contrary, I inhaled them. Which was great until the one time that asparagus spear got stuck up my nose upon inhaling…

What? You really expected me to make it through a paragraph without a bad one liner? You must be new to my blog.

But I really did love all of them. No inhaling involved *insert bad Bill Clinton joke here* Mind you, the spinach and asparagus I had a kid were always canned. Sad as it is, I didn’t have fresh of either until I was well into my 30’s. For the longest time, I preferred the canned versions because they were familiar. The fresh tasted funny to me. But they grew on me. No really. They did. Makes wearing a skirt interesting.

I’d lie and tell you that I’ll stop now but you’d know and I’d know that I was lying so why bother?

“It was the dawning of the Age of Asparagus, age of asparagus”

Ahem. Yeah. Again; moving on. Loved them, ate them, wore them. Ok, I think that catches us up now. Continue reading →

Bacon Makes Any Food Better

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Well, maybe not ice cream..or jello… or candy (sorry, chocolate bacon lovers) Yeah yeah, I know, there actually IS bacon ice cream and bacon candy but there are some things I just can NOT get behind. I am however still petitioning congress to make bacon, cheeses of all kinds, wine and chocolate part of the government supported food plans. For some reason whenever I call or write though, no one is ever in the office anymore. I can’t imagine why.

I’ve mentioned before that I love corn bread. I prefer it the southern way a la no or very little sugar. But I will eat it with sugar too so long as it’s not heavily sweetened. As the saying goes, if I want cake, I’ll eat cake. If I want cornbread, I’ll eat cornbread. Hold most of the sugar please.

You really have to forgo the sugar if you’re making a cornbread with add ins like this one. I added a couple of tablespoons to help with color but that’s it. This was based on Ina Gartens  corn muffin recipe and I have to say, even had I been making it plain, I couldn’t have brought myself to add the full cup of sugar she called for. Really? A full cup!?

But this way? Say yummy with me! C’mon… say it! SAY IT DARN IT OR NO RECIPE!!

Erhmmm, sorry. I’m calm now. Continue reading →

Woohoo!!! I Did A Guest Post…

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For one of my favoritest (yes, that too is now a word. Please add it to your dictionary.) people. She is nice, she is funny and she actually tolerates ME. That makes her a saint by any measure.

I made this *points down*

So if you want to know what this is (Ok, I’ll tell… it’s Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Pasta With A Light Bleu Cheese Sauce… but you have to go see her to get the recipe 😛 ) as well as revisit a blogger you probably already know and love OR get to know a blogger you will soon know and love, go over to visit Ann at
Cooking Healthy For Me

. She’s on vacation in England right now *please don’t turn green with envy and yell at my blog…* which is how I was honored to get to guest post for her.

So go check her out, but don’t even think of just looking at this one post. Her whole blog is filled with wonderful recipes and a wonderful personality to match.

 

 

Pigging Out

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I’ve mentioned before that my husband and I are trying to buy a house. To be specific, this house right here *points down to photo*

Housing prices in this part of the country are pretty darn good especially if you consider that this has ten acres of land along with the house and pool. We’re slowly working through the process and have gotten to the point where they have it listed as “pending” now when one tries to find it online. I love seeing that word. Pending. Such a lovely word 😀

I have a ton of plans for the land when we get it (I refuse to say “if”). I want a huge garden; big enough that we can share with family as well as let local churches and food banks have some. I plan on planting a lot of fruit trees and fruit bushes & vines and nut trees with the same goal in mind though I know that will take longer before they produce. We also want to have chickens, sheep and some pigs to use for meat and in the case of the chickens, eggs. I also love the idea of my youngest being able to grow up learning to care for the land and animals. The garden tub, nice kitchen and pool have no bearing on the decision to get this house. Nope, none at all *cough cough*

I have joked more than once that I can see us getting these animals and instead of them being food, they will take over the household. I will get up in the mornings to see a Sheep wearing my fluffy pink robe and pink slippers. The chickens will use up all my tea bags and steal my chocolate stash. And the pigs will hoard the remote for the TV and I’ll be forced to watch the movie Charlottes Web 17 times a day.

But assuming we can ever find the heart to have the animules slaughtered (I have extreme doubts and see all our future meat still being wrapped in plastic and on styrofoam trays while the animules get fat as houses) one of the things I will be making  frequently is the dinner I made tonight. (Was that a smooth segue into the recipe or WHAT?! *grins and moves along knowing that yes, I AM a dolt 😛 )

I had 4 bone in extra thick pork chops I had gotten on special and I didn’t want to just fry them up and serve them. B…o…r…i…n…ggggg. My husband suggested stuffing them but as much as I don’t go by the certain foods for certain seasons thing, even I have to say that something about stuffed pork chops screams Autumn to me. So I played. If I do say so myself, it turned out pretty darn good. The pork chops are fork tender and the sauce is awesome. It’s sweet, fruity, spicy and fragrant and has a nice curry flavor without tasting like it is just a curry dish. It has much more flavor than that and this is coming from a woman who loves curry. The sauce was stupendous on the coconut rice I made. So if you like pork, like fruity sauces, like a bit of heat, you’ll probably love this. Give it a try. 🙂

Bone In Pork Chops With A

Spicy & Sweet Curried Apricot Sauce

  • 4 large bone in pork chops
  • SAUCE-
  • 2 20 ounce cans apricot halves (either syrup or juice; syrup= sweeter sauce, juice= not so much so. I used one of each)
  • 1 large jalapeno (seeded if desired. I kinda liked the heat and really, it isn’t too intense 😀 )
  • 1/3 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
  • 3 heaping tablespoons red curry paste
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt to taste
  1. Spray a large fry pan with cooking spray. Let pan heat over medium high heat for about 2 minutes
  2. Add pork chops (two at a time; never crowd your pan) and sear on both sides.
  3. In bowl of food processor or blender, mix all sauce ingredients while chops are browning.
  4. When all the chops are browned, add them back to the pan. Pour the sauce over them and cover the pan. Turn the heat to medium low and let simmer until fork tender, about 90 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the size of the chops.  Adjust the heat if the sauce seems to be sticking.
  5. Serve the chops with extra sauce; perfectly with some Basmati rice to soak up a few gazillion spoonsful more of the sauce. I made coconut rice to go with it and the flavors melded so so well.

 

Just a different view cause they were both so shiny and purty I couldn't choose lol

When I Was A Kid, It Was All “Noodles”

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I don’t know if I have ever mentioned my love for noodles aka “noodoos” when you’ve raised as many kids as I have. I have mentioned Twinkies and Cheetos, I have mentioned chocolate and panini sandwiches. I have mentioned citrus in any way shape or form. But noodoos??? I mean noodles? Nope, I forgot all about those slippery bits of tasty goodness. When I was a kid, noodles meant…well… any of it. For some reason it was all noodles. It wasn’t called “pasta” back then; at least not in my home on the South Side of Chicago. It was noodles darn it! Spaghetti for dinner? Noodles. Lasagna? Ok, that was still lasagna. My main noodle memory though is my mom making egg noodles that she tossed with onions that had been sauteed in butter. So simple but so good. I still love that. Mac & Cheese? Noodles. From a box… gritty…soupy…ick  *shudders and moves on*

As I got older, my love for noodoos increased as my foodie experience grew as I aged. Not that I have aged much… twenty nine and holding here. Ignore the fact that my oldest child is 25. I started early ok!!?

Erhmmm…. moving on. Again. Noodoos.

I got to try so many other types of noodles as I expanded my eating experiences (and my waistline). But my favorite, even today, as I age…very gracefully and wrinkle free I might add… is any sort of Asian noodoos…noodles. Lo Mein, Cellophane noodles, Udon, Pad Thai, even ramen (if fixed correctly which IS possible). Add some sort of meat in there because I am a rabid carnivore (maybe the rabid part isn’t a good thing to say. Would it help if I say I’ve had all my shots?) and I’m in noodoo Heaven. So today I wanted noodles. I wanted spice, I wanted an excuse to make the Shrimp I splurged on, I wanted sriracha, I wanted veggies. Strange I know… me saying I wanted veggies instead of Twinkies. I’ll have those later. But for now, I have noodles… and veggies… and a tangy spicy sweet sauce. And Shrimp. Did I mention the Shrimp? So if all of that sounds good to you, try this.

Hokkien Noodles In A

Spicy Teriyaki Sauce With Stir Fry Veggies And Sriracha!

  • 1 pound raw shrimp
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 14.2 ounce packages hokkien noodles (found in the Asian aisle of most grocery stores)
  • 1 15 ounce bottle of Kona Coast Pineapple Paradise Teriyaki Sauce (sub your favorite if you can’t find this one. I just happen to like it)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lime zest
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1 lb bag frozen stir fry veggies
  • 1 12 ounce bag frozen snow peas
  • 3 green onions, sliced into 4 pieces
  1. In a medium bowl (you can use a large or extra large. I won’t tell. Or a small but you may end up with a mess. You could even use a plate but I don’t recommend it) mix together the teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, lime zest, lime juice and sriracha  mix well.  Break up the noodles and set aside.
  2. Over high heat, in a large pan, saute the shrimp in the oil until cooked and a nice purty pink; about 4 minutes. When they are almost done, toss the shrimp with 1/4 cup of the sauce.  Set aside.
  3. Add the veggies to the same pan and stir fry for five minutes or until crisp tender. Add the noodles and the rest of the sauce to the pan. Toss to coat well and cover the pan. Cook for about 90 seconds.
  4. Put noodles in bowl and cover with a few gazillion shrimp. Add more sriracha because it isn’t spicy enough and you don’t like having taste buds. Scream in pain then eat more. Rinse and repeat.

You Can So Eat Chili In The Summer!!!

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Cause I said so! So there!!! Pffffttttt.

Mind you, I am sitting here eating Jays Brand Cheese Wheels.

Because as  yummy as my white chicken chili is, I have a reputation as a poor eater to keep going here. That takes a lot of work! You have no idea how I sacrifice for all of you just so that I can be the one sane port in your busy lives, the one place you can go to where the personality behind the words stays the same. I eat Twinkies (and Ho-Hos) Cheetos (and Tostitos with home made Peach salsa that I magically suck any nutrition out of before eating it). I chow down on chocolate by the pound and sigh heavily in martyred frustration as I do so. I also drink pop and strong caffeinated beverages. And I do this for YOU gentle reader… YOU. Can you FEEL the sacrificial vibes coming to you? Can you… wait, scuse me; gotta wipe the orange goop off the keyboard. Ok, I’m back. Where was I? Oh yeah; vibes. Yeah yeah yeah, vibes, sacrifice, Twinkies, noble kind soul that you adore… well, maybe I didn’t say that last part but I know you were thinking it so I went ahead and inserted it in there. 😛

If, by the way, you have never had Jays Products… I’m sorry. You can get some of them online but alas, not the cheese waffles. This is actually the first time I’VE had them in many years and why a Kroger store in Kentucky was suddenly stocking them, I don’t know. But I bought a bag anyway and am currently gorging on them like a six year old given a bag of chocolate covered sugar bombs (Oh Calvin you are my hero) and a spoon. Jays is a Chicago based company that seriously makes the best potato chips ever and I’m not just saying that because I am a native Chicagoan. Snyders Of Hanover has bought them now so I have no idea if the products have changed at all but I know the cheese waffles are still yummy.  Their sour cream and onion potato chips are stupendous and I even love their BBQ chips and I don’t even like BBQ chips. Hmmm, thinking of it, the fact that Snyders bought them may very well BE why I am seeing them here. Oh also, if you’ve ever had and loved Krunchers potato chips, they are made by Jays.  They also make the most awesomeest  cheese popcorn too. If you see Oko-E-Doke popcorn, grab them all! If by some strange chance you don’t like them, sell them for millions to people living outside their native area. It’s like popcorn crack. Better yet, just mail them all to me.

Oh well, for those of you who aren’t currently experiencing the chance to have a sore tongue (boy that sounds wrong) from eating too many rough textured and overly salty cheese wheels, I made White Chicken Chili for today’s post. And no it is NOT too hot for chili. Just crank up the A/C and start shivering. Then have some nice hot chili and a cup of tea. You’ll thank me. Just don’t forget to turn the A/C back down before bed so you don’t freeze to the sheets during the night when you drool on the pillow. Oh don’t lie! You do SO drool on the pillows!

This chili uses…GASP… a convenience product or two. I did NOT grow. dry and then soak my own beans. That’s why they make canned beans (though I DO soak my own when I make red beans and rice). Also, this uses a package of McCormicks White Chili Seasoning along with the other things you’ll put in it. It cracks me up when people get upset over packaged mixes like these. Hello?! Did you grow that bottle of Chipotle peppers yourself? The Cumin? The Chile Peppers? All the beans? If so, awesome, more power to you and may I please know what type of speed you use to get through a normal day? If not, then shush darn it, shush. Just make the chili. The mix is simply a pre-blended mix of spices one would use ANYWAY. And this is a particularly wonderful version of chili. it’s creamy and tangy and spicy and *wipes non cheese wheel caused drool* filled with chunks of chicken. It makes a big batch so feel free to cut it in half.

Creamy White Chicken Chili

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized cubes (I have also used a mix of breasts and boneless skinless thighs to good reviews)
  • 1 pound of either andouille sausage, sliced thin or 1 pound Cajun flavored smoked sausage ( I have used both at various times. Either ones is tasty.)
  • 2 medium onions (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups), chopped
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 4 cans great northern beans, drained well
  • 3 cans chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (optional)
  • 1 package McCormick White Chicken Chili mix
  • 3 4 ounce cans chopped mild green chilies
  • 1 cup heavy cream (you can sub fat free half and half if you absolutely MUST 😛 )
  • 1 cup sour cream (same with the sour cream; you can sub fat free and if you DO make these changes, it decreases the fat and calories substantially since the rest of the chili is quite good for you)
  • green onions, cheese and whatever else you usually garnish/serve chili with 😀
  1. In a large heavy bottomed sauce pot, saute the chicken, onions and garlic in the oil until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT for the sour cream and heavy cream.
  2. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 1 hour stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and heavy cream. This is a thin soup like chili so don’t expect a thick one. If you want thicker, use one less can chicken broth. But if so, make sure you watch it carefully as it cooks so the liquid doesn’t cook down too much.
  3. Ladle into bowls and garnish with sliced green onions and Colby Jack cheese.

You Call It Burger, I Call It Boiger

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But only because I have a thing for talking in fake accents and that’s my very bad take on a Brooklyn one.

I think I mentioned before that I have a weird quirk and love talking in different accents. Luckily for me, my husband shares my quirk and hasn’t attempted to  get me into therapy yet (well, not for THAT anyway) and if he did try, he would probably do it in a Russian accent so I’m not sure the therapist would take him seriously. We are a sight to behold…or would that be behear? when we walk through the grocery store talking loudly to each other in either a Russian, Indian or Scottich accent (our favorites). We get some interesting looks. I’m still waiting for someone to ask us where we are from because I just know I wouldn’t get through the answer without cracking up. Is it possible to laugh in a Russian accent? Hmmm.  But when we do this, he is Boris and I am Natasha and we use the names out loud but so far no one has caught on to the background of the names. Did nobody else watch Rocky and Bullwinkle when they were kids? That or they are scared to approach the crazy couple perusing the peanut butter. Clean up in aisle nutso!

With those two (and an American Southern accent and an upper crust British accent) I can voice them with no help. But strangely, with other accents, I have to have visual or oral help such as reading a book that portrays a character speaking with an accent or hearing it. Yes, I am just weird enough that I have a method for speaking in fake accents. Hey! We all need a hobby right? Mine is …is…is… ok, so mine is just generally being strange but that’s a hobby too! Not everyone can knit!

Where is this all leading you ask? Well, hell if I know! You’re expecting logic and a nice path to a recipe here? You soooo must be new to my blog. 😀 My blog is all about nonsense and trying to get a laugh any way I can. Wait. That doesn’t make me sound very good does it? My blog is a place for logical stories and essays, linear thought processes and recipes that are the envy of five star restaurants and yes, I’m looking into that therapy now.

Today I’m posting (please to be imagining all of theese in a a Russian accent.) a recipe I came up with for a nice spicy (yes, more spice. If you don’t like spice you may need to check out www.blandfood.com. Now I am going to have to check to see if there is a web site with that name. I’d be willing to bet there is lol) southwestern style burger. I thought about making a mayo or relish to go with this and may do that in future incarnations but this time I wanted the burger to be the centerpiece, not the toppings. So I just used the typical ones to add crunch and cheesy goodness. This is very quickly put together and very flavorful and you can vary the toppings. Salsa, pepper jack, a yummy chipotle mayo maybe.

Southwestern Chorizo Burgers

  • 1 pound ground chuck
  • 1 pound chorizo sausage (if links, just take off the casing)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
  • 3 Tablespoons Salsa of choice
  • Buns of choice (no, not buns of steel)
  1. Mix all ingredients together, handling as little possible or the burger will be tough. You can’t totally mix the meats together so don’t bother trying.
  2. Shape into four to six burgers depending on what type of pigginess you are feeding. I made five good sized burgers.
  3. Cook by preferred method I grilled them) until no longer pink in the middle. You can’t cook these medium rare (my usual donenes…mmmmm, e-coli!) or medium because of the chorizo.
  4. Top as desired (I topped mine with a fried egg because that is one current trend I can soooo get behind) and enjoy the yumminess.

Ignore the cat hair on my background please 😀

Mmmm, Pork!!

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Also known as

“Mr. Bourdain, I’m ready for my close up!”

 

Those who have watched his show will know that is a phrase used many many times by Anthony Bourdain on his travel/food show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations”. I totally love that show. I am conservative enough that I admit that there are times I cringe at his language and his general attitude about life but I watch anyway. Maybe I enjoy it because he IS so different than I am; I dunno. Here is the link to his travel blog if you’d like to go look at it.

He Likes Pork

One thing the man makes no bones about liking is pork. Shoulder, chops, pulled, baked, fried, fat, belly, you name it, if it oinks, he will eat it and merrily drip grease everywhere in the process with no excuses. How can you NOT like someone who likes pork? I can not like someone who likes liver maybe (or at least be very frightened of them… they HAVE to be insane) but to not someone who likes pork would go against every fiber of my being. Point being…. go watch the show! They have it on netflix 😀

Long story short, Mr. Bourdain is a hot pork lover. If it weren’t for that pesky “I’m married, he’s married, I’m fat and he’s hot, he’s wealthy and I’m broke, I’m fairly conservative and rarely cuss and he uses the f word fourteen times in each sentence, I live in the boonies, he lives…well…everywhere” thing, I just know we could be a happening sort of a couple. I mean… he likes pork! I like pork! Need I say more? P…E…R…F…E…C…T couple.

I also like spicy foods and so does he. Again…perfect for each other. So today I made (yes finally. Hey; I couldn’t chew anything harder than doughnuts for petes sake!) pork chops for Anthony. You see that… I’m on a first name basis with him. Perfect coupleeeeeeeee. Anthony, you getting all this?  You’re gonna talk to your wife right? Mrs. Anthony, please don’t fight destiny. He likes pork.

So go and get out some nice thick meaty pork chops (am I the only one thinking that that sounds a wee bit obscene after the rest of this post? Where’s the pork, Anthony?!) and some hot sauce (pork… hot… we both like… perfect coupleeeeee!) and make these pork chops. If you don’t like spicy, I don’t know what to say other than “I’m sorry”. I suppose you could omit the hot sauce in this, but you’ll hurt my feelings. And Anthonys (there’s that first name thing again; didya notice that? Huh huh huh?) and you don’t want to make him angry.

Crispy Buffalo Style Pork Chops

 

  • 6 6 to 8 ounce boneless pork chops (nice thick meaty ones (giggles again) )
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup hot sauce (I use Franks Red Hot; use your favorite)
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  1. Poke holes all over the chops on both sides with a fork. In a large bowl, mix the  buttermilk and hot sauce. Add chops to the milk and let marinate for at least 2 hours and up to 8.
  2. In another large bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and spices. Mix well.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 13×9 inch pan with foil (for easier cleanup) and set a rack in it.
  4. Heat enough oil to 350 degrees in a large pan to where you have about 1/4 inch of oil.
  5. Shake off excess buttermilk, then dredge chops in the flour mixture, shaking off excess flour. Dip again in the buttermilk then again in the flour (You don’t HAVE to do the double dip. One dip in each works fine if you want a thinner crust.). Carefully add chops, not crowding pan (3 at a time works for a good sized skillet) and cook over medium to medium high heat (about 5 to 6 on an electric stove) five minutes on each side. Careful when you turn them. Use tongs and a flat thin spatula or you’ll end up pulling off the coating. After the chops have browned on both sides, put on the rack and cook in a 350 degree oven until the pork has an internal temp of 145, about 15 to 20 minutes. Contrary to popular belief, pork does NOT have to be a dry piece of leather to be safe.
  6. Serve with a good quality bleu cheese dressing just like you would for buffalo wings. Yes, I know I had said I was going to make a bleu cheese pan sauce with these (ok you knew it if you have my fan page liked on facebook anyway 😛 )  but if I hadn’t gotten dinner on the table, my whole family would have divorced me 😀

 

Can You Do The Salsa?

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Can you… Salsa! Heh. I crack me up!!! Again, mainly because I crack up no one else and I’ll be damned if there will total silence when I make my completely inane dumb plays on words but still… I crack me up!!

I can see you all shaking your heads wondering how that was even a play on words in the first place. Well duhhhh mannnn! Cause this is a post about home canning salsa. Geee, so obvious. *Gives you all the L on the forehead gesture and then realizes that only a 100% L person would even USE that gesture and giggles sheepishly* (on a side note, do Sheep giggle? If they do something stupid do they say that they are looking human? These are the things that my mind contemplates.)

Moving on…as usual… many many moons ago I was like many of you. I bought all my jams, jellies, relishes, salsas and other yummy canned goods at the store. The store I say shamefully!!! Can you believe it!? It’s a dark part of my life I try not to look back on. the therapy took years.  Now however, I have seen the light!!! *Finds a soapbox, gets up on it and starts preaching* Yes brother, I have seeeeennnnnnn the light! And the light shines through canning jars!!!! Can we say Amen!? Say amen with me!

I really need more therapy.

As I was saying, but put more simply, over the years I have come to love home canning (as opposed to canning in say the Wal Mart parking lot). You can make so many flavors you can only find via gourmet stores or web sites (like Blueberry Lime Jam or Jalapeno Cranberry Preserves) as well as make the typical store bought flavors of different condiments and jams but do it knowing that they are fresh, there is no law allowed amounts of rat poop in it and it isn’t filled with preservatives (I guess to keep the rat poop fresh). Not to mention, that old saw about how fulfilling and dare I say empowering it is to can foods yourself is actually true. it’s a rather heady feeling to see jars of tasty foods that YOU made, not some hair netted stranger 2000 miles away.

So today I am putting up what will be my first of many (over time) canning recipes. I am NOT however going to get into the whole teaching you how to can part of it. I will give the recipes and add in a link or two to good sites to go to to learn to can. It’s much easier than what one would think. If you can think “keep it clean and think safe” you can can. This post is for homemade Peach Salsa. I love this stuff! My daughter finally had to learn to make it because I was refusing to let her continue swiping what I made 😛 This has a bit of a bite (but you can make it less so) and a wonderful fruity flavor to it. It is great with chips, with meats, with cream cheese, with a spoon eating it straight from the jar….

Here is a good link to learn proper canning techniques. 🙂

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_home.html

Spicy Sweet Peach Salsa

(Canning Recipe)

  • 3 lbs ripe tomatoes, peeled then chopped
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped green pepper
  • 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped (can also omit if you want extremely mild salsa or leave in the seeds if you want hot salsa)
  • 5 ripe peaches, peeled then chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup vinegar (white or apple cider)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pickling spices (can be found with canning supplies or in the normal spice aisle), tied up in a cheesecloth square (a coffee filter works well too)
  1. Easiest way to peel your tomatoes and peaches is this: boil a large pot of water. Add the fruits (not all at once) to the boiling water and boil for two minutes. Then dump into a bowl of ice water and let sit for a few minutes. The skins should then slip off easily.
  2. Put chopped tomatoes and peaches into a large heavy bottomed pot along with all the other ingredients.
  3. Boil slowly, stirring often, until thickened which should take about two hours. If your maters (yes, I said maters 😛 ) were really juicy it may take longer.
  4. Take out and discard the pickling spices.
  5. Ladle the salsa into half pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Make sure to wipe the rims of the jars thoroughly with a CLEAN hot washrag. Put the clean lids on, making sure to just finger tighten. Don’t over tighten them.
  6. Process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes.
  7. This makes about 3 and a half pints.
  8. Let cool and then undo all your hard work by popping open a jar and getting out the tostitos 😀
  9. If you have never canned before, please please don’t be scared off thinking it is too much work, too much trouble or too frightening to do. It’s really quite easy and more than worth any work you put into it. I PROMISE you this. If you have any canning questions, please feel free to ask me in a comment here or write me at my gmail address (in my “about me” section)