The Most Delicious Homemade Salsa

This is a fabulous homemade salsa recipe provided to me by my wonderful PEI friend, Pat.  Every time I've made it (with or without my talented canning friend Julie) it has been a success.  Yes, you can modify the type of hot peppers to adjust how spicy your salsa ends up!  Whatever peppers you choose to use, you want end up with about 1 cup of hot peppers.  Remove seeds from hot peppers if you want to remove some of the spiciness.  And make sure they're diced finely.  I like to use a food processor for that part, which gets them nice and small.  It's such a wonderful salsa recipe, and I'm so glad Pat shared it with me! Enjoy!

Fresh jars of salsa, perfect for fall and winter (if it lasts that long)

Delicious Homemade Salsa
Makes ~9 250ml jars + a bowl of extra

Dice and set aside:
8 cups fresh tomatoes, diced by hand

In a large pot combine:
1 cup onions, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1 cup jalapeno peppers, finely diced (about 3-4 large - keep seeds for a spicier salsa, remove for mild salsa)
1 Tbsp salt (can adjust, to taste, towards the end)
1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice
1 Tbsp ground cumin 
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp minced garlic
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the fresh diced tomatoes.  Increase heat to return to a boil, lower heat and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Put in hot, prepared canning jars and water bath jars for 10-15 minutes. (adjust a bit longer for bigger jars - I usually do 10 minutes for a 250 ml jar)

This recipe makes about 10 cups worth of salsa, so plan accordingly for your canning.  If eating fresh and not canning, you can cool and keep in the refrigerator for a week or so.

Enjoy!!! 

Zucchini Fritters with fresh Tomato Salsa

These zucchini fritters are delicious!  They are a wonderful way to take advantage of all the variety of colors and shapes that make up delicious fall zucchini.  These zucchini fritters have extra oomph, in my opinion, thanks to the addition of fresh dill and crumble feta cheese.  (Feel free to add a little extra feta if you like).  I have enjoyed eating the fritters on their own, but they're fun with fresh homemade minty tomato salsa.  Add a little hot pepper for an extra kick.

Homemade gluten free zucchini fritters with fresh tomato salsa

Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Tomato Salsa
based off a recipe on foodnetwork.com by Milliker & Feniger

In a large bowl, mix and let sit 20-60 minutes (longer is better) to allow water to leach out:
3-4 medium zucchinis
2-3 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1 Tbsp fresh dill, diced
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 onion, finely diced
2 eggs
1/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix (or regular flour, if not GF)
1/2 - 1 tsp ground pepper

Heat in a large frying pan, over medium-high heat avocado oil, enough to just cover the bottom of the pan. (If you don't have avocado oil, you can use another oil that is good for high-heat cooking)

While oil is heating, squeeze handfuls of zucchini to remove as much water as possible, then add handfuls of zucchini to the feta mixture.  Mix thoroughly.

Scoop small 1-2 teaspoon sized scoops of mixture onto hot oil.  Flatten each scoop with a spoon.   Cook 2-3 minutes per side, until nicely browned.  Put on paper towel-lined pan after frying.

Frying the zucchini fritters in just a thin layer of oil. 

They disappear quickly around here!  I love them nicely browned for an extra bit of crunch.

These are delicious on their own, or paired nicely with something like a fresh tomato salsa, such as the one below (seasoned with mint instead of cilantro).

Tomato Salsa
based off a recipe on foodnetwork.com by Milliker & Feniger
Mix in a bowl:
2-3 tomatoes, seeded and diced (this helps so it's not as liquid-filled)
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil 
1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or similar vinegar
5 fresh mint leaves, finely diced
1/4 tsp paprika
salt & pepper, to taste

Fresh tomato salsa with mint & jalapeno 

Homemade Peach Salsa (mild, medium & hot options)

This is a wonderfully delicious peach salsa my friend Julie and I make each year.  I've included a mini-batch measurement below, in case you want to just cook some up to pop into the refrigerator to enjoy.  And I've included a larger batch below.  Everyone who's eaten it likes it so much, when we make peach salsa we tend to make a day of it and whip up a lot of batches of the large batch listed below so we have plenty to share with friends.  I've included a picture at the end of what our fall peach salsa making day looked.  We're the first to admit we may have a problem.   I'm happily supplying this recipe as requested by some church friends.  We love peach salsa with tortilla chips or on extreme nachos or homemade tacos.  Enjoy!!!

Fresh, hot peach salsa.  Using red cayenne and scotchbonnet peppers will give a more red overall salsa.  The green jalapenos will give a more orange color to your salsa. 

Homemade Peach Salsa
Make a mini or large batch - both recipes are listed below:

A few notes before you get started:

1. Use ripe peaches.  Under-ripe will lack the sweetness.  Over-ripe will be difficult to work with.  Perfectly ripe peaches can be peeled quickly with a veggie peeler and dice neatly and quickly in the food processor.  You can use the food processor to chop the onions, red peppers, and hot peppers, too!

2. Options for adjusting the spice-level are listed in each recipe.  You can adjust by altering type and amounts of hot peppers used - described in each recipe where it lists jalapenos.  You can also lower the amount of ground cayenne pepper used, although I'd recommend keeping at least 1/2 the recommended amount since you want a little spice to counter the sweetness of the peaches.

MINI Batch of Peach Salsa: 
Makes ~2.5-3 500 ml jars of salsa (~5-6 cups salsa)

Prepare the following fruits, vegetables and herbs and mix together in a medium-sized pot:
3-4 lbs ripe peaches (peel with veggie peeler, remove pit, and chopped fine to medium-fine in a food processor)
1 1/4 cups red onion, chopped (about 3-4 red onions)
4 jalapenos, finely chopped (mild - remove seeds for very mild salsa) OR 1/2 scotch bonnet, finely chopped (medium) OR (1 scotchbonnet + 1-2 cayenne pepper, finely chopped) (hot)
1 red peppers, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped & loosely packed
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (less, if you prefer less spicy salsa)

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring regularly. (If you want to process your jars, boil 5 minutes and proceed as instructed in the large batch recipe, below).  For a refrigerator batch, boil salsa 10-15 minutes. You can lower the heat a bit while this is cooking if it's boiling too much.  Remove from heat.  Cool and store in the refrigerator.  Best enjoyed within 1-2 weeks.

LARGE Batch of Peach Salsa - to can in glass jars
Makes about 8-9 500 ml jars of salsa (~16-18 cups)

Prepare the following fruits, vegetables and herbs and mix together in a large pot:
~10 lbs ripe peaches (peel with veggie peeler, pitted, and chopped fine to medium-fine in a food processor)
3 3/4 cups red onion, chopped (about 3-4 red onions)
12 jalapenos, finely chopped (mild - remove seeds for very mild salsa) OR 1 scotch bonnet + 1-2 cayenne peppers, finely chopped (medium) OR (3 scotch bonnets + 3-4 cayenne peppers, finely chopped) (hot)
3 red peppers, chopped
3/4 - 1 cup cilantro, chopped & loosely packed
1 1/2 cup white vinegar
6 Tbsp honey
3-4 tsp minced garlic
4 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper (less, if you prefer less spicy salsa)

Cook in very large pot over medium-high heat, stirring regularly until salsa mixture comes to a boil.  Boil 5 minutes.  Can in hot, prepared 500 ml glass jars.  Water bath jars for 10 minutes to process.  Pull out of the boiling water.  Let rest 5-10 minutes before removing to a table to fully cool.  Store jars in a cool, dry location (like you would other canned items).

Peach Salsa!!!  Mild, Medium, & Hot.  We like peach salsa just a little bit.