Georgia Peaches: Sweet Heat Salsa!

When I think of Georgia in the summer, I think of sweet white corn, peaches and peanuts.  It is such a blessing to be able to purchase organic fruits and vegetables from local farmers through community farmers markets.  I love the delightful unexpectedness of the markets, as you never know which vendors will be selling or what they might have for sale.  I may go looking for tomatoes and come home with scuppernogs. Ah, bliss!

On a recent market visit, I was lucky to find beautiful peaches at an unbelievably low price.  They were gorgeous: huge firm round globes of juicy goodness. Must make peach salsa! And into my shopping bag they went, along with some peppers, purple onions, sweet red peppers, jalapeños, habaneros and cilantro.  My mouth was watering already. If you've never tried peach salsa, you're missing out!  It is wonderful on tortilla or pita chips, as a relish for grilled mahi mahi or pork chops.  You can use it as a topping for ice cream, on pancakes or waffles, or rolled up in a crepe with a dollop of whipped cream...But I digress.

My favorite peach salsa recipe is a variation on the one published in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  I like the salsa spicy, so I add a few habaneros.  For eight 8-ounce jars, you will need:

Recipe
1/2 cup (125 mL) white vinegar
6 cups (1.5 L) chopped pitted peaches
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) chopped red onion
4 jalapeños, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) loosely packed chopped cilantro
2 Tb (30 mL) liquid honey
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) ground cumin
1/2 tsp (2mL) cayenne pepper

You will need a water bath canner, which is essentially a deep stock pot with a rack in the bottom to keep the jars from direct contact with the heat source.  I use a stock pot with the rack pilfered from my pressure canner.  You will also need a wide-mouth funnel, a jar lifter, a magnetic stick for grabbing lids out of hot water, and half-pint canning jars, bands and lids.  If you have an Ace Hardware near you, they generally have good prices on canning supplies.

Method
1.  Prepare canner, jars and lids according to safe home canning methods, which can be found at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Everything in the pot!  

2.  In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine ingredients.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Ready for lids and bands

3.  Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch (1 cm) headspace.  Remove air bubbles by stirring gently, pressing in from the outside towards the middle.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar.  Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.







4.  Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water.  Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes.  Remove canner lid and wait 5 minutes, then remove jars with jar lifter and place on a folded tea towel or hot pad to cool.  Check seals after 20 minutes.  If you press the lid in the center and it "pops," the jar did not seal. Refrigerate and use within a week, or remove lid, wipe rim, apply new lid and band and reprocess.

Summer flavors captured in a little jar of heaven

5.  Do not disturb jars for 24 hours.  Then remove bands, rinse, label and store.

Tips
If you like your salsa milder, seed and devein the jalapeños.  Wear plastic gloves when handling peppers and don't touch your eyes, nose, mouth or any other potentially sensitive area.  Pepper oil will remain on your skin for several days, even after washing your hands.

If you like hotter salsa like I do, use 3 jalapeños and 3 habaneros.  Seed and devein the peppers.

To keep peaches from darkening while I prep them, I pour about a cup of vinegar into the bowl where I'm keeping the chopped peaches.  Give it a stir every so often to make sure all the peaches have gotten a vinegar bath.  When you are ready to use the peaches in salsa, drain the vinegar and measure peaches into the pot.  DON'T use the soaking vinegar in the salsa; it has been diluted with peach juice and the acid level will not be safe.

Happy canning!  Let me know what you think!