Smoked Salsa Recipes

FIRE ROASTED SALSA CANNING RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat gas grill on high. If using charcoal, do not use lighter fluid or the tomatoes and peppers will pick up that taste!
• Rinse tomatoes and peppers. Core tomatoes and score a small "X" in the blossom end. Place tomatoes and peppers on hot grill and close lid. Turn frequently until peppers are charred and blistered and pretty much black all over. Tomatoes should have some blackened spots and blistered enough to remove the skins. Remove from grill. Place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam for several minutes. Let tomatoes cool a bit on a cutting board until you can handle.
• Peel and chop the tomatoes and place in a large bowl, being sure to include all the juices. You should have 7 to 8 cups of chopped tomatoes and juices from 5 pounds of tomatoes. You need at least 7 cups for safe canning purposes.
• Wearing gloves, peel poblano peppers, the blackened skins should come right off. Pull out stem and discard. Cut poblanos open and remove seeds. Finely chop peeled and seeded poblanos. You should have 1 cup, and no more than 1½ cups, again, for canning purposes.
• Place fire roasted tomatoes and poblanos in a large pot and add the remaining ingredients, adding just 1 tablespoon of sugar to start. Bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Using an immersion blender or food processor, carefully purée the salsa to a smoother consistency. In a food processor and working in batches, pulse 8 - 10 times and when all finished, return to the pot. Taste for seasonings and if too vinegary, add another tablespoon or so of sugar. If too sweet, add a little more vinegar to balance. Bring blended salsa back to a boil and simmer a few more minutes.
• Have sterilized pint jars and lids and screw caps ready (they should all be washed in very hot water). Use a canning funnel and ladle hot salsa into jars, leaving a ½-inch head space. Wipe rims clean with a damp cloth and carefully place lid on and screw cap in place. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, then place upright on counter for 24 hours (see recipe notes for link to USDA Canning Guidelines). You will hear popping sounds as the jars seal. If after 24 hours, any haven't sealed, put in refrigerator to use now.
• Store jars of salsa in pantry and use within a year. Enjoy!

SIMPLE SMOKED SALSA

Steps:

• Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Add wood chips according to manufacturer's directions.
• Place tomatoes, onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic inside a disposable foil pan and place on the smoker rack. Smoke vegetables for 90 minutes.
• Transfer vegetables into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add cilantro, lime juice, and salt. Pulse several times until vegetables are finely chopped; do not over-process. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate to let flavors meld.

SMOKED SALSA

Steps:

• Preheat a smoker grill to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Add wood chips according to manufacturer's directions.
• Combine tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers in an aluminum grill pan. Place on the grate of the preheated smoker grill; smoke for 3 hours.
• Remove vegetables from the smoker and place in a blender. Blend to desired consistency. Mix in lime juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add fresh cilantro for decoration.

SMOKED TOMATO SALSA

Steps:

• For the smoked tomatoes: Preheat a smoker for cooking at 225 degrees F. Place tomatoes in a pan in the smoker and let smoke, 2 hours.
• For the salsa: Add the smoked tomatoes, chipotles, salt, pepper, roasted garlic, cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice and 1 cup water to a food processor. Pulse until ingredients are combined and salsa is chunky.

SMOKED TOMATO SALSA

Steps:

• Make an aluminum foil "basket" to hold the food and fit in your smoker. You should have clearance on all four sides and the top.
• Place the tomatoes, garlic, jalepenos, and onion into the foil basket. If you like hotter salsa, leave the seeds in the jalepenos. Otherwise, take them out.
• Load your smoker with 2 to 4 tablespoons of wood chips. I use apple, but that's me.
• Assemble your smoker according to factory directions. The foil basket goes on top of the wire rack.
• Start the smoker on high, close up and turn to medium low. Same as always for the Cameron smoker.
• Cook for about 45 minutes. The tomatoes should soften, but not be mushy. It takes somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes to do this.
• Turn the smoker off and leave it closed. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
• Pour the liquid that accumulated in the foil basket into a small work bowl. Reserve for later. (Don't throw it out, the flavor is too good to toss.).
• Remove the garlic. If you didn't peel it, squeeze the garlic paste out of the peel. Mash.
• Reserve 1 tomato, all the chiles, and 1/4 cup onion. The chile flavor has infused into the tomatoes, so proceed with caution.
• Process the garlic, most of tomatoes and SOME of the onion until it reaches the desired texture (use food processor, batches in the blender, or immersion blender depending on what you have). If the mixture seems stiff, use some of the reserved cooking liquid to thin it down.
• TASTE. Add the smoked chiles in small batches to reach the desired heat level.
• TASTE. Add cilantro, lime juice and salt to taste. This is personal, and it will vary from batch to batch depending on how ripe the veggies were.
• Take the reserved vegetables and chop them finely. Add them to the processed salsa. This gives you 2 textures. If you want only one, then blend away.
• Add additional fresh chopped jalepeno and chopped green onions to taste. Or, leave them out.
• If the salsa turned out too hot, add about 1/2 tsp sugar. This will make it less hot tasting.
• Serve hot or cold with crispy tortilla chips and a cooling beverage.