Roasted Poblano-Thyme Salsa

This recipe enjoyed as a complex, smoky dip with chips, as well as brushing it on grilled meats and spooning it on Mexican dishes. While the process may take a little longer than other salsas, you will appreciate the final result. This recipe appears in Angela's book, "The Complete Guide to Food Preservation: Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Freeze, Dry, Can, and Preserve Food."

Ingredients:

3 lbs. plum tomatoes, about 20 medium
4 fresh poblano chilies
1 large red onion, sliced 1 inch thick
12 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups tomato puree
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Heat the broiler or grill. Place whole tomatoes and poblanos on a broiler pan or cookie sheet.

2. Broil or grill close to the heat until the exposed side is blotchy, black, and peeling. Turn over the tomatoes and poblanos and roast until both sides are blistered and the skin is blackened.

3. Turn down the heat to medium. Mix together the onion and garlic and place them on another broiler pan. Roast or grill them, turning frequently, until the onions and garlic are soft and have browned edges. Cool to room temperature.

4. Pull the peels from the cooled tomatoes and cut out the tomato cores. Pull the peels off the chilies, and then open the peppers and remove the stem, seed pod, and any remaining seeds. Chop the peppers into l inch pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.

5. In a food processor, pulse the onion and garlic until finely chopped. Add to the bowl of poblanos.

6. Coarsely puree the tomatoes in the food processor, and then add them to the bowl. Stir in the tomato puree, water, cilantro, thyme, and salt. This fresh salsa should be used within five days if you are not planning to can it.

7. For canning, ladle salsa into sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/2 an inch of headspace. Slide a knife or spatula inside the jar to remove air bubbles; adjust headspace if necessary. Dampen a kitchen towel and wipe around the rims of the canning jars. Screw the canning lids onto the jar until finger-tight.

8. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Yield: 4 to 6 pints




This recipe was featured in my book, The Complete Guide to Food Preservation: Step-by-step Instructions on How to Freeze, Dry, Can, and Preserve Food