The Apricot Salsa

The year of the bummer crop, was the beginning of something amazing for me.

Apricots filled the countryside from North to south and everywhere in between, they were literally bending the branches of the trees in the old town square.

That year everyone had a bucket or two in their truck or car, just in case you got a hankering for a fresh apricot, or an entire bucket to bring home and can with.
I decided to make the most of this amazing crop, I was going to put up some Apricot Jam, Apricot Salsa, and dried Apricots.
Boy did I ever. I must have found every jar I had in storage, bought all the lids and rings from the town stores and endlessly filled those buckets.

All I really remember is the endless days of chopping, cooking, creating and canning, day after day for a whole week!
Boy did we enjoy this bounty, we ate the chunky sweet, fresh salsa on everything.

We devoured the Apricot Salsa with chips, or pita, cooked with it, poured it on tacos, or burritos, or just ate it by the spoonful! The salsa had a perfect blend of sweetness to heat from the peppers, and it was chopped to perfection.

Recently I came across my last jar of salsa, tucked nice and safe in the back of the pantry, I quickly ran to cupboard grabbed the bag of chips a jar, and sat down at the table to enjoy. I closed my eyes and all the smells, sights, sounds and memories of that summer 2 years ago came rushing in, filling my heart with so much happiness and joy.

This past canning year, I was able to find apricots at the farmers markets, for all my canning needs.
I just gotta say I think it tastes even better from the apricots I picked myself, lol, and yes I still have a bucket in the trunk of the suv, you know just in case.

Print Recipe

The Apricot Salsa

Author: Long Ears Farm Cooking Method: canning Cuisine: canning Courses: Salsa

Difficulty: Advanced Prep Time 35 mins Cook Time 35 mins Rest Time 45 mins Total Time 1 hr 55 mins

Servings: 8

Best Season: Fall

Description

We devour the Apricot Salsa with chips, or pita, cook with it, pour it on tacos, or burritos, or just eat it by the spoonful! The salsa has a perfect blend of sweetness to heat from the peppers, and onions, the cilantro and spices add the very best flavor.

Ingredients

Servings

• 7 lb fresh apricots
• 3 lb 2-4 red peppers (seeded and chopped)
• 2 lb 6-8 anaheim and poblano peppers (seeded and chopped)
• cup fresh jalapenos (seeded and chopped)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2-4 cilantro bunches
• 1 cup white vinegar
• ¹⁄₂ cup lemon juice
• 2 cup sugar
• tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp chili powder
• ¹⁄₂ tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 4 tbsp minced garlic
• 4 tbsp cumin

Instructions

1. Seed, core and chop everything Start your boiling water canner. Put your chipped ingredients and spices into a large stock pot turn on medium high. Mix and heat about 10-15 minutes till mixture is bubbly hot, reduces and liquid is visible. Ladle hot salsa into, hot clean pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headroom. Wipe rims, secure lids and process pints for 20 and quarts for 25 minutes, depending on altitude (see chart).
   
2. Altitude in Feet – increase processing time 1,001-3,000 – increase 5 minutes 3,001-6,000 – increase 10 minutes 6,001-8,000 – increase 15 minutes 8,001-10,000 – increase 20 minutes

Note

This recipe is for 8-10 pint jars, however you may use quart jars, yields about 4-5.

All spices and fresh peppers are to taste, you may use serrano peppers as an added heat, and more cayenne pepper as well.

For less heat, take out all seeds and reduce the jalapeno peppers down. You may also add in 2 green peppers for a milder flavot.