Recipes

This canning recipe is easy for beginners, fast to cook, and fun because you can roast the veggies on the grill, or under the broiler. Read on for the recipe!

This salsa recipe requires you to roast the onions (peeled first, and cut in half), tomatoes (whole), and peppers (also whole) on a grill or under a broiler. The season will dictate which method you choose, I’m sure, but the grill was pretty easy. Try it, if you can!

The ratio of hot peppers to mild is about 1/3 hot to 2/3 not for a medium hot salsa. That was just too hot for my kids and hot enough to please my grown up, but not in love with super hot spice preference. You can cut back to just one jalapeño if you prefer a mild salsa, or even none. Use mild banana or bell peppers for the remaining portion.

The prep takes the longest – cooking takes almost no time at all. Just bringing the salsa up to a boil takes about 5 minutes so you could-if you desired- to roast the veggies one afternoon, refrigerate them, and then can them the next day. That is of course if you were short on time.

Here’s the recipe, and you can download it for free here if you like!

I had the best time demonstrating how to make this salsa recipe in person at my friend Mary’s camping retreat held at her ranch, Five Mary’s Farms. I taught 25 women how to make this recipe, the differences between steam and water bath canning, the importance of acid in canning, and more!

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This post shares a super simple, small batch recipe for strawberry rhubarb syrup, plus super clear directions for both water bath canning and and steam canning!

 

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If using a traditional water bath method:

 

Assemble: (5 minutes) The water bath processing pot (large pot that is 3 inches taller than the tallest jar you will can- it can be either the traditional black and white speckled kind, OR a stock pot), a wire canning rack (sold with the traditional speckled pots) or a silicone trivet for a stock pot. Gather the canning jars (usually specified in the canning recipe), rings, and NEW lids.

Place a towel flat on a nearby countertop. This will serve as a temperature buffer and soft resting place for your freshly canned jars. On the towel place your funnel, jar lifter, and ladle. A spoon rest or saucer is handy for keeping your area tidy.

 

Prepare: (5 minutes)  Put the jars in the bottom of the pot and one by one, fill from the faucet with water and then fill the pot of water entirely, covering the jars. Place the pot on a large burner, preferably in the back, and turn it on high. This will come to a boil while you prepare the food you will can. If at any time it starts boiling vigorously, you can turn the pot to medium heat. You can also add water at any time (using a teakettle or a spare canning jar) from the faucet to the pot should the boiling cause too much water to evaporate and the water level to lower.

 

 

If using a steam canner method:

(If you haven’t heard of a steam canner, read this post on my sister site here) & this is what they look like!

Assemble: (5 minutes) Place a towel flat on a nearby countertop. This will serve as a temperature buffer and soft resting place for your freshly canned jars. A jar lifter is an optional piece of equipment that you’d use if you plan on canning more than one batch in quick succession. You’d use it to move hot jars from the steam canner rack to the towel. On the towel place your funnel, jar lifter, and ladle. A spoon rest or saucer is handy for keeping your area tidy.

 

 

Prepare: (5 minutes) Fill base of steam canner to fill line according to the manufacturer’s specifications. My Victorio brand requires just 2 and a half quarts of water and any brand will be similar. Place the steam canner base and the accompanying rack on a large burner, preferably at the back of the stove.

 

Place clean jars on the steam canner rack. Place rings on the counter with individual, new lids in each ring, both upside down so you are looking at the threads of the ring and white side of the lid.

 

Prepare your preserve:

1 1/2 cup chopped rhubarb

1 cup strawberries chopped

Simmer together with 2 cups water for 10 minutes or until rhubarb is very soft when pressed with a fork.

Pour mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl or saucepan and DO NOT press solids. Give the pulp at least 10 minutes to drain.

Add 2 cups sugar to the juice.

Stir with a whisk to combine, and bring a boil.

Lower heat to medium, to a gentle simmer.

Follow your chosen processing method below and process for 10 minutes, and add 5 minutes of processing time for every 1000 feet of elevation.

 

For a water bath process: (5-7 minutes)

Using a jar lifter, carefully remove one jar from the boiling water. Pour the boiling water back into the pot, or into the sink. Set the hot jar onto the towel. Place the funnel into the jar and ladle the hot preserve into the jar. Almost all recipes will indicate that you fill to ½ an inch or ¼ inch from the top edge of the jar, which is called the headspace. This can be a bit tricky for a beginner to gauge though many water bath canning utensil kits (jar lifter, lid lifter, funnel, etc) come with a tool for measuring the headspace which you could use. You can also easily measure on a toothpick before you begin and use that as your gauge.

 

Use care to prevent the preserve from touching the top edge of the jar. If you spill a bit, don’t worry. Use a damp, clean cloth to wipe the top edge of the jar clean. Any bit of preserve can prevent the lid from sealing, which can be a real disappointment. Put the lid and ring on top of the clean jar, and tighten just as tight as you would a bathroom faucet. It doesn’t need to be really tight.

 

Use the jar lifter to carefully submerge the jar into the boiling water bath. Remove the next jar and repeat. When all the jars are submerged and the water is at a boil, set the timer and remember to adjust for altitude by adding 5 minutes for every 1000 feet above sea level.

 

When the time is up, use the jar lifter to carefully remove each jar, one at a time from the boiling water onto the towel covered countertop.

 

Lids may seal almost instantly, or as long as 12 hours later. Let the jars rest undisturbed and after 12 hours, label sealed jars and store.

 

For a steam canning process: (5-7 minutes)

Put one warm jar on the towel covered countertop. Place the funnel into the jar and ladle the hot preserve into the jar. Almost all recipes will indicate that you fill to ½ an inch or ¼ inch from the top edge of the jar, which is called the headspace. This can be a bit tricky for a beginner to gauge though many water bath canning utensil kits (jar lifter, lid lifter, funnel, etc) come with a tool for measuring the headspace which you could use. You can also easily measure on a toothpick before you begin and use that as your gauge.

 

Use care to prevent the preserve from touching the top edge of the jar. If you spill a bit, don’t worry. Use a damp, clean cloth to wipe the top edge of the jar clean. Any bit of preserve can prevent the lid from sealing, which can be a real disappointment. Put the lid and ring on top of the clean jar, and tighten just as tight as you would a bathroom faucet. It doesn’t need to be really tight.

 

Place the jar on the rack of the steam canner. Repeat with remaining jars. Arrange jars so they are not touching. When the rack is full, put the steam canner lid on the pan. Turn the burner up to high. Watch the temperature gauge as it climbs to the zone or temperature indicated in the user manual. My steam canner has a “green zone” that tells me when it is ready for me to start the timer. When it is up to temperature, turn the heat down to medium high or medium, so that the temperature is maintained, rather than continuing to climb. The goal is NOT to boil all the water out of the steam canner; rather, it is to maintain that moderate and even boiling. The steam canner is boiling too rapidly if the lid is rattling around noisily, and a great volume of steam is pouring from the steam vent and sides.

 

Set the timer according to the recipe and remember to adjust for elevation by adding 5 minutes for every 1000 feet above sea level.

 

When the timer is up, turn the burner off. There is NO reason to rush to remove the lid. The lid could remain on the pot indefinitely. When the lid is cool enough to handle safely, lift it away from you and set it aside. The cooled jars can rest on the towel covered countertop.

 

Lids may seal almost instantly, or as long as 12 hours later. Let the jars rest undisturbed and after 12 hours, label sealed jars and store.

 

What to do when you run out of jars: This means you will do one of two things. You will can a second batch OR you will store the preserve in a container in the refrigerator. If there is about 2 measuring cups of preserve left or more, I usually decide to can a second batch. That means that in a water bath, you will have to let the water cool to warm, submerge empty jars, fill the pot back up if necessary, bring back up to a boil and repeat the filling routine with the remaining jars. Sometimes, I will do this 3 or 4 times in an afternoon. Another water bath route is to fill a second water bath processing pot with another silicone trivet (should you have two of each) with jars and hot water and bring it to a boil when it becomes clear that a second batch will be necessary. This saves time significantly.

 

What to do when you run out of preserve and fill up only half a jar: You cannot seal, and thus preserve a jar with improper (either too much or too little) headspace. That means if your jar is under or over filled, it will not have a safe and reliable seal. If you realize that you’ve filled a jar and it is below the required headspace, then I would put a lid on it and let it cool on the towel covered countertop. Label it as NOT sealed, and store in the refrigerator. Eat as quickly as you would any other leftover food.

 

How to know if your jar has sealed: The lid is sealed when it is concave, firm to the touch, and the seal is in fact so strong that you could remove the ring and lift the jar by the edge of the lid itself. If you find that you have a jar that didn’t seal, simply store it in the fridge and eat it as you would any leftover food.