Smoky Sour Cherry Tequila Salsa

This home-canned sour cherry salsa is one of the reasons you do home canning: you just can’t buy these incredible combinations of flavours.

This is a tested canning recipe from Ball’s All New book.

We present the regular version, and a sugar and salt-free version.

The recipe

Jar size choices: Either quarter-litre (½ US pint) OR half-litre (1 US pint)

Processing method: Either water-bath or steam canning

Yield: 4 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Headspace: 2 cm (½ inch)

Processing time: Either size jar 15 minutes

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Smoky Sour Cherry Tequila Salsa

Yield: 4 x half-litre jars (US pint)

Course Condiments

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Keyword Cherries, Salsa

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Yield 4 x half-litre jars (US pint)

Calories 97 kcal

Ingredients

• 300 g onion (diced. 2 cups / 10 oz. Measured after prep)
• 1 clove garlic (washed, peeled and minced)
• 4 tablespoons lime juice (freshly-squeezed. ¼ cup / 2 oz / 60 ml)
• 50 g coriander (aka cilantro. Chopped fresh. ½ cup / 2 oz)
• 2 chipotle chiles (from an adobo sauce tin)
• 1 serrano pepper (small red. 10 g / .3 oz)
• 2 kg sour cherries (fresh. 4 lb / 13 cups. Measured after prep)
• 125 g brown sugar (½ cup firmly packed / 4 oz) OR 1 teaspoon liquid stevia
• 4 tablespoons tequila (¼ cup / 2 oz / 60 ml)
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt (OR non-clouding, non-bitter salt sub)
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

1. Peel and dice the onion, set aside.
2. Peel and mince the garlic, add to the onion.
3. Squeeze the lime juice, set aside.
4. Wash and chop the coriander, set aside.
5. Mince the two chipotle peppers, set aside in a small dish.
6. Seed and mince the serrano pepper, add to the chipotle pepper.
7. Wash the cherries. Stem and pit them, placing them in acidulated water as you work to prevent browning.
8. In a large non-reactive pot (stainless or enamelled), put the onion, garlic, sugar OR liquid stevia and lime juice.
9. Turn the burner onto medium heat, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
10. Add the drained cherries, the fresh coriander, and the two chopped up peppers.
11. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often.
12. Add the tequila, salt OR salt sub and pepper.
13. Bring back to a boil.
14. Remove from heat.
15. Pack hot into ¼ litre (½ US pint) jars or ½ litre (US pint) jars.
16. Leave 2 cm (½ inch) headspace.
17. Debubble, adjust headspace.
18. Wipe jar rims.
19. Put lids on.
20. Process in a water bath or steam canner.
21. Process either size jar for 15 minutes. Increase time as needed for your altitude.
22. Best after at least a month of jar time.

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

Smarter sweet choices

For stevia, Better Stevia liquid stevia was the stevia used.

For salt substitute, Herbamare Sodium-Free was used as it is non-bitter and non-clouding.

More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.

Recipe notes

• For this recipe, it really is best to do all veg prep in advance because once you start the cooking there will be no time for prep in between stages.
• Instead of a serrano pepper, you can use another one of the same size or weight.

Recipe source

• Butcher, Meredith L., Ed. The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving. New York: Oxmoor House. 2016. Page 170.

Safety check

Ball has given us another delicious, safe recipe, with a pH of 3.57, tested 1 month after canning.

Nutrition information

Regular version

Per 2 tablespoons

• 97 calories, 122 mg sodium
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus®:  2 tablespoons, 2 points.

Sugar and salt-free Version

Per 2 tablespoons

• 87 calories, 13 mg sodium

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.