Enchilada Sauce (Waterbath Canned)

 Enchilada/Taco Sauce 

(Waterbath Canned)

This recipe is tomatoey, jalapenoey, but not too spicy.  Usually I overdo the spiciness, but this one is tame-ish.  Definitely not my family's enchilada sauce, because we light your tail on fire!  This is my kid sauce.  And by kid, I mean Makayla who actually likes her food to taste good and have flavor.  And a touch of spice.

Always follow safe canning methods.  Make sure you review and understand ".gov" and ".edu" sites for safe canning methods.  

I started with good grocery tomatoes.  By good, I mean the ripe of the vine stuff.  Not real fresh, but fresh enough.  I am cringing, and it's better than most people get from the store 11 months of the year. And it's mid-September, so they are 99 cents a pound.  And let's face it, they are pretty.  GIVE ME FARM FRESH ORGANIC OR BACKYARD ANY DAY!

After I peeled, I used the food processor to cut them down today.

Don't put them all in before checking capacity, oops!!!

Then cook them down, add your spices, and water bath can!

Recipe:

• 8 quarts peeled chopped tomatoes (I pulverized in the food processor)
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 5 cups chopped onions
• 8 jalapeño peppers, seeded, chopped
• 2½ cups store bough bottled lime juice (or bottled lemon juice, or 5% vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• Optional:  1 tablespoons black pepper
• Optional:  1 tablespoon sugar
• Optional:  2 tablespoons Mexican oregano leaves
• Optional:  1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin 
• Optional:  3 tablespoons fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Start to prepare your jars - I prefer the dishwasher method, but here are more:  https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/factsheets/sterilizing.html
2. Start your water bath caner.  More info:  https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/using_bw_canners.html   basically a big stockpot with a metal veggie steamer or like thing on the bottom, filled with water that is kept to a desired temperature with the water at 1-2 inches above your canning jars without breaking them for the length of time required to make them safe :-).   
3. Wash your tomatoes and give them a bath in boiling water for 30-90 seconds (some folks prefer to put an X in the bottom before boiling and an ice bath after, but I'm busy, and lazy, and my ice machine has never worked.  The tomatoes will crack and be ready to peel without all that, besides you will boil them down, so they will cook.  Pull them out of the boiling bath with kitchen prongs and stick them in a bowl once you see a nice crack/peel.  Or an ice bath if you are in a hurry to peel.  The peel them and SAVE the skins!!! (more later)
4. Once your tomatoes are peeled, either dice them or pulverize them in a food processor or blender.  Then put them in a large dutch oven or stock pot on low.  You will need to stir both, but a dutch oven will transfer the heat a little better, so there is a little less chance of burning.  I do the tomatoes first because they need to cook down the most...  stir every minute or so making sure to ensure nothing is stuck on the bottom.
5. Next take your onions and remove the paper skins/head/tail then chop into 4's.  Remove your garlic skins by crushing with a knife. Remove your pepper tops.  Either dice them all or put them through the food processor.   If you dice, please use food grade gloves or your eyes will be very unhappy with you later.  I wear contacts and have been not able to put them in for days.
6. Add the onion, peppers, garlic to the pot (still on low) and stir every minute or so. 
7. Add in the lime juice (lemon juice or 5% acidity vinegar can be substituted - VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE ACIDITY IS CORRECT to make sure you are safely canning.  Botulism is real!  And botulism doesn't like acidity (or oxygen - but that's lactofermentation)!
8. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, and fresh cilantro if desired.
9. Cook down to desired consistency.  At least 30 minutes, I prefer 90-120 minutes because my tomatoes haven't been paste tomatoes.
10. Ladle hot sauce into 12  warm pint sized jars - wipe the rims and place the lids and rims on.
11. Water bath them according to your elevation... mine is 15 minutes for pints at 0-1000 ft elevation.  
12. Let them sit for 12-24 hours check for the seal by pushing on the lids and making sure they don't pop up.  Refrigerate any jars that didn't seal, label everything with the date and contents, and store canned jars for up to a year.

Original Recipe Source:  https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_salsa/tomato_taco_sauce.html