Savouring Summer Corn Salsa

Preserving sounds scary; or something only old people do (refrain from commenting, please). I love it because it is a way to lock up all that beautifully fresh produce. It’s like you are bottling summer. I wanted to post this while fresh corn and tomatoes are still available.

I first made a variation of this corn-tomato salsa a few years ago. It was a big hit and I gave a few people the recipe. (A few years later, one of my clients phoned me looking for the recipe again – it seems that his wife was pregnant and the only thing she was craving was the corn salsa!). The recipe is not hard to do and the preserving part is really easy. I’m not going to give you “preserving 101”, but I will tell you when you should be doing each step. Here is a link to an excellent step-by-step guide by Bernardin (the glass jar people).

Prep time: 15 minutes; Cook time: 25 minutes + water processing time for preserving; Serves: 6 x 250 ml jars

What you need:

• 4 medium sized tomatoes, diced (I used fresh field tomatoes)
• 3 ears sweet corn
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large sweet or red onion, diced
• 3 Thai chili peppers, finely minced, seeds removed (don’t be scared – this is not a hot salsa – you can also use jalapeños or habanero – and leave the seeds in for more heat)
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tbsp chipotle powder (or smoked paprika)
• 1/2 cup sugar (you can use less – 1/4 or none if you wish – I like the touch of sweet to balance the sour)
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 x 250 ml mason jars, lids and seals

What you do:

• Sterilize your jars – put them in a large pot with a rack or a tea towel in the bottom so they are not touching the bottom of the pot. Fill the pot with water so the jars are covered by about 1″. Put the lid on the pot, turn the temperature as high as it will go and bring the pot to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat and leave the jars in the water.

• In a separate 5L Dutch oven, using a sharp knife, slice the corn off the cob [ELIN’s TIP: slice the corn into the 5L pot you will be cooking in, it prevents the corn from flying everywhere]

•  Add the onion

• Add the garlic

• Add the tomatoes
• Add the peppers and Thai chilis
• In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, cumin and chipotle powder, whisk well

• Add to the corn, tomato mix

• Stir well

• On high heat, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes

• In a small pot, add water and the mason jar lids (not screw bands). Turn the heat up but do not boil.
• Fill mason jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Use a chopstick to stir the mix to get rid of air bubbles. Wipe the jar rim, take the lid out of the hot water, wipe the lid, put the lid on and screw the band so it is tight (but not extremely tight).

• Put back in the pot, make sure that the jars are covered by 1″ of water.

• Cover the pot, bring to a boil. Boil for 25 minutes.

• Remove jars from the pot with a jar lifter, let sit on a tea towel placed over a  cutting board. You should hear that happy “POP” letting you know your jars have sealed.

• Enjoy! The jars will keep 6 months to 1 year so you can enjoy the corn salsa until next corn season.