Tracy's Zesty Salsa

This is a terrific salsa recipe from my friend Tracy Wolfe in Kansas!! It can be made with either fresh tomatoes or canned(She prefers canned, as she says that fresh can be expensive and very labor intensive, because of the blanching and peeling). Salsa is wonderful served with chips, on tacos, enchiladas, eggs, fish, anything and presents so well, as you can see from the picture. Her recipe makes about12 pints or if you want a few jars and some to eat, cut the recipe in half. So use a little creative license and jump in... OLE!

2 very large size cans of whole tomatoes, should be 5 lb. institutional size
or 20 lbs. fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled

12 jalapenos or other chile if you like it milder, like me( I use Anaheim chiles which have wonderful flavor but nearly as much "heat")

1 green pepper, seeded
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
Habanero chile, if you want even more "heat"
canning salt
Mexican oregano, if desired
snipped fresh cilantro
12- pint canning jars, rings and lids

Put tomatoes, chiles,green pepper, onion, and garlic cloves in the bowl of a food processor, working in batches. Put the salsa in a large soup pot on the stove and warm before putting in the hot jars for canning. Add some chopped fresh cilantro RIGHT before filling jars so it doesn't turn dark. Can also add 1 TBLS. canning salt at this point, if desired. Mexican oregano is what keeps you dippin at the Mexican restaurants, according to Tracy. Add a little at a time( 1 teaspoon), tasting as you go. Tracy finds that running all of the jars in the dishwasher, prior to canning, makes this easy. Pull them out and fill to top leaving headroom, with warm salsa while jars are still warm. If you just want to make some to be used fairly soon and to take as a gift. Eliminate the canning salt, and fill jars. Will keep in the frig for quite a while really, with the chiles in there. Boil the jars in a water bath for 15 minutes, remove and let cool on racks. Tighten lids before processing too.

Green Chili a la Lee Cumba

Wondeful, wonderful is how I would describe Lee's green chili. It is NOT TOO HOT, which I really like, but you can make it hotter if you like and it has fabulous flavor. I never knew green chili , only Texas red chili until I moved to Colorado 25 years ago. I absolutely love Mexican food but sometimes it is just too hot. When Lee made this for bridge group, I told her I needed to put it up on my website. Try it!! You will love it!! with four tortillas or over enchiladas, burritos or as a bowl of chili by itself!!
Lee says,"This is the basic recipe I use, but I add many variations, like adding cubed steak with the pork and other ingredients. Also I like to add some Cumin(powder) or any other spices you prefer".

1 lb. diced pork (Use a good quality roast and trim all fat or add additional steak as above)
1/2 cup flour
3 TBLS. olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 onion, chopped
1 quart jar tomatoes or 2- 16 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 Large can(24-28 oz) Hatch green chiles(Albertson's has them here in Colorado)
Lee also recommends roasting fresh ones on the grill and peeling them. Use 6 or 7 whole chiles
For mild flavor use Anaheims and use the jalapenos, mia sols,or other hot ones if you like it
hotter. Either way, chop the chilis to add to mixture.
1 quart water

Instructions: Dust the pork pieces with the 1/2 cup flour and saute in the olive oil. When browned, add the rest of your ingredients and simmer till the pork is completely cooked and the chili has thickened. Probably about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half. You want flavors to meld.