I asked before about making corn salsa and you all (especially Melly and Carol) gave me ideas on what to do (link to thread below). So, I was brave (or foolish) tonight and made some. It tastes great before canning, so I want to be sure it's safe after canning. My only issue with it is that the bell peppers fade with boiling, so it isn't nearly as attractive as it was before cooking. Any ideas how to fix that?

Here's the recipe:
4 C corn, blanched
2 C peppers, mixed (I used red bell, green bell, serrano and jalapeno)
1 C onion
2 C lemon juice
1 Tbl salt
3 cloves garlic
1/2 C cilantro
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper

I mixed all this then heated to boiling, simmered for 10 minutes. I packed in pint jars and processed in a BWB for 15 minutes.

Is this safe?

Thank you.

Ann

Actually, I think it may have been Annie and Melly who posted the comments on the corn salsa, as Annie tried a corn and black bean salsa in the pressure canner. I've never attempted a corn salsa, only tomato.

I'm assuming you used bottled lemon juice. In comparing your recipe with the NCFHFP corn relish recipe, even adding in the cilantro you have exactly the same ratio of low-acid veggies to vinegar and the same processing time. And the bottled lemon juice is even more acidic than vinegar, so that adds a nice safety margin.

I would think it would be just fine. How does it taste?

I don't really know of any way to preserve the color of the peppers. I have found that the reds and oranges hold up better than the greens, so I always like a nice proportion of the reds. A bit prettier than that olive drab ;-)

Carol

Carol Yes, Annie contributed also - I'm sorry Annie! I forgot to include you. But Carol, you did too - you suggested the cumin, which I can't believe I would have forgotten. Yes, bottled lemon juice. And I did try to keep the ratio the same - see? I'm learning. Slowly. Actully, I thought I might be able to add about 3/4 C more veggies and was considering adding tomatoes next time. Just a little bit.

It tastes wonderful fresh. All the good salsa flavors. I was also thinking that the red peppers might be better than green in the future. Also, I didn't think about this till later (and it may be a cause of my yucky looking creamed corn in another thread) - this particular corn is a white variety. I think for canning I might prefer a yellow variety so it holds the color better. Too late this year, my yellow corn is all gone. I have one more variety still to come, but its also white.

Thanks for the feedback.

Ann

I did make a corn and black bean salsa, but it turned out more like corn and black beans, it didn't have a lot of flavor. I pressure canned it for the time required for dried beans, but it was very bland.

Annie

By the way, I have found some varieties of pepper "hold" their colors better than others when canned, so that might be something else for you to watch for.

I'd forgotten the cumin suggestion. Consider it "age-related memory deficit", LOL.

Carol

ks - I considered using lime juice. Until I discovered that I didn't have any in the house! I didn't feel like (another) trip to the store, so lemon juice was it.

Carol - oh dear. Are you telling me that I need to grow even MORE varieties of peppers next year so I can test them out? LOL. Yes, the appearance is an important part, isn't it? Last year I found that the tomatillo salsa also faded. In that case, simply adding some fresh cilantro made a world of difference. I suspect I'll do the same with this corn salsa.

Ann