This has been discussed before. It seems the general consensus is to make Annie's Salsa as a base and add any low-acid products before eating.

I add corn all of the time after opening a jar. I even used cream corn once when I ran out of regular corn. I actually like that a little better because the corn flavor was better mixed throughout the salsa.

I've linked the thread that I found discussing this below which you should find helpful.

Made to BWB can? No, corn has to be pressure canned.

But there are lots of available recipes for it for the fridge and/or freezer. If you are interested in those I can post a couple we have used. We use lime juice instead of vinegar - stronger acid and tastes better in salsa.

Dave

This is a long established business that makes most of its money through the sale of these staples.

Doesn't mean they make it. Most of these products are made by commercial companies with commercial equipment and then sold under the local label. ;)

This is a long established business that makes most of its money through the sale of these staples.

Doesn't mean they make it. Most of these products are made by commercial companies with commercial equipment and then sold under the local label. ;)

Or they could be practicing unsafe canning practices. I was horrified last week when I went to the little Italian deli and saw jars of low acid foods on the counter. None of the jars had labels and they were clearly home made. I picked up a jar and was told that it was red peppers in garlic and oil. I innocently asked if it was made there. They said yes. Then I asked if they used an approved canning recipe. They looked at me like I had three heads. Needless to say, I'll stay away from that stuff :-)

Made to BWB can? No, corn has to be pressure canned.

I was pretty sure that was the case, but when you're family is begging, you do your best :-)

I would love for you to post your recipes to corn salsa. I'm not opposed to freezing or making small fridge batches. This corn salsa is really sweet, so I kind of suspected that I would not be able to can it....but hey!...at least the family can't say I didn't try.

CC - thanks for your suggestions as well. Adding corn or even cream of corn is a good one. If I can find a recipe that we like, I'll do that.

Val

No, corn does not have to be pressure canned, you can make a pickled kind of corn relish in a BWB, so you could conceivably make a corn salsa, but I'm afraid the amount of vinegar or citrus juice necessary would make it much more vinegary/tart than sweet.

The Ball Blue Book corn relish is pretty darned sweet, although it's boiling water bathed and has a lot of vinegar. This recipe is from Michigan State University:

10 cups fresh whole-kernel corn (16 to 20 medium-size ears), or six l0-ounce packages of frozen corn
2-1/2 cups diced sweet red peppers
2-1/2 cups diced sweet green peppers
2-1/2 cups chopped celery
1-1/4 cups diced onions
1-3/4 cups sugar
5 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
2-1/2 tbsp. canning or pickling salt
2-1/2 tsp. celery seed
2-1/2 tbsp. dry mustard
1-1/4 tsp. turmeric

YIELD: About 9 pints

PROCEDURE: Boil ears of corn 5 minutes. Dip in cold
water. Cut whole kernels from cob or use six l0-ounce
frozen packages of corn. Combine peppers, celery, onions,
sugar, vinegar, salt, and celery seed in a saucepan. Bring
to boil and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix
mustard and turmeric in 1/2 cup of the simmered mixture.
Add this mixture and corn to the hot mixture. Simmer
another 5 minutes. If desired, thicken mixture with flour
paste (l/4 cup flour blended in 1/4 cup water) and stir
frequently. Fill hot jars with hot mixture, leaving 1/2-
inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.

RECOMMENDED PROCESS TIMES FOR PICKLED CORN
RELISH IN A BOILING-WATER CANNER: 15 minutes for pints and half pints

This recipe has most of the ingredients you mentioned, except tomatoes and jalapenos. Since you can sub peppers for peppers, you could reduce the sweet peppers and sub some jalapenos. Cumin is a spice and so can be added safely, but canning does affect the taste of herbs and spices, so I don't know how close this would get you.

Carol (Readinglady) gave me a recipe for Southwestern Corn Relish and I canned 16 pints of it, my daughter loves the stuff. I mix a jar of it with a jar of my salsa and a can of drained black beans and it makes an awesome salsa, but it is more vinegary than it is sweet.

Southwest Corn Relish
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
The Oregonian
Makes 6 to 7 pints

This condiment is a delightfully corny blend of tang and heat. The jalapeno chiles are tiny islands of spicy flavor that can be avoided by folks with more sensitive palates because they are relatively large in size. The relish is great to have on hand to top a platter of nachos or other Southwest-flavored dishes, or to scatter over green salads. It's also wonderful stirred into rice, along with a bit of cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

20 ears sweet corn (to yield 21/2 quarts -- 10 cups -- of corn kernels)
2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup seeded and chopped Anaheim chiles
3 jalapeno chiles, stems removed and sliced into very slender rings
1 cup chopped celery
4 cups cider vinegar
11/2 cups water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
2 teaspoons celery seeds

If you plan to store the corn relish in jars at room temperature, wash 7 pint canning jars; keep hot until needed. Prepare lids as manufacturer directs. If you want to store it in the refrigerator, follow the directions below.

Cut kernels from enough ears of corn to measure 21/2 quarts of kernels. Add the corn to a large, heavy-bottomed pot, along with the onion, bell peppers, chiles, celery, vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Make a spice pouch for the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and celery seeds with several layers of cheesecloth or a clean square of cotton fabric (from a clean T-shirt or a handkerchief, for example) tied with string. Add the pouch of spices to the pot and stir to mix up the ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is slightly thickened but there is still plenty of vinegar solution remaining, about 20 to 30 minutes. Retrieve the spice pouch and, before removing it, press it firmly against the side of the pot with the back of your spoon to extract as much flavor as possible.

To store in the refrigerator: Place the hot relish in plastic freezer containers or glass jars, cover with tightfitting lids and refrigerate for 6 months or longer (quality may suffer after that, but the relish will be safe to eat). For long-term storage at room temperature: Ladle the hot relish into 1 hot jar at a time, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Wipe jar rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. Process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes (15 minutes at 1,000 to 6,000 feet; 20 minutes above 6,000 feet).
Jan Roberts-Dominguez

Annie

Sorry but the OP made it pretty clear she wasn't interested in a pickled or relish recipe - thus my comment. And that the recipe she was seeking isn't high in vinegar.

So to qualify, any corn that isn't pickled in large amounts of vinegar has to be pressure canned.

Dave

Find an approved corn relish recipe with ingredients you like and add more sugar. If any of the recipes listed comes close, make a reduced batch, add sugar to taste, keeping track of amounts, and if you hit a point where you like the results, it can be processed.

Carol

Annie - thanks for the recipes. I'll look them over and see if something looks like it will fit.

Carol - I didn't know I could add more sugar. That's good to know. I will probably be back with more questions as soon as I figure out a recipe that will fit.

You've all been very helpful!

Val

I know I've seen a recipe for a salsa with corn in it in a reliable source --- maybe the Bernardin book (basically the Cdn edition of the BBB) or in Small Bathc Preserving. I'm not at home but I'll ahve a look when I'm at home for you, Val. It didn't have a lot of corn in it, thought --- basically a tomato salsa with a bit of corn --- and I found it disappointing.

BUt I also think I might have one that isn't cannable but could be something you'd like for freezing. Will see what I can dig up. I love anything made with corn, too, so I sympatize with yoru family!

Z

I should clarify that the Southwestern Corn Relish Annie posted came from Jan Roberts-Dominguez when she was with Oregon State University Extension. It does meet safe canning requirements.

I think you'll find many corn relishes, as Annie mentioned, do tend to be somewhat sweet because corn itself is sweet. Yes there's the vinegar, but with some aging on the shelf the acidity is tempered.

In fact, you may discover, if you come up with a relish to can, that after a time, with the added sugar it may even be too sweet and you have to back off.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the "salsa" moniker. Salsa is just a relish under another name. Look at the ingredients and work from there.

Carol

I wouldn't get too hung up on the "salsa" moniker. Salsa is just a relish under another name.

Seriously Carol? Guess we are weird then as I see them as 2 very different things.

Granted both are condiments but for very different foods. And for our family at least, salsa has much less acid and never any vinegar (never "pickled"), is spicier, thicker than any relishes (which are pickled) we make, chunkier by far with minimal liquid, far different herbs, etc.

But to each his own label I guess. ;)

Dave

Well, one definition is "a spicy or savory condiment", which covers chutneys, salsas, all kinds of things, pickled or not. The Oxford dictionary says it's "a condiment eaten with plainer food to add flavor."

So by those definitions, a salsa is a sub-category of relish.

But I don't see the nomenclature as a serious issue, whatever you call it.

I only mentioned it because a lot of times when seeking to re-create a recipe it helps to broaden your search terms. You may find something very close to your ideal listed under another category or title. If you look only for "corn salsa" you may not locate the best option.

Carol

I agree, Carol, that Southwestern corn relish is nothing like a corn relish at all, or not any that I'm familiar with, it's much more a "salsa" to me.

Of course, with my strictly midwestern tastes and background, the addition of chilies and cumin makes it salsa, I'd never consider putting those things into a corn "relish". And to me "salsa" always has vinegar or citrus juice, it's more acidic than sweet. Since the OP wanted "sweeter", I went in the relish direction.

Annie

Thanks guys - you've made me rethink my search.

Here's what I think I'm getting out of these conversations:

I can take a relish recipe (for the sake of argument I'll use the Southwest one) and exchange the 1 cup of celery, 1 cup of Anaheim chilies and a cup of the onions for 3 cups of tomatoes?

Then, I could leave out entirely the 2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds, 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds and 2 teaspoons celery seeds?

Then, as I was cooking it, I could increase the sugar with no worries if needed?

Of course I know I need to leave the proportions alone like the amount of vinegar and the totally cup amount of the veggies, right?

I don't know what spices are in the "Corn Salsa" since it's just labeled salt & spices but honestly, I don't think we really taste much spice at all. Just corn and sweetness.

Hope I'm not confusing myself (or you guys) :-)

Val

I made the following recipe a couple of summers ago. It may be close to what you're looking for:

Roasted Corn and Zucchini Salsa
(from Preserving the Harvest)
Note: The ingredients below only make two pints, so you may wish to double or triple the recipe.

3 medium zucchini, cleaned, trimmed, and diced (I used shredded zucchini)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ears yellow corn, husked, silks removed
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 large tomatoes, seeded & chopped
1 cup lime juice
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 jalapeño chilies, seeded & minced (again, I used a mix of hot peppers)
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Toss the zucchini with the salt and "sweat" for 1/2 hour in a non-reactive colander. Rinse and dry.

Coat corn with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and roast on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes (until lightly browned). Cool & cut off kernels from cobs. (I cut the kernels off before roasting; it was easier.)

Combine the zucchini, corn, remaining oil, tomatoes, lime juice, vinegar, jalapeños, scallions, garlic, cumin and pepper in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Ladle into hot jars, leaving 1 inch head space, and cap and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

FOLLOW-UP: Upon opening and sampling this salsa, I found it EXTREMELY limey and too acidic-tasting overall. However, I came up with a quick fix. Now when I open a (pint) jar, I empty it into a mesh strainer to drain off some of the liquid, then I combine the corn and zucchini salsa with one 15-oz. can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes before serving (or a couple/few chopped fresh tomatoes when in season). Then it's perfectly yummy. Fresh cilantro is a nice addition after opening a jar, too.

Val,

What you suggest makes sense to me --- tomatoes are more acidic than celery, chiles, and onions, so I would, personally feel confident replacing the latter with the former. And iIt's hard to see how leaving out spices could hurt. Or increasing sugar.

I'm home now & will have a look for the recipe I think I remember.......... Hopefully I didn't dream it...... ;-)

Z

Why am I the only one that thinks converting a corn relish to a salsa is not the way to go? I understand the need to help but it seems like this is becoming so much more complicated than it needs to be.

From the ingredients Val originally listed, tomatoes were the first ingredient. With that, I am assuming that this is a tomato based salsa with corn running a close second. So just make Annie's salsa. Tweak it to your liking. Hundreds and hundreds of posts on here about approved, safe, substitutions. Add the corn after you open the jar. Problem solved.

Thanks everyone - I do appreciate your taking the time to help with this. All the recipes are most welcome.

And just an aside - I do plan to make Annie's Salsa this year but it just seems to be so totally different than what I'm looking for, for this particular salsa. If that makes any sense.

There is a peach salsa that I made this year that comes very close to the corn salsa that I want to make but I'm not sure if I can sub the peaches and apples for corn. Would anyone know?

Val

PS - Everyone likes this recipe very much so if I can't figure out a "corn salsa", we will probably stick with this one as our sweet salsa.

Val,

I wouldn't try that swap. Peaches and apples are fruits, high in acid, and corn is a low-acid vegetables, so replacing the former with the latter would really change the acidity, probably into something not recommended for BWB canning. (You can can plain peaches and/or apples, no problem, in a BWB --- but canning plain corn requires a pressure canner.)

It sounds like your family really loves this stuff! Isn't corn the best???!!!!!!

Z

I agree, I wouldn't swap corn for fruit. You can use corn in salsa, but it's going to take a lot of acidity to make it safe, making it basically a corn relish.

You can leave out spices and add sugar without safety issues, in fact some spices and herbs don't can well, they change flavor. I don't see any reason why you can't swap higher acid tomatoes for a lower acid vegetable, it would only be more safe, not less.

As I said, although that southwestern corn relish recipe SAYS it's relish, it seems a lot more like salsa to me.

Annie

Zabby -

It sounds like your family really loves this stuff!

Well...I must confess that I'm not a very good cook, so...I guess that's why I'm trying so hard to find them something. :-)

Annie - Thanks. As soon as I get a spare moment I'm going to try the corn relish in a small batch and see what they think. It'll be interesting for sure. I hate changing up recipes just because of my cooking, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I just watched a show on HGTV last night...something about the 24 worst cooks....if I'd only known, I could have signed up :-)

Val

I had clipped this post a while back, since I've wanted to experiment with making a corn salsa. Recently at the check out of my grocery store I saw "Better Homes and Gardens Canning" - not sure if it's a magazine or a cookbook. I ended up doling out the $9.99 since I saw it includes a recipe for "Farmers Market Corn Salsa" - which is basically a concoction of corn, onion, peppers, tomtaoes, lime juice, salt, pepper and cumin. It's a BWB recipe.

Not sure if Val still reads this forum, but the ingredient list is sure similar to her ingredient list. I personally can't wait for fresh corn and fresh tomatoes so that I can try this recipe.

Hmmm, I would need to see the recipe. Just because it is in a book won't make it safe. You should see some of the canning books I see with frightening recipes in them. I forget the name of it, but a well known book has some horrid unsafe recipes.

linda lou - so you are saying that Better Homes and Garden has unsafe recipes?

I don't know about the Better Homes and Garden one. This was Williams- Sonoma that I remember I looked at and gasped.
I am sure the Better Homes one has some good, safe ones. It would truly depend upon the individual recipe.
There is corn relish that is safe from the Univ. of Georgia, so it may be fine to use the BH&G one. If it has plenty of bottled lime juice, not fresh limes, then it may be fine. It would need to be checked into first as to how many other vegetables are in there, etc.
Things are so hectic at work that I have not had a chance to look at new canning books.

I don't mean to sound snarky - but if this recipe is in the BHG cookbook - then what is the relevance of the Williams Sonoma cookbook? And - it has been mentioned numerous times in this thread that Val was looking for a tomato based salsa - not a corn relish.

Pixie - I do indeed still read the forum and would be most interested in your recipe. Also would be interested to see if Linda or others say that it's safe.

I didn't get a chance to try any of the recipes posted here last year because my garden just didn't do well enough.

This year everything is looking great...knock wood...even the peppers are cooperating (last year we didn't get a single one). So I'm looking forward to trying some things. I also am just learning to pressure can, so that ought to up the ante as well.

Val

I finally made the Farmers Market Corn Salsa from the BHG canning book. I did sub out half of the onion and half of the sweet peppers for additional tomato. And I added a bit of sugar. The stuff is fabulous. I totally love it. I could eat a whole jar straight with a spoon. This will definitely become a salsa staple in our house.

Last year I had made the Zucchini Corn Salsa that joybugaloo had posted. And I agreed with her - it was just too limey. So this year I experimented with it a bit. I made a batch of the Zucchini Corn Salsa and a separate batch of Annie's Salsa. I then dumped the 2 pots together before canning and processing. This is also good, but to be honest, the BHG Corn Salsa tastes better and was less work. I'll definitely make this version again, but the corn salsa will definitely become the staple.

Better than Annie's (GASP!)?? Now you HAVE to post that recipe!

but if this recipe is in the BHG cookbook - then what is the relevance of the Williams Sonoma cookbook?

I think the point was that just because it is a big name book (like Williams-Sonoma or BH&G) it isn't necessarily a safe canning book. The Willaims-Sonoma one is not. Both companies are known for cooking books, not canning books.

There was a previous discussion here about some of the recipes in the BH&G book but I honestly can't recall what it was about except that someone asked if it had the USDA/NCHFP seal of approval or any references to testing and no one knew the answer at that time. This was just after it came out.

Maybe pixie lou can share its credentials with us?

Dave

I could eat a whole jar straight with a spoon.

That is exactly the way we feel about the Corn Salsa we buy at the Orchard place :-)

Hope you share the recipe as well. I'd love to see it.

Val

From the BHG Canning Magazine:

Farmer's Market Corn Salsa

4 large ears corn
1c coarsely chopped onion (1 large)
1c coarsely chopped green or red sweet pepper (1 large)
1c chopped, peeled tomato
1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2c lime juice
1/2t salt
1/2t ground cumin
1/2t freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove husks from ears of corn. Scrub corn with a stiff vegetable brush to remove silks; rinse. Cut kernels from cobs (do not scrape cobs). Measure 2 cups of corn kernels.

2. In a large saucepan, combine the 2 cups corn kernels, onion, sweet pepper, tomato, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, salt, cumin, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

3. Ladle hot salsa into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/2" headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.

4. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 15 minutes.

Makes 4 half-pints

I love the BHG Farmer's Market Corn Salsa. I made some last week, and will be making more this week.

I have the BHG 'Can It', which includes this recipe. I checked the book and it makes no specific mention of it being tested to the approved standards, but does state that it "has been tested in the BHG test kitchen. This means that each recipe is practical and reliable and meets our high standards for taste appeal...." etc... etc..

So I see no definitive answer about testing, but I'm guessing an email to the publisher or perhaps BHG magazine could clear this issue up. On another note, I think it's pretty similar to some corn relish recipes I have seen in approved recipes, just using different spices and it uses only lime juice instead of vinegar,

Tomato and corn salsa I make last Friday for fresh eating only. no canning. It was real good.

I have tried getting a response from BH&G regarding some of their canning recipes with no luck so far. I keep thinking I need to try again because I just haven't seen anything specific about their testing standards.

We have had far better responsiveness from Canadian Living.

Carol

Someone over on the Pinch site was also looking for a corn salsa to BWB, and I started thinking about what Carol said about starting with a relish recipe. Linda Ziedrich has a Corn and Tomato Relish in her Joy of Pickling that I thought would make a good start, just got her OK to post it here, along with the suggested substitutions. Linda thought all the substitutions would be safe, and said she may even try this recipe herself. So here for comparison - caveat that I have not actually made this, so don't know how it would taste, certainly adjust proportion of lime juice to vinegar (keeping total 2C), dried spices and sugar to your taste (Linda does not like sweet pickles or relishes, so I don't think this would need to be reduced):

Corn Relish with Tomatoes from Joy of Pickling

4C fresh corn kernels (from about 9 ears)
3C seeded and diced red tomatoes
1.5C diced green bell pepper
3/4C diced red bell pepper
1C chopped onion
1/2C sugar
2C cider vinegar
1Tbsp pickling salt
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1. Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive pot. Bring them to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes.

2. Ladle the relish into pint of half-pint mason jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Close the jars with hot two-piece caps. Process the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

3. Store the cooled jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

Makes about 4.5 pints (9 half pints)

My substitutions for Tomato-Corn Salsa:

4C fresh corn (may reduce to 3C as desired)
3C tomatoes (may increase to 4C as desired)
1C diced green peppers
3/4C diced red peppers
1/2C diced chile peppers (any variety, may increase chiles and decrease bell peppers as long as the total does not exceed 2 1/4C)
3/4C chopped onion
1/4C minced garlic
1/2C sugar
1.5C cider vinegar
1/2C bottled lime juice
1 Tbsp pickling salt
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp ground black pepper

Same instructions as for relish. Stir in fresh cilantro and/or canned drained black beans and/or avocado as desired upon opening.

Now somebody has to make this and tell me how it is!

I love corn relish.