Chile Today, Hot Tamale

“Chile Today, Hot Tamale” is a Verneism, something he's been saying for as long as I've known him. Corny, but I decided it's the perfect name for the salsa we've created over the past couple of weeks. I had no idea what it means and figured he didn't either, for that matter. So, I went to my favorite source...the Internet. The first thing that popped up was "chile today hot tamale joke," which goes like this: "What is a Mexican weather report?..." You know the rest! I then asked Verne if he knew what it meant and he repeated the joke verbatim.  That is, after he told me a fifteen-minute story about growing up on Sig and Flo's ranch in eastern Washington, a neighbor named Jay Polumsky, and dinner at harvest time when the joke was originally told. If you know Verne, you know he never gives a direct, one-sentence answer, but instead sets the stage with one of his colorful stories as background. I love it, unless I'm in a hurry! 

A little more research and I learned that Chile Today, Hot Tamale has become a favorite name for chile powders and salsa. Damn! However, that's not going to stop me from using it. Afterall, our salsa is for our own personal use (and gifts) and if someone should get testy about a copyright violation...we do have two (three counting Bashir) attorneys in the family. So there! Chile Today, Hot Tamale it is! 

Verne has been making a fresh salsa for over twenty years, but it’s just been in the last few months that he’s experimented with a cooked salsa that may be served as-is or used as a base for a fresh salsa. It’s taken a bit of tweaking, but I think he’s done it!  Our most recent batch is as close to perfection as we’re going to get. Did you notice it’s gone from “he” to “we”…well, it turns out most of our adventures in and out of the kitchen are a joint effort and this is no exception.

We begin the salsa-making process by making a trip to the Davis Ranch, also known as Sloughhouse, and buy several pounds of Roma tomatoes, a large basket of jalapenos, green bell peppers, onions, garlic, and cilantro. Verne calls the Davis Ranch and other farmers' markets "our garden". We've had a garden in past years, but decided the best garden is someone else's...much more cost-effective and a lot less work! Davis Ranch is one of our favorites...

Here's the beginnings of our salsa...

There’s probably an hour of chopping, dicing, and mincing; another 30 minutes of cooking; 

then 20 minutes of processing in our steam canner. A single batch makes about five or six pint jars. After the processing time, which differs for each type of product that is being canned, the jars are removed from the canner and carefully placed on the counter to rest, undisturbed, for 24 hours. The final step is to check for a good seal, label the jars, and store them in a dark, cool place. In our case, it's our pantry. 

There is something so satisfying about this process and the resulting product. Yes, it’s a lot of work for just five or six pint jars of salsa and it would be a lot easier and probably cheaper to just go to Safeway and buy it, but the experience would be far less fulfilling. I thought I was alone in this canning love affair, but it turns out small-batch canning is a hot new trend. We read an article in the paper just this past week about home canning and it seems Ball jar sales are up 30% from previous years. Everybody’s doing it! That also explains the large number of books available on the subject. And here I thought I was doing something rather original! Well, while it may not be very original, as Martha would say..."It is a good thing!"

P.S. This picture of our salsa is just half of what we canned today. Verne has called a halt to my canning and threatened to hide my steam canner!