Chili Sauce

As a kid, the end of summer always meant mom canning peaches, pears, pickles and beets, but, my favourite has always been her chili sauce. When she passed away in 2004 it was one of the recipes I needed to find. Two years ago I started carrying on the tradition and canned my first batch. This past year, with more experience and better preparation, the batch turned out wonderfully and brought me back to my childhood in the kitchen watching mom chop and can for hours on end.

My favourite use for this sauce is with pork chops and breakfast sausages.

Chili Sauce

22 cooking apples peeled and diced
1 4L basket of tomatoes peeled and diced (peel by cutting a shallow X in the bottom of the tomato and blanching in boiling water for 30 seconds first)
3-4 cooking onions diced
3 red peppers seeded and diced
3 green peppers seeded and diced
3 jalapeno peppers seeded and diced
1 1/2 bunch celery chopped
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups white sugar
3/4 cup of salt
8 Tablespoons pickling spice tied in cheese cloth

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 2 hours once it has come to a boil.

I prepare my jars by washing them thoroughly and then boiling them for 5 minutes in the canning pot. I fill the jars with the sauce, pour boiling water over the lids to soften the gasket and then place them on the jars and lightly tighten the rings. I boil in the canning pot for 15 minutes and remove to cool on a towel. I re-tighten the rings once the jars have cooled overnight.

I got fourteen 500ml jars from this batch, it will do twelve jars easily with some left over for sampling.