My Lake Michigan resort town, before it was a tourist vacation destination, was a lumber and fruit center, shipping to ports everywhere from our harbor and out through the Great Lakes, in the early 1900s. Stanley Johnston Park is a block from my home.
From Wikipedia:
"The Red Haven peach was first introduced in 1940. It was created by Dr. Stanley Johnston of Michigan State University. It was first grown in South Haven, Michigan. There is a park in South Haven, Michigan that bears Stanley's name. His "Haven" series of peaches had a major effect on the peach business in the eastern part of the country."
So, peach salsa, of course! The market is overflowing right now with jalapeño, red peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, everything to make this salsa. Gotta do it!!
This Peach Salsa makes a humongous batch, but my attitude is why make such a total explosion in your kitchen unless you are going to maximize your output, ammi right? Get a HUGE POT or cut this recipe in half.
This made 30 pints jars. Yes, I have friends and family to feed. 😂🤷♀️
In case you have never blanched and peeled peaches or tomatoes before, the technique is essentially this: Have a big pot of boiling, nothing less than boiling, water going. Drop the peaches in and blanch for about a minute, scoop out and drop them into a prepared pot of iced cold water in your sink.
I am a huge fan of this tool right here:
Take the blached peaches out of the ice water and set aside. Repeat until the peaches are finished. This recipe used a 1/4 bushel. For the tomatoes, cut the stem end out and cross cut into the bottom end and then repeat the same technique, blanching for bit longer time.
Take the skins off all and then chop into 1/2 inch dice.
30-35 cups chopped peaches. Use slightly less than fully ripe peaches.
30-35 cups chopped tomatoes
5 cups finely chopped red onions
5 finely chopped sweet red peppers, no white pith
10jalapeno, no seeds, no white pith finely diced
2 1/2 cups chopped cilantro
10 teaspoons minced garlic
5 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
10 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 cup white vinegar
All of it goes into the pot, bring to a boil, cook for 5-10 minutes until a salsa consistency is obtained.
Can it up. Sterilized jars, pints are ideal. 10 minutes in a water bath.
