VunderBob's Kickass Firehouse Roasted Tomato Salsa

VunderBob's Kickass Firehouse Roasted Tomato Salsa
From: VunderBob

12 tomatos, bigger than a baseball
6 jalapeno peppers
12 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 medium onions
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vinegar

Core the tomatoes, cut the stems from the peppers and halve them, and peel the garlic cloves. If you don't want the salsa to be real hot, now is the time to remove the inner membrane and seed from the pepper halves. Place all on a cooking sheet, and spray everything lightly with the cooking spray. Place sheet in the oven set to broil, and let go for 10-12 minutes, until the skin on the tomatoes chars and starts to peel. Keep an eye on the garlic, because it may burn first.

Peel the tomatoes, and chop them up the way you prefer. I'm lazy so I used a food processor, and I drained the liquid out of the chopped tomatoes to leave pulp only. Chop the peppers, garlic, onion, and cilantro, and add to tomatoes. Add salt and cumin, and adjust for taste. Add the vinegar, too. If you're going to serve this fresh, stop here. Refrigerate about 2 hours before serving.

I canned mine via water bath. To do this, double the batch above, and prepare as directed, Place salsa in sterilized pint jars, add lids, and immerse completely in boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes, then remove. Let the jars cool, and the lids should indent. If the lid does not seal, refrigerate that jar immediately. The double batch yielded 6 pints.

Why is it Firehouse salsa? My batch wasn't all that hot; instead, when I was starting the canning process, I was paged for an electrical fire...

9/5/2011: Later version, without cumin, but with added lime juice is over here.