Last year, we had Kickin’ Salsa, H-bomb Salsa, and H-bomb II Salsa. The names implied that we were experimenting with our home-grown hot peppers to add a little “kick” to the salsa. We cautiously added Jalapenos. Then we had Jalapenos mixed with Salsa peppers. Finally, we threw in a wee bit of Habanero pepper.

The results were good and then better. There were many compliments saying the salsa was just great. But, there were a couple hot pepper aficionados who claimed we hadn’t begun to push the envelope – the salsa is good, but it doesn’t deliver a punch. You know, something to remember … something that sets a standard of comparison.

Now remember, flavor is still more important than heat. We could just dump in a bunch of Habanero peppers and be done with it, but that would not satisfy the flavor criterion. Another point to remember – if it’s really a success, a recipe has to be repeatable, giving the same good results every time.

Having said all that, and knowing that you are aware that we didn’t have a single tomato to work with, we had to come up with an outstanding recipe for the 2018 canning year. Here’s what we did.

First, we swallowed our pride about our great tomato failure of 2018 and went across the street to our local CSA and bought 6.5 pounds of tomato “seconds” – enough to make five pints of salsa with the hope that there might be enough for a sixth pint.

Next, wise and discerning Spouse went to the remains of our beleaguered vegetable garden and harvested the best of our hot peppers. Our idea was to provide a cross-section of three entirely different flavors and heats, hoping that the combination would be complimentary and satisfying.

So, we prepared the peppers and the tomatoes. Then, following our tried and true Salsa recipe, we mixed all the ingredients and brought them to a boil. The difference was, that we added two full Jalapenos (J) at 2,500-8,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale, two full Serranos (S) at 8,000-22,000 Scoville, and two full Habaneros (H) at 150,000-325,000 Scoville. Then we continued with canning as we always do.

The initial taste test told us that we won’t be sending anyone to the hospital, but, in some cases, they may volunteer to go on their own. We certainly found the initial results to be quite satisfactory. However, there is no real telling how well we did until the freshly preserved salsa has a chance to age and mellow in the jar for a while.

In recognition of our ratio of hot peppers to this batch of salsa, we have named it H2S2J2 – Salsa. In a few weeks or so we will fill you in on the first tasting of our new creation in the soon to be famous Serendipity Farmhouse Test Kitchen. – Who knows, after eating our H2S2J2, it might be time to cash in our (corn) chips at the Great Salsa Casino in the Sky.