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April 1, 2006
love salsa
Since Sunday is a day of rest, I'm giving the whole immigration debate a rest... and writing about salsa. The food, not the dance.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the park with friends eating the first carne asada of the season. Made me want to spend a day making salsa and inviting friends to salsa bar night at our house.
Here is one of our favorites.
Eva's I-can-find-the-ingredients-anywhere-in-the-country Salsa
(This makes a lot, so reduce by half if necessary. Will last a few days... leftovers can be frozen in ice cube trays and then added to a roast or soup to add depth of flavor.)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion
5 cloves garlic
half a bunch of cilantro
jalepenos (4 jalepenos usually make this recipe pretty spicy)
salt (1/2 to 1 tsp)
WARNING: Jalepenos, like fruit can vary in flavor intensity. The hottest peppers have teeny cracks all over their skin and roasting, grilling or charring intensifies the heat. When adding peppers to a recipe add one at a time just in case you buy some that are extra hot.
1. Prep veggies by washing, trimming, and peeling the onion and garlic.
2. Char the onion, garlic and jalepenos in a comal (cast iron griddle) or under the broiler (if under broiler, line pan with aluminum foil to save yourself a cleaning headache).
3. Pour tomatoes into blender and give it a quick whirl to chop any big pieces.
4. Pour 2/3 of the tomatoes into a mixing bowl.
5. When the jalepenos, onions and garlic are charred, place into blender and puree.
6. Add and blend salt into mixture.
7. Add cilantro and blend.
8. Add mixture in with tomatoes and stir together by hand (this keeps the salsa more red than brown in color and provides better texture.)
Adaptation:
If you like a chunky salsa, Use a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes and a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes. Drain the liquid off the diced tomatoes. Only use the crushed tomatoes in the blender. I still suggest blending the jalepenos and garlic into the tomatoes (so you don't get chile all over your fingers and practically go blind when removing contacts), but you could use a food processor to chop the onions and cilantro, then hand stir all ingredients together.
Enjoy!
Posted by almamia at April 1, 2006 10:35 PM