Delicious Salsa

[weq92f]

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Made my finest batch yet! A Mexican man showed me his methods and I took from that, added a little of my own and it is now perfect. I'll share it here:

6 regular sized roma tomatoes
6 medium jalapeno peppers
4 large tomatillos
half a bunch of cilantro (just the tops with leaves and a bit of stem as well)
juice of 1 lime
teaspoon salt
teaspoon or 1 or 2 squares of chicken stock (I use Better than Bullion concentrate dissolved in hot water)

Wash/rinse all produce

Remove Jalapeno stems, just cut the stem end off.
Cut Jalapenos in half length-wise and deseed all but one or two depending on heat preference (I don't like mine melt your face hot)...leave as much of the guts minus seeds as possible.

set Oven to 450, let it preheat
place tomatoes, tomatillos and Jalapeno halfs with skin up on baking sheet
roast until skin on Jalapenos bubbles and starts to burn
roast until skin on tomatoes and tomatillos looks ready to peel

Place all together roasted items into gallon ziplock bag, remove air, seal and let sit for 30 mins or until cool enough to handle contents.

Peel skin off Jalapenos and tomatoes and place the flesh into blender, skin comes off easy if roasted properly.

"Pop" the contents out of the tomatillos over blender (squeeze it in your hands) so all seeds and inner stuff, except the hard white piece and the skin go into blender.

Examine what's left in the ziplock bag, remove any obvious skin and pour the rest into the blender. Lots of juice from the tomatoes and tomatillos will be there, it may look awful but pour it in the blender anyways...flavor.

Combine lime salt and chicken stock into glass or jar of hot water...not much water...just enough to dissolve and contain the chicken stock...stir until blended/dissolved. Pour into blender.

Finally, place cilantro into blender last...no need to chop or dice.

Blend until the consistency is to your liking. This stuff is The Bomb!

-Kevin

[dmjlambert]

Thanks for sharing, that looks great! In my travels and different places I've lived, salsa is always served cold. In the Houston area, all the restaurants serve salsa warm. The exception seems to be chain restaurants that originated outside of Houston, such as Lupe Tortilla Factory. It takes some getting used to.

[dmjlambert]

I'll share back something to dip into that salsa.

Tamed jalapeno poppers

Put on a gas mask and safety glasses. Open a window and turn on a fan to draw air through the house. I like this gas mask.
Cut 6 to 12 fresh jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove stem. Scrape the seeds out, and scrape a spoon against the inside skin well enough to cause slight damage. This opens the inside skin cells where the hot stuff is stored. Soak the jalapeno halves in 80 to 100 proof alcohol for 10 to 30 minutes depending on how tame you want the poppers. I use diluted Red 190 or Everclear. 15 minutes makes them tame enough for my wife, who doesn't like spicy foods at all. Rinse the jalapeno halves with water. Strain the alcohol through a coffee filter and save in a pickle jar for the next batch or for when you want a hot shot. Wash your hands a couple times with soap and water before removing the mask.
Fill the jalapeno halves with a rounded generous helping of cream cheese, and wrap each with a strip of bacon. Arrange them in a foil-lined pan and bake at 400F for about 40 minutes.

[weq92f]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

Thanks for sharing, that looks great! In my travels and different places I've lived, salsa is always served cold. In the Houston area, all the restaurants serve salsa warm. The exception seems to be chain restaurants that originated outside of Houston, such as Lupe Tortilla Factory. It takes some getting used to.

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I prefer cold but…when I finish blending, this stuff is still pretty warm. I place it in fridge after it cools. After an overnight stay in the fridge, the flavors meld together so the stuff tastes even better.

We have a mix here in Dallas. Most are served cold however there is this one place that serves chipotle flavored salsa warm and it is very good.

-Kevin

[weq92f]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

I'll share back something to dip into that salsa.

Tamed jalapeno poppers

Put on a gas mask and safety glasses...<snip>...

.

Perfect! Thank you.

-Kevin

[Steeveedee]

I used to eat that stuff. As I told my doctor, I used to eat food so spicy that my wife wouldn't even sit at the same table, because it made her eyes water. I've suffered enough damage that I can't even eat tomatoes or onions, let alone jalapeños. You guys just be warned- it may catch up with you.

[Ironhorse]

What Steeveedee said, I used to eat jalapenos and the occasional habanero, can't do it no more. I like them, they don't like me. Terrific heart burn and explosive exiting of gaseous vapors if you get my drift, Gotta stick to the more generic, more mild salsa, too much cilantro in some restaurant salsas for me. A little bit goes a long way. Getting old sure brings on the changes.

[dmjlambert]

If you like the flavor but not the heat, you could tame them like I do. I'm sure taming them would also work for the salsa. I use parsley instead of cilantro; although cilantro is not hot I don't care much for the bitterness.