| Chad's
Infamous Salsa
THIS
IS TRULY the product of years
of trial and error, created by that all-inspiring mother of invention
-- necessity. After moving from Austin, Texas to Washington, D.C.
in 1996, I found it exceptionally difficult to purchase good salsa.
It seems the border-yankees up here think that jarred salsa (i.e.
Pace) produced somewhere in the Midwest is okay, but I'm here to
tell you folks, it is not. So, unwilling to waste my appetite or
bruise my palette, so to speak, on no-good yankee salsa, I began
making my own. And, like most good things in life, the recipe has
gotten simpler and better over time. I'm happy to say that it is
now near perfection. Of course, you can eat this with tortilla chips,
but also with eggs, any Tex-Mex dish, etc. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
14.5
ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes, juice and all
About 3/4 cup (a fist) full of fresh cilantro leaves
The juice of one medium-size lime, squeezed
1/4 of a medium-size red onion
1/2 of a canned chipotle pepper, including a little bit of the sauce
(chipotle peppers come in small cans "in adobo sauce")
1/4 of a medium-size jalapeno pepper
A couple of dashes of ground cumin
A couple of dashes of salt
A small sprig of fresh oregano leaves or a few dashes of dried oregano
leaves
PREPARATION
Put
all of the ingredients in a blender. If possible, put the blender
on pulse. Blend the ingredients for about 15 seconds on medium blend
until you reach the consistency you like. (I like mine a bit on
the watery, non-chunky side.)
HINTS
It's
easy to double this recipe, if needed, as whole peeled tomatoes
also come in 28 ounce cans. You can use fresh tomatoes, but it significantly
changes the taste and texture, depending on the quality of the tomatoes.
I actually prefer the canned tomatoes. Do not use dried cilantro,
which is sometimes called coriander or chinese parsley, and try
not to use a lot of the stems in the cilantro. Finally, when looking
for canned chipotle peppers, try the "Mexican" or ethnic-food
aisle in your local grocery store.
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