This one goes out to my friend Mariko (
O
Omnivore
) She asked about this in a thread I posted in the Breakfast forum and said it might be nice to share it. A little history first. I tried making salsa about 10 years ago and it was pretty much a disaster. We found a company here that makes small batch fire roasted salsa and have been using that for several years. I got an inclination a couple months ago to give it another shot. Made a batch and it was really good but I realized that I didn't put any cilantro in it....because we didn't have any. Went to the store, got some, added it to the salsa and ruined the entire batch. It was wretched so I dumped it and made another batch minus the cilantro. Then I realized that what we had been eating was fire roasted so did a batch roasting the tomatoes and onions on the grill. That took it up a notch or three!! Then I thought about smoking the tomatoes and onions so made yet another batch this way. This is otherworldly!! Best salsa either of us have ever had.
Start with 10 Roma tomatoes and a couple thick slices of onion
Put them on the Rec Tec running low temp / extreme smoke for 15 minutes or so then run the temp up to 450
While the tomatoes and onions are smoking, cut up the Serrano peppers
After low temp / extreme smoke, turn everything over
Get the rest of the goodies ready
Tomatoes and onions off the smoker
Put it all in the blender
Pulse until everything is well incorporated but not blended to mush and here is what you get
This is what was left after filling the pint jar. I took it to my little pub along with some tortilla chips and received rave reviews. I've since made 6 batches for folks there.
By far the best salsa we've ever had. We go through a batch about every week. It's used on many, many things and I'm known just to stop in the kitchen, grab a few chips, and start dunking them into the salsa. I hate runny salsa. This has a lot of body and you can put a really good dollop of it on a chip without it running all down your arm. IMHO, the chip is nothing more than the vessel to get the salsa from the bowl to my mouth. It also has to have depth, richness, and a lot of complexity...as well as a nice dose of garlic Here is the recipe
10 Roma tomatoes halved
2/3 cup onion
5 serrano peppers coarsely chopped
3 T minced garlic
1 ½ t lime juice
1 ¼ t kosher salt
1 ½ t chili powder
1 ½ t guajillo pepper
1/2 t arbol pepper
5 green onions coarsely chopped
Grill, smoke**, or broil tomatoes and onions till lightly charred and skins on tomatoes start to blister and darken.
Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and pulse till veggies are chopped and well incorporated
**Gives the best flavor by far
Of course it's all subjective to taste. You'll also see slight variations in flavor based on the size of the tomatoes, the ripeness, or overall quality. Start light with the seasonings and add as you deem appropriate. It's gonna be a bit different each time so don't be afraid to adjust as you go.
That's it, I'm done
Robert
Start with 10 Roma tomatoes and a couple thick slices of onion
Put them on the Rec Tec running low temp / extreme smoke for 15 minutes or so then run the temp up to 450
While the tomatoes and onions are smoking, cut up the Serrano peppers
After low temp / extreme smoke, turn everything over
Get the rest of the goodies ready
Tomatoes and onions off the smoker
Put it all in the blender
Pulse until everything is well incorporated but not blended to mush and here is what you get
This is what was left after filling the pint jar. I took it to my little pub along with some tortilla chips and received rave reviews. I've since made 6 batches for folks there.
By far the best salsa we've ever had. We go through a batch about every week. It's used on many, many things and I'm known just to stop in the kitchen, grab a few chips, and start dunking them into the salsa. I hate runny salsa. This has a lot of body and you can put a really good dollop of it on a chip without it running all down your arm. IMHO, the chip is nothing more than the vessel to get the salsa from the bowl to my mouth. It also has to have depth, richness, and a lot of complexity...as well as a nice dose of garlic Here is the recipe
10 Roma tomatoes halved
2/3 cup onion
5 serrano peppers coarsely chopped
3 T minced garlic
1 ½ t lime juice
1 ¼ t kosher salt
1 ½ t chili powder
1 ½ t guajillo pepper
1/2 t arbol pepper
5 green onions coarsely chopped
Grill, smoke**, or broil tomatoes and onions till lightly charred and skins on tomatoes start to blister and darken.
Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and pulse till veggies are chopped and well incorporated
**Gives the best flavor by far
Of course it's all subjective to taste. You'll also see slight variations in flavor based on the size of the tomatoes, the ripeness, or overall quality. Start light with the seasonings and add as you deem appropriate. It's gonna be a bit different each time so don't be afraid to adjust as you go.
That's it, I'm done
Robert