Recipe for Regular old salsa at any mexican rest???

[harleysilo]

Hi! I've read through all the recipes and just want to make regular old mexican salsa, not to hot, not to mild, and not chunky. And I don't like the cilantro taste either, Can someone tell me which of those recipes reproduces that?

[harleysilo]

When a recipe calls for either green onions or chives, those are the same thing right, just the green parts of the small onions, the leaves in effect...right?

[Granny]

harleysilo, to make "regular old salsa", cut your tomatoes (peeled are best) pretty fine - then it isn't chunky. Use just one or two jalapenos (taste between so it is as hot as you want it or not), a small onion very finely chopped and a clove of garlic or two, also finely chopped. Some salt.

No, green onions are not chives. Chives are an herb with a very mild onion flavor & roundish, tubular leaves - the part that you use. Green onions - aka scallions - are a much larger version - the leaves are about 1/2 inch across. In either case snip them with scissors, but they usually do not make a good substitute for each other in recipes.

[feldon30]

Would you suggest laying out the tomatoes, peppers, and onions on a sheet of foil and broiling in the oven for a few minutes first?

[harleysilo]

Originally Posted by Granny

No, green onions are not chives. Chives are an herb with a very mild onion flavor & roundish, tubular leaves - the part that you use. Green onions - aka scallions - are a much larger version - the leaves are about 1/2 inch across. In either case snip them with scissors, but they usually do not make a good substitute for each other in recipes.

Thanks for that I hate onions so I would expect to have gotten that wrong!

We are going to give it a try later today.

Regarding the broiling, I've read several that suggest griling tomatoes onions ect. for a smokey flavor, i think we are going to try both methods.

Now, do some of the restaurants make their salsa in a blender or something because no matter how fine I chop it all, there will still be some chuncks, more than I like. We also have a food processor I can puree it in.

[feldon30]

I would reserve some of the tomatoes and chop them up finely but everything else in the blender. This is based on an America's Test Kitchen recipe and not personaly experience.

Sorry to hear you hate onions. Have you tried red and sweet yellow onions in your cooking? It's only the bitter, pungent white onions I dislike. One of my favorite things to do (although it's incredibly fattening) is to slice a few Vidalia Onions and add them to a frying pan along with olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. I saute over high heat until the edges of the onion are just brown, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently to keep onions from burning.

[harleysilo]

I'll try doing that with the majority of the ingredients today.

I don't mind onions in my cooking to a certain extent. I don't like them raw at all, any kind. Onions in soup etc. are fine...

[Granny]

I charbroil peppers and sometimes tomatoes. You put them under the broiler until they are completely black, then turn. When you have them black all over take them out and put them in a paper bag or a ziplock for 10 or 15 minutes. The skins will then rub right off under cold water.

If you want a good salsa that is about the equivalent of an authentic salsa cruda, do not broil all of your tomatoes - they lose their texture. Don't bother broiling the onions at all. Just chop them very, very finely. Almost grate them. In fact, I sometimes do just that.

Authentic salsa is not put into a blender. "Real" salsa is smashed in a molcajete (might be spelled wrong - a bigish mortar and pestle made from volcanic stone). I generally like to use one of the little food processors to get the roasted stuff and the onions chopped very fine - it won't quite blend them - then add several more tomatoes that have been chopped a little bit bigger with a knife.

Some things to consider adding: a little splash of vinegar (that will let it keep a bit longer), some finely chopped cilantro, a pinch of cumin &/or New Mexico powdered chile (this is NOT the same as "chili powder).

[harleysilo]

Originally Posted by Granny

I charbroil peppers and sometimes tomatoes. You put them under the broiler until they are completely black, then turn. When you have them black all over take them out and put them in a paper bag or a ziplock for 10 or 15 minutes. The skins will then rub right off under cold water.

Do you have the tomatoes and peppers, or leave them whole, or slice them?

I read about the stone thingy you "grind" the salsa up with, maybe I can find a good flat rock in my yard.....

[Granny]

Just leave the peppers and tomatoes whole. Don't do a thing to them except slap them on the broiler pan. You can also just slap them on the barbecue grill or directly on the stove burner if you have a gas stove.

Rock won't work, but if you want a real mocaljete they are not very expensive - $10-15 the last time I looked. Of course that was at a produce store in Arizona, not a high end "kitchen store." (They are all the same - only difference is size and price.)

[harleysilo]

Originally Posted by Granny

Just leave the peppers and tomatoes whole. Don't do a thing to them except slap them on the broiler pan. You can also just slap them on the barbecue grill

Thanks! Looks like they will be going on the gas grill.

BTW, do you know what I need to do with my sunflower heads?
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=5570

If I need to cut them off and start drying I need to do it today....

[Granny]

Normally the seeds just dry right on the head - the whole flower head will dry right up where it stands. If you want to keep the seeds, I would bag the flower heads though - cheesecloth or something - to keep the birds out of them. They'll strip them clean.

[veratrine]

Not only do I live in the land of regular ol salsa, I have spent 15 years perfecting my recipe, which won a salsa competition (blushing modestly). It is a blasphemy, I know, especially here, but the secret is using canned tomatoes. Really. I tried using fresh for years, but it turns out watery. In the middle of winter, decided to use canned, and had an epiphany: canned tomatoes is the secret. I don't measure when I make salsa, but the recipe below is my best estimate:

***1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes. Open the can and use the top to push the crushed tomatoes down and drain them a little--not till they're dry. Just enough to get rid of any thin juice that wouldn't stick well to a chip. After all, sticking to a chip is what salsa should do.
***juice of 1-2 limes. Depends on the size and juicyness of the lime.
***1-2 cloves of garlic, depending how big they are. One huge one or two average ones. (I have always suspected California garlic is larger than average--a huge clove would be over an inch long and 3/4 of an inch thick). It will get more garlicy as it sits, so keep it a little light if you can.
***3/4 cup chopped onion
***cilantro to taste. I like cilantro, so I'd say 1/2 bunch.
***2 jalepenos, if they're spicy. If not, add more carefully. It will also get hotter as it sits, so, again, keep it a little light.
***salt to taste. Start with 1/2 tsp and adjust until it seems right.

Mix and refrigerate for an hour or two before dipping.

This will make about 4 cups of salsa, which is good for a party, but I will make 2x for 4th of July. Usually for just the household I make half, and it gets eaten over a couple of days.

[shelleybean]

Well, thank you, Veratrine!! I was just thinking about this today. I am indeed having a Fourth of July party and I have Aji Santa Cruz peppers out the ying yang but not one of my tomatoes is blushing yet. I was beginning to consider canned over the hard tennis ball tomatoes at the store or even the farm stand. I think I'll do a small trial batch tomorrow and if it passes, make a big batch for Wednesday. Thanks, again!

[Worth1]

To tell the truth here, I cant think of a regular old salsa from any old Mexican restaurant.

There are so many here they are all different.

What I don't like is the ones that tone down the heat for the so called tender mouthed Anglos/Gringos.

Lets get real, lets get ready, lets make it hot, lets get some Mexican food.

Worth