Salsa!

On the heels of Cinco de Mayo, let's talk about salsa!

After living in Phoenix for 20 years, I have become accustomed to doing something on Cinco de Mayo. Here in Florida, it's not a big deal, but on May 5 I had some friends over and we enjoyed a few Mexican delicacies (and Shepard's Pie - but that's another story).

Unless you live in a Tundric wasteland and you work 16 hours a day and never have access to fresh produce, there is no reason not to make your own salsa. Granted, there are a lot of decent-to-good salsas on the grocery store shelves, and in the winter, when you can't get good tomatoes (unless they are from Chile), then buying a jar or two might be in order. But it's Spring, followed by Summer - and salsa making time is upon us!

 A Word on Cilantro

 If you are not a seasoned salsa maker, you might take issue with cilantro. Cilantro is a much misunderstood herb. However, if treated properly, it adds just the right layer of flavor to your salsa. It won't overpower and it won't taste soapy. Trust me on this one.
 
The cilantro plant, once blooming, will produce coriander pods that taste nothing like the leaves and stems. And speaking of cilantro stems, you can use them along with the leaves. Unlike parsley, cilantro carries a lot of flavor in the stems.

A Note about Peppers

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Obviously, you will want to put peppers into your salsa, since that is one of The Main Components. There are about a jillion different types of chile peppers, all of which have varying tastes and heat levels (refer to the Scoville Heat Chart over there <--).

If you know how to treat chile peppers, you can make salsa with no heat at all, or salsa that will blow off the top of your head - up to you. A good pepper to use for salsa is the jalapeno. Jalapenos have a medium heat level. The red jalapenos are usually a bit hotter and go well in fruit salsas to offset the sweetness. 

If you are sensitive, wear latex gloves when treating the peppers. The majority of capsaicin  is held in the membranes of the pepper. It can mess you up! Therefore, be careful when processing peppers. To make a salsa with almost no heat, cut the flesh away from the seed pod and membranes and toss the rest in the trash. If you want some heat, include a bit or a lot of the membranes. The seeds are really useless. They don't hold a lot of heat and they are not digestible. 

Serrano peppers are also nice in salsa. They are much smaller than jalapenos and somewhat hotter. I love their fruity flavor. Habaneros or Scotch Bonnets are evil, evil peppers. They have an awesome flavor if you can get past the insane heat they lend to a dish. Handle with care! One eye-rub with a habanero infested finger and you will suffer. Not to mention that capsaicin can actually produce skin irritation akin to second degree burns. However, not wanting to be an alarmist, proceed with confidence! 

Let's get started with an actual recipe before I lose you all to my ramblings.

Pico de Gallo

This is a raw salsa that is incredibly fresh and bright. You can eat it with some good tortilla chips, over a quesadilla, on your morning eggs, and so forth.

If you don't have a food processor or a little chopper, just chop by hand. It takes a moment, but is well worth it. This pico will keep in the fridge for about a week, but is best eaten in the first few days.

Halve 5 tomatoes and squeeze over garbage bowl to remove some or all seeds if they are loose and watery. Chop remaining tomato.

Chop 1 white onion

Press or chop lots of garlic – 4-5 cloves

Cut out seeds and ribs of 3-4 jalapenos and chop fine

Chop ½ bunch cilantro

Mix tomatoes, onions, garlic and cilantro and put them into the salsa processor in batches – pulse until desired consistency. Add about 1 tsp salt and pulse to combine. You don't want to make a puree, but rather still be able to see what is actually in the salsa.

Place salsa into the designated bowl and add the juice of one lime and some salt to taste. Let it sit for a bit and then enjoy! This will make about 3 cups (I'm just guessing).

 

Onward to Tomatillo (or green) Salsa! 

The tomatillo is not related to the tomato, though it is also a nightshade. It is rather related to the gooseberry, and as such is quite tart. It's used a lot in Mexican cuisine, and once you get into Mexican cooking,  you sort of get the hang of  when to add tomatillos.

This fruit is surrounded by an inedible papery husk. When you remove it, you'll find that the tomatillo is sort of sticky. You can wash that off with ease. Though are firm when raw, they give it up easily when faced with a blender or chopper. For this salsa, you will roast the tomatillos on one side so that they are half cooked and half raw - lends itself to an interesting depth of flavor. If you roast them all the way, they are very mushy and taste a bit blah for the sake of salsa.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

2 pounds tomatillos

1 medium white onion

4 large cloves of garlic

4 jalapeno peppers

1/2 bunch of cilantro

2 tsp salt (approximately)

Juice of one or two limes

Heat the broiler.

Peel off the papery skin and wash tomatillos well. Pat dry and place stem side down in a baking pan. Place pan under the broiler until the tomatillos are brown on top, and the juices start to flow. Place roasted tomatillos and any juice the blender.

Peel onion, cut it in half and slice into thin slices. Pull the onion rings apart, place onto a baking pan, sprinkle lightly with salt and place under the broiler until the onions are starting to brown. They might look dry and unevenly browned – but not to worry - we're just going for a little caramelization here. Add the onions to the tomatillos in the blender.

Wash the jalapenos and pat them dry. Rub the garlic cloves until all loose skin has been discarded, but leave the cloves intact with the skins on. Place both jalapenos and garlic cloves in a dry frying pan. Over medium heat, jiggle the pan frequently to toast/roast the garlic and peppers fairly evenly. This will take about 10 minutes. You may have to turn the garlic by hand. The peppers should have a light char on several sides. The garlic should have browning on the skin. 

When the peppers and garlic cloves are cool enough to touch, peel the garlic and remove the seeds and stem from the peppers. Toss garlic cloves and peppers into the blender.

Now add about 1 tsp salt. First pulse then blend the mixture until well combined. (If the tomatillos are still hot, pulse with care.) The tomatillos will liquefy, and the salsa will be fairly thin.

Cut off the big, course stems from the bottom of cilantro (previously washed and patted dry). Place the whole bunch, along with smaller stems, into the blender and pulse until incorporated but you can still see pieces of cilantro leaves. 

Pour the salsa into a container and check for salt – you will probably have to add more. Once seasoning is balanced, add the lime juice. Stir and refrigerate until ready to eat. 

This will make about 3 cups and keep in the fridge for about a week. You can eat it with tortilla chips, of course, but also with eggs or anything else. The tomatillo salsa will gel up in the refrigerator; it's good to let it come to room temperature before eating.  

What's this? 

Yummy stuff! If you want to get really Mexican with all of these salsas, try eating them with plantain chips. OMG - so good! I'm pretty sure you can buy them pre-made, but seriously - this is a food blog. So here's how you make them:

Plantain Chips

 First, get some green plantains - they have to be underripe to make chips, otherwise you just have fried mush. Peel them - this takes some doing - and cut the plantain in half. Then slice thinly on a mandolin. Thinly, you say? Well... how about 1/8 inch? You can try doing this with a knife, but a mandolin really works best. And if you don't have one, get one. They are very handy.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan (I use cast iron) - vegetable, peanut - an oil that can stand high heat. It should have some ripples but not be smoking. Drop a piece of plantain in and it should bubble around the edges. When your oil is ready, put in as many pieces  in the pan as will fit comfortably. Fry until pale brown on one side and flip with tongs. When they are browned, remove and place on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat until all your plantain has been fried.

If you live in a humid climate like I do, you can spread the plantain chips onto a baking sheet and give them a little crisp treatment in the oven before you serve them. Once they are cool, you can store them in a plastic bag for a few days. Check to see if they have become rubbery and pop in the oven, otherwise serve and enjoy!

These also go well with fruit salsas (coming soon) and ceviche (also coming soon)!