Salsa Recipes updated 5-15-2012
Esta receta en Español go to http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
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Here's my recipes for a great Mexican salsa, refried beans,
chip dip and even tortillas.
We moved to Mexico, just outside Guadalajara, in 2001 to leave the JOB
(actually a business of 24 years that took
all of my time) and the rat race behind and to learn to live on less. The weather here
is 75 to 85 365 days a year, no fooling. We are not fat or wealthy.
Being retired doesn't always mean you have a retirement income to live off of. We gave up our toys, live in a modest
home, and moved to a place where expenses are low and have enough for us and some to share with others not so fortunate
where we now live. You can see some of what we do at www.detailshere.com/helpingothers.htm
We DID successfully escape. It is not for everyone but we are at great peace today, do what we want to each day instead of playing beat the
clock and fighting traffic, and are very content with what Yahweh provides
us via the net, including an increasing workload in bringing others to Him and
taking care of more of those without. We share the Jesus
Parachute with all we meet. If you would like to see more of what
constitutes our paycheck I share all of those programs at www.detailshere.com/dog.htm
and send out a newsletter a couple times a month to keep you abreast of updates
of those and new things that come along that are worthy.
Ber
berry@detailshere.com
Here is a link with many , many salsa recipes to choose
from.
http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/salsa/
Here's
an even quicker recipe
Ber's excellent tasting refried beans
recipe - with NO pigfat
Ber's tostado or corn chip bean dip recipe.
Ber's tortillas - how to make your own
Ber's main Salsa recipe:
I am a salsa fanatic. Whenever I go into a Mexican restaurant, the salsa is the
big factor in whether or not I return.
We now live in Mexico, and in all the restaurants we have eaten at here,
only a couple had decent salsa. And it did not touch the salsa in the recipes
below. And I can't take credit for it because I received part of the
recipe from a Mexican restaurant back home; at least the original.
It has changed
considerably since then. And the chicken man down the street (he roasts and
sells chicken asada each day) added the final secret;
roasting the chili de arbols (dried chilis) and roasting half the tomatoes.
Although I didn't like the consistency of his salsa, really runny and watered
down, it had excellent flavor because of this roasting of the chilis and
tomatoes. Rosalia's recipe at the bottom of this page also requires roasting of
the tomatoes and chilis. So I will
share with you my salsa recipe which I make for church potlucks
and other special occasions as well as for home here.
If I ever go broke on
internet investments I can make salsa and sell it here and probably make a living. Meanwhile there are other places my
time has to go. AND, my recipe is continually changing. The experimentation
process never ends. I do live in a world where choice of chilis to play with
seems endless. Just stay away from chilis called habañeros - you have no
comprehension how hot those are. Bite into one and your lips will still be numb
an hour later. Worse yet though is how you will pay for it in the morning in the
bathroom. But grind some up and mix it with chopped pineapple and it is hard to
resist, exquisite flavor. If you ever want to get even with some guests, serve it.
Dried Chili de arbols
Jalapeño chili 
Serano chili, hotter than a jalapeño
Ingredients for 2 qts of salsa:
Chili de arbols (dried baked red chilis) - fill a blender 1/3 full & then grind
into small bits, even a powder - don't breathe it though unless you want to
sneeze a lot. You can also buy chili de arbol powder to start with.
You can find these in the dried pepper section , usually in the Mexican cuisine
section, of your grocery.
1 tsp or less black pepper
pinch of cumin powder
1 tbsp of Paprika
1/8 tsp or less oregano (don't use too much or it will make the salsa bitter)
1-3 tablespoons real sea salt from the Redmond, Utah, salt mine
( www.realsalt.com )much better taste and
better for you than regular salt.
1 small clove, or 3-4 sections off a fresh garlic clove , use a hand garlic press so it is the juice and
mashed pulp you are using or simply gind them up in a blender.
2 tablespoons of lemon juice or juice from a fresh squeezed lemon
A dozen to 20 big dark red tomatoes
Several green tomatoes (6)
Called jitomate verde
- yes they are green when they are ripe, have
a different taste and can be found in any good sized supermarket.
1 medium to large white onion
small bundle of cilantro, 1/2" to 1" bunch at the stem end even
though I only use the leaves
This is a Two step process
a. a cooked portion
b. a cold fresh portion of fresh chopped onion, tomatoes, jalapeno and serano
peppers &
cilantro
A. Cooked portion
I use a Magic Bullet blender and a
Cuisinart Food Processor
I start with a chile called Chile De Arbol. It
comes dried, is a dark red chile pepper about 3-6 inches long, and is a
bout
1/4" to 5/8" wide. Use the whole chile. I normally don't remove the vein or the
seeds. In either case break the
stem off and discard it and just use the red
part of the chile; whole or seed stripped. How many you use is a function
of how hot you like your salsa. I use 1/4 of a VitaMix blender full of them
before grinding. Then I grind them up into a
fine powder or small bits.
The secret is in roasting these dried chilis
before grinding them up. I put them in a metal cake pan and stick them on
the barbecue and wait until they just start to turn color, very dark red or
brown. Pay attention, you
can burn them easily.
You don't want black charcoal chilis but turn them a dark red in the barby. I can buy baked chilis here (some places call
them horneado which
means baked, and some places call them dorados but that term really means fried
in oil, which
they aren't) , but I doubt you can buy them already
barbequed
outside of Mexico. Turning them almost black is key to
getting the right flavor
out of them. I have also ground these up into a powder before baking them
and then put the
powder in a skillet and kept stirring them to bake them over an oven
burner. Make sure your skillet is outside though
because the smoke that comes off it this way is very pungent and will run you
out of the house. At any rate for 2-3
quarts of salsa you want a good three heaping teaspoons or more of this baked
chili powder. These chilis are what
gives your salsa it's awesome
flavor. Okay so now you have the baked powdered chili powder.
In the magic bullet blender (or regular
blender) put in three heaping teaspoons of the chili de arbol powder, add
three tablespoons of
sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper, pinch of cumin powder, 1/8 teaspoon of
ground oregano leaves and a heaping tablespoon of paprika. Also cut some
tomatoes into quarters and put those in
and fill the magic bullet three quarters up with water. Blend this all up into a
soup and pour it into a sauce pan.
Add more tomatoes and water and grind that up and pour it into the sauce pan
also. We are going to steep this mixture
as a tea for 15 minutes at low heat at a low rolling boil until it is a thin liquid.
B. The uncooked fresh portion
a.1 small clove of garlic,
peeled and pressed so only the garlic juice and pulp itself is used. Mix this up good
and
put this in the magic bullet also. Strip the veins and seeds out of two
jalapeno and two serano peppers, slice them and
put them into the magic bullet. Select about 6-8 green tomatoes - jitomate verde,
slice them up and put into the magic
bullet. The green tomatoes are not unripe red tomatoes but a green variety
that is green when ripe. Add a cup of water
to it and grind them all up into a liquid. This way you don't have chunks of
something giving an unpleasant taste but the
flavor of these items is well dispersed throughout the salsa. After blended pout
this into a large bowl.
b. Next wash about a dozen or more ripe tomatoes, really ripe if you can find them, and grind them up in a Cuisinart food processor. Grind them into small pieces, not mush. Put these into a large bowl. I then take the onion, cut it into quarters and add it to the Cuisinart along with the washed bundle of cilantro, about 1/2" worth at the stem end but don't use the stems, only the leaves. I use only the upper half of the bundle, the leaves, I don't use the stems. Don't grind these up into mush, you want small pieces, not mush. Add these to the bowl also with the red tomatoes. Your bowl should now contain the red tomatoes, the green tomatoes, the jalapeno and serano peppers, and the chopped up onion and cilantro. Mix this mixture up well with a large spoon and add t1 ounce of lemon juice or the juice from one fresh lemon.
Sometimes, I actually roast half of my tomatoes, also again in a pan on the barbecue and in the cuisinart I grind this half up into mush.
Then pour the chilipowder tea mixture after it has cooled over the chopped up tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, and mix thoroughly. I even use an electric mixer to make sure everything is well mixed.
If the mixture is too thick for your taste or you
have a big crowd to feed you can make it runnier by adding either tomato
juice
or just plain water.
This makes a good sauce for serving with regular
tacos and burritos also, not just for use with chips.
Adding Guacamole
Guacamole is just mashed up avocados.
Since avocados contain so many good health benefits for you I will take some of
the above salsa and add it to several ripe avocados all mashed up. This makes a
really really good salsa. But the avocados oxidize quickly so this is not a mixture you
can keep in the refrigerator all week like you can the salsa above. You really
need to mash up just enough avocado and mix the salsa with it so it gets used up
at the meal you are serving it at, and then make more for the next time. The salsa + guacamole mixture has become the favorite here.
Email me at berry@detailshere.com if you have any questions.
Ber's quickie
10 minute recipe
If you are in a hurry and still want a great salsa, try this one.
you will need:
20 ripe Roma tomatoes
1 (or more) Serano chilis plus one jalapeno chili
1 teaspoon sea salt www.realsalt.com
Shaker of chili de arbol powder (you make the powder by grinding up the
dried chili de arbols). Add to taste - be careful, chili de arbols are hot!
Container of Tone's Crushed Red Pepper available in the
spice section at Costco
Small 12 oz. can or bottle of tomato juice
Take a dozen to 20 ripe Roma tomatoes, cut them in half and run them through
your pasta maker with the small 1/8" hole sized disc in it. This gives the
best consistency of the end product. Add just one good sized Serano green chili
at the beginning. Add a small amount of ground up chili de arbol powder. I
take a couple handfuls of dried chili de arbols and put them in a vitamix
blender and grind them up into a fine powder and put it into a SpiceTime
Soul Seasoning container because it has goodsized holes at the top to sprinkle
out the chili powder as needed and then you don't have to do the grinding
everytime you make salsa. Add a short teaspoon of salt, add a few shakes of the
Tone's Crushed Red Pepper from Costco, add 12 ounces of tomato juice; stir good
and serve. It will take a couple batches to get the feel for how much of
the chili de arbol powder and Crushed Red Pepper to use. I like my salsa hot,
some people don't. You can season to taste. The serano chili (found in the fresh
produce section) and chili de arbols (available in the dried pepper section of
your super market) give it a flavor unsurpassed by using any other kind of
chili's but go easy, because they can be "muy picante" VERY HOT! I can
make a batch of this in less than ten minutes.
The
Quicker than Ber's salsa recipe
Fresh Tomato Salsa
Be sure to start with
Ingredients:
1½ pounds medium tomatoes
½ medium red onion
1 jalapeño pepper (these are fat green ones)
1 Serrano pepper (these are about the same length as jalapeños
but much slimmer)
Juice of 1 fresh lime
½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
Directions:
1. Remove stems from tomatoes and dice finely.
2. Dice red onion finely.
3. Remove stems, ribs, and seeds from the Jalapeño
and Serrano peppers, and dice finely.
The heat is in the white veins and the seeds.
4. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
Taste. If the chilies make the salsa too hot, add some more
chopped tomato. If it’s not hot enough, carefully add a few more seeds from
the chilies, or add some ground cumin.
I use a magic bullet blender with a little water to pulverize the peppers into a
slush. Then someone doesn't get a
chunk and scream heat. If it is not hot enough add a little bit of chili de
arbol powder. Mix well.
5. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Store for a few hours in the refrigerator to let the flavors combine.
Be careful about set-out time. Keep your dip refrigerated until you need to put it out, and don’t leave it out for more than two hours. If it’s hotter than 90 degrees out, put it back in the fridge after an hour.
Use 1 package (1kg) of peruano beans.
Mayocoba beans work too.
Soak in water overnight. Discard the water (along with the flatulence).
Add fresh water and cut up a large apple into pieces along with a half a garlic
clove in pieces also.
Add cloves, salt and some chicken bullion powder. After they are boiled
nice and soft (don't
discard the water but put it in a separate bowl or pot) take an electric
beater and mush them up.
Add some of the water back in as you beat them up. I leave some small
chunky pieces in there too,
along with the apple. Add some oil to a skillet and then fry them a little
in the skillet along with some
chili de arbol dried pepper pieces and I also use a little chili de arbol pepper
powder. See pics further
up for what these dried chilis look like. Also chop up some fresh onion real
fine and add it. Add the
bean water back in as necessary to maintain the mushy consistency; not too wet,
not too dry. Stir and
turn often so you DO NOT scorch the beans or they will taste bad. We use
these on tacos and burritos.
You can put what you don't use in the refrig and warm them up later too.
Ber's taco chip bean dip or tostado dip recipe
For this buy a can of refried pinto beans and
a can of refried black beans.
If you can't find refried, regular works good too but you have to mash them up
after you've warmed them up.
Chop up half a pound of bacon and an equal amount of chorizo (sausage) and cook
it.
Get rid of the grease and then add the two cans of beans and stir it up good.
Add some cummin
powder and some chili de arbol powder. Add some water to get a consistency that
isn't too stiff
so the mix will stick to a chip or tostado. Don't get it too runny.
In a separate bowl put in chopped onion, chopped
cilantro, and chopped tomatoes. You can also
grate a jalapeno pepper and add to it but be careful with the heat. A little bit
of jalapeno goes a long way.
Dip your chip or tostado into the bean dip, then add the onion-cilantro-tomato
mix on top of that and enjoy.
Ingredients:
½ cup water
2 cups natural baking mix, such as Arrowhead Mills All-Purpose Baking Mix
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, add most of the water to the mix and stir until combined. The result should be a single ball of firm but not sticky dough. If your mix is still a little dry, add the remaining water a little at a time until your dough reaches the right consistency.
Knead for about a minute, and roll into small balls of dough. You'll get about 5 to 6 balls per cup of mix used; start with more, smaller balls until you get the hang of rolling and cooking tortillas, then move onto fewer larger ones if you want to. When you finish, put them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, or prep them up to a day in advance and refrigerate in an airtight container.
Place one ball between two sheets of natural wax paper, and flatten it with a rolling pin or empty wine bottle, doing your best to make it the same thickness all over. Don't worry if your tortillas aren't round, they will still taste fine. Cook each tortilla on a preheated ungreased cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, turning once after about 30 seconds. The tortilla is done when it puffs up and you see brown spots on both sides. Wrap finished tortillas in a clean tea towel so they stay warm and tender. Serve them warm with butter (plain, or sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat), or use them to make Mexican dishes. Or turn them into chips (see below).
Whole Wheat Tortillas
These days, I prefer whole grain tortillas, and they only take a few seconds longer to mix up than the "quick" ones do.
Ingredients:
½ cup water
2 cups organic whole wheat flour ("white" whole wheat is good; I like
to grind my own just beforehand)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or soft lard (from pastured pigs, if you can find it)
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, including the olive oil or lard. Then proceed as for quick tortillas. With whole grain, though, it's better to refrigerate the balls of dough at least overnight, as it seems to help them hold together better. Make sure you refrigerate them in an airtight container.
Variations:
• Flax-Whole Wheat Tortillas. Use the same ingredients as whole wheat, just substitute up to 3 tablespoons of the flour with finely ground organic flaxseed.
• Spinach Tortillas. Just like whole wheat tortillas, but you also need 8 ounces of fresh or frozen spinach. Cook the spinach, lightly steaming it in a little water if fresh, or per package directions if frozen. Save the cooking water, which you'll substitute for your ½ cup plain water. Blend the cooked spinach into a smooth puree. Combine the spinach puree with the flour, baking powder, salt, and oil or lard, and add just enough of the cooking water to make a firm ball of dough.
• Gluten-free Tortillas. Many commercial gluten-free flour blends make good tortillas. Just substitute the gluten-free flour for the whole wheat flour in the recipe above. Some mixes may fall apart when you try to roll them out, and they may be easier to work with if you add a ½ tablespoon of xanthan gum when you are mixing the dough in the first place. You'll have to experiment a bit.
Rosalia's salsa recipe
Rosalia runs a rostasado chicken restaurant in San Miguel Cuyutlan, a town a
kilometer away from us.
She shared her salsa recipe with me. The ingredients are standard salsa stuff
but the secret to the taste lies in the roasting of the tomatoes and chili de
arbols.
Put 20 ripe Roma tomatoes on a stainless pan over
a open fire grillle.
Spray the pan with Pam or a light coating of oil. Burn the tomatoes slightly so
that when you are done
you have several dark brown/black spots on each tomato, one for each time they
were turned. Cook
until the tomatoes are soft. This is the key to superior salsa.
Grind them up in a blender or Cuisinart machine. Add no water or tomato sauce or
tomato juice.
Add four fresh garlic cloves ground up.
Add a small handfull of baked chili de arbols ground up also. If you can't buy
already baked ones, then grille
regular ones in an open skillet until they turn dark red or brown. Be careful,
they burn easily. You don't want
black ones and the fumes they give off are quite pungent so don't do this inside
the house. But again, baking
or roasting the chili de arbols greatly improves the taste of the salsa.
Chop up a handfull of cilantro, one medium sized onion, and several fresh ripe
tomatoes and add to the
blended tomato - garlic - chili de arbol mixture.
Add about a teaspoon of sea salt. Mix thoroughly and you have some really
great salsa.
You can mush up several ripe avocados and add
this salsa to it for a very excellent guacamole to use
with chips or even on your tacos.
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