Salsa

Made salsa.

Lots of it.


I'll give you my little recipe


The huge one in the very back is a cuban chili.




This is the largest of the yellow tomatoes this year.

Oh, you know I had to compare it to the size of that last apple

.... if you remember when I had small apple trees.....

Salsa
I use;

serranos, jalapenos and for this batch I had two very big Cuban chilis I received as a gift.

I planted Habaneros however, they did not survive summer.

Grille the chilis.

This batch I did not grille them on the BBQ.

The lad bought a new dutch oven at the surplus store recently –and while he was there he bought ME, this cast iron skillet. . . broke it in grilling chilis.

Turn them occasionally so that they get toasty and crispy on all sides.

They might seem overdone, no worries ~ you will not use the outer skin.

When toasted, place them on a damp towel and put a second damp towel [I use an old cloth napkin] on top.

Press gently.

The towels will steam the skins off.
You will hear the chili ‘pop’.











Peel them, cut the stem off and set the chili aside or remove the seeds.
The seeds are the hottest part and serranos are hotter than jalapenos.



You decide if you want to remove the seeds.
Cut the skinned chili's up in strips.






































For this batch I also put the molcajete into use for the very first time [ … you know, a poi pounder - a mortar and pestle] I had received it some 20 years ago and kept it filled with dried rose buds.
But alas, pupzilla ate those too – so after I gave it a thorough washing and sanitizing … I decided to try it.

Those pioneer women must have had some serious carpal tunnel.
It was difficult to mash the chilis.
Imagine using such a tool to grind grain?

One part grilled mashed chiles to two parts green Ortega chilis.
Those I put into my little Oskar food processor. Another 20 year old kitchen gadget. I think I bought it to tide me over until I could afford a ‘real’ food processor. Something else always took precident (shhhhh .... penny pincher).
In a bowl mix the one part chiles, two parts ortegas, which have been pulverized in the food processor. Add at least 6 parts tiny diced tomatoes.
I use canned tomatillos. Yes, yes, big fat cheater. Never saw a tomatillo in a California store, now that I am in Texas and routinely encounter them in the grocery store I am reassured I will one day venture into steaming and peeling those as well. [If you cannot find tomatillos, try this. It's pretty common.].

Add 4 parts tomatillo sauce.
One large red onion, diced small.
An entire bunch of cilantro leaves, try to remove stems. Chop tiny as well.
Few dashes of pepper, salt, garlic salt and lemon pepper.
If you want to make ahead to freeze, leave out the cilantro and add it the day you will be using.
See? Easy peasy!