recipe: salsa casera

Salsa is a hard one for me. There’s the whole issue of personal taste, how much heat is enough and that’s without injecting the larger world of food politics into your freshly made batch of salsa… in the middle of the winter.

Some have had my salsa and loved it’s mild and tangy qualities. Others have complained that there isn’t enough heat it in it going as far as saying, “Girl, it ain’t salsa if it ain’t hot!”

Well, in my house… or my mama’s house rather, there was salsa and then there was chile. The salsa and pico that would be on the table would be to help cut the heavy flavors that were on plates (frijol con puerco, heavy stews). They were about the tang and the acidity and the LIME more than they were about the heat.

Don’t get me wrong though. There was plenty of heat on the table for those that wanted – fresh sliced habaneros with a little sprinkle of salt and lime. I can still picture my dad dipping his tortilla in the little plate and sopping up bits of chile in it.

So, I guess the point is that salsa for me was more about the tangy taste growing up than it was about the heat. I make household salsa in very much the same way today. I keep it around the house and it goes on something at least once a day – eggs, tacos, nachos, chips or a bowl of rice and beans.

Mi Salsa Casera – Mild
3 medium tomatoes, quartered
1/4 of a red onion
handful of cilantro (probably about a 1/4 cup)
juice of 3-4 key limes
1 heaping teaspoon of chipotle puree* (more if you like it with more kick)
Salt and pepper

Throw all the ingredients into your food processor or blender and whirl around till its the consistency that you like. Salt and pepper to taste.

* I substitute in fresh jalapeños, habaneros or serranos (all seeded and cleaned of their membranes) when they are in season, but usually have a batch of chipotle puree in the fridge to get me through the rest of the year. I like my salsa with little-to-no chunks in it, runny even, so that I can incorporate its flavor easily into what I’m throwing it in without any added texture.

Chunky salsa is an altogether different can of worms that I like to refer to as pico.

Tags: kitchen staples, mexican, recipe