The Handy Kitchen Guide: Red Salsa, Green Salsa

Homemade salsa is one of those things that iseasy to make yet hardly anyone does it. I don’t know why not. You serve up some homemade salsa at your party and you are sure to get lots of Oos and Aaas. Then everyone will ask you for the recipe and then you direct them to my blog. (I am not above shameless self promotion)

The two salsa I am going to show you how to make are made from two different fruits. The red salsa is made with tomatoes (yes they are a fruit), specifically Roma or Plum Tomatoes, though any type of tomato can be used. Roma tomatoes have firmer flesh so they keep their shape better and tend to be cheaper. The second one is made from Tomatillos which are not tomatoes, they are actually closely related to gooseberries and when they ripen fully they turn yellow or purplish and become sweeter. For the purpose of the salsa the unripe green ones are used.

Got some chips handy? Great! Let’s make salsa…

Red Salsa or Pico de Gallo

10-12 Roma Tomatoes

4 Green Onions

¼ cup minced Cilantro (about half a bunch that you would get from the store)

1-2 cloves of Garlic (depending on your tastes)

Serrano Peppers, 1-2 peppers= Mild, 3-4= Medium, 5 or more= Hot

2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

Salt

Tomatoes are very juicy, which is great for topping a burger or sandwich, not so great when you have several inches of juice watering down your salsa and making the chips soggy. The seeds contain most of the extra juice so removing the seeds is very important.

Remove the stem area from each tomato. I use a tomato shark, also called a strawberry huller, the sharp teeth make removing the stem easy.

Cut each tomato in half.

Using your thumb, scoop the seeds out into a bowl.

If you can’t get to all the seeds, cut the tomato in half again and that should expose the rest of the seeds.

Look at all that juice that is not going to ruin your salsa.

Slice each tomato section into ¼ inch strips.

Make a neat little pile with the strips and cut across to make small cubes.

Transfer tomatoes to a strainer and place strainer over a bowl to catch the drips.

Toss tomatoes with ½ teaspoon salt and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour. The salt will help the tomatoes release their juices.

That’s about a cup of juice that strained out of the tomatoes. The longer the tomatoes sit the more juice you will get.

While the tomatoes are sitting go ahead and prep the rest of the ingredients.

Wash the cilantro and green onions. Cilantro is often mistaken for flat leaf parsley because they look very similar. To tell the difference check for a few things. Cilantro has a strong peppery smell, it’s leaves are thinner and more fragile, and the leaves have more of a fringe than parsley. An easy way to remember is Cilantro’s leaves have fringe, fringes are fun and cilantro is often used in party foods.

Unlike parsley, the stems of cilantro taste just as good as the leaves so you can use the whole thing. Some people don’t like the texture of stems so just break off the thicker bottom part of the stem, right under the last set of leaves. The softer stem that the leaves are on blends in well with everything.

Mince the cilantro and garlic. Thinly slice the green onions.

Serrano peppers have a nice flavor to go along with the heat. Any hot pepper can be used but I like the flavor that Serranos have. When working with hot peppers it is important to wear gloves because even after you wash your hands the oils will linger on your skin and can easily be transferred by touch, like to your eye when you rub it without thinking.

The seeds and white membranes contain the most heat in the pepper, but they don’t have much flavor so it is best to remove them.

Decide how hot you want your salsa and use the recommended number as shown in the ingredient list. Cut of the stem and slice the pepper in half, using a spoon, scrap out the seeds and membrane.

Finely mince the peppers.

Teeny, tiny pieces.

The fine mince is important to evenly distribute the peppers flavor and heat. You don’t want someone in tears because they bit into a big piece of pepper.

Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl, add lime juice and stir to combine.

Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend together. Before serving, taste the salsa and add more salt if needed. Cold foods need more seasoning, that is why you wait to adjust the salt until after it has been chilled in the fridge.

Serve with chips. Instant party.

Green Salsa or Salsa Verde

10-12 Tomatillos

4 Green Onions

¼ cup minced Cilantro (about half a bunch that you would get from the store)

1-2 cloves of Garlic (depending on your tastes)

Serrano Peppers, 1-2 peppers= Mild, 3-4= Medium, 5 or more= Hot

2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

Salt

The ingredient list for this salsa is almost identical, the biggest difference of course being tomatillos instead of tomatoes. But tomatillos need to be cooked is you want them to taste good, so why not cook the rest of the ingredients too. Roasting brings out the best flavor. You can roast them in the oven or on the grill.

Tomatillos are sold with their husks still on-

Tomatillos should be firm. When picking them out in the store give them a little squeeze to check for soft spots.

Peel the husk back and remove it by giving it a little twist.

Rinse the tomatillos, then remove the stem.

For the rest of the items to be roasted-

Cut off the roots from the green onions

Remove the seeds and membrane from the peppers

Leave the garlic cloves in their skins (once roasted they come out easy)

The cilantro, lime juice, and salt will be added later.

To roast in the oven, heat oven to 425. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil, it gets messy . Spread tomatillos, onions, peppers, and garlic out in a single layer. Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes until spotty brown and tomatillos are soft. You may need to remove the onions after 8-10 minutes because they cook faster.

To grill, heat grill to medium-high heat. Lay out a piece of aluminum foil directly onto the grate, tomatillos release a lot of juice. Lay out the ingredients in a single layer. Grill for 15-20 minutes, turn the tomatillos over halfway through. Again, you may need to remove the onions after 8-10 minutes.

I grilled mine, because it’s summer and I love my grill.

Here I’ve turned the tomatillos over and the green onions are done so I pulled them off the grill right after I took the pic.

Here’s what the tomatillos look like when they’re done. You should be able to easily smoosh them with little resistance. And see what I mean about them being messy when they cook? Do your self a favor, use foil.

Another reason for the foil is that soft tomatillos are hard to move off of a grill, so just use the foil to dump everything into a bowl.

Allow ingredients to cool for 10 minutes. If you put hot stuff onto fresh cilantro it is going to wilt and loose it’s flavor.

Peel the garlic and discard the skin.

After tomatillos have cooled, place all the cooked ingredients into a food processor or blender. Add the cilantro, lime juice, and ½ teaspoon of salt.