I realize in the community of salsa makers, no one wants to share their recipes.  Everyone acts like they are going to get their prize winning salsa patented, bottled, and it’s going to be the next big thing to sweep the shelves at every supermarket across the land.  Is it me, or has the universe gone salsa crazy?  The mere mention of salsa brings out a competitive streak in most people I know. They’ll say they have an aunt or a godmother who makes the best salsa and no one can compete or compare. Perhaps that is so. Then, you have the salsa aficionados who want to know if you use a blender or a molcajete and tejolote (mortar and pestle). God forbid you mention the wrong method; they will snub their noses at you and look the other way.  I’ve seen it happen.  I learned to make my salsa the old fashioned way… trial and error.  It took some time and a few bad batches, but I finally got my salsa science down… I can now make it with my eyes closed and it’s exactly the way I like it.  I want to be the first one in the salsa community to step forward and share my recipe.  And guess what?  I didn’t have to think twice about it. : )

Ingredients for Salsa

½ – tablespoon vegtable oil

1 – large onion (cut into 4 pieces)

5 – garlic cloves

¼ – cut salt plus 5 teaspoons

9 – Roma tomatoes

4 – chile de arbol

6 – serrano chile

9 – jalapeno chile

8 –  yellow chile

11 – stalks green onion (white part only, chopped)

½ – cup cilantro (remove stems, tear leaves into little pieces)

2- teaspoon black pepper

4 ½ – cups water chile was boiled in

Pour vegetable oil into a small frying pan, over medium flame, add brown onion and garlic cloves, allow to brown on all sides. Take out of pan and set in a bowl for later use.

In two large lidded pots (between 8 and 9 quarts) fill halfway with water. Set both pots over a medium flame and add 1/8 cup of salt to each water pot. Cover with lid and bring to a boil.  In one of the pots, add tomatoes and chile de arbol, cover with lid and let boil for 20 minutes.

In the other pot, add serrano chile, jalapeno chile, and yellow chile, cover with lid and let boil for 35 minutes.

While waiting for your chiles to boil, take this opportunity to chop the green onion and tear the cilantro.

In a blender (you’ll need to work in two separate batches, blending until all ingredients are blended) add boiled tomatoes, chile de arbol (remove stems), fried brown onion, fried garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoon salt, and 2 1/2 cups of water chiles were boiled in.

Blend for 30 seconds. Once blended pour tomato onion blend into a big bowl. Next mix in cilantro and green onion.

Now for the next round of blending. In a blender (you’ll need to work in two separate batches again, blending until all ingredients are blended) add serrano chiles (remove stems), jalapeno chiles (remove stems), yellow chiles (remove stems), 2 cups of water that chiles boiled in, 3 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Blend for 30 seconds.

Now add chile blend to big bowl of tomato onion blend and mix well.

There you have it…salsa for the ages!

ENJOY with corn chips or anything else your heart desires!

🙂 Salsa Tip: I usually divide salsa into jars and give away to friends or store in refrigerator  for up to a week.

This past Sunday,  Feb. 20th, I had a few girlfriends over for a potluck brunch.  What were we celebrating you ask? A few things…. a girlfriend’s birthday, I recently moved into a new house (bigger kitchen), a gathering of old and new friends, and of course good food. My girlfriends sure know how to make life more delicious.  We had an array of lick your plate clean dishes to choose from. Here’s what the menu consisted of: chilaquiles, shrimp cous cous salad, greek cucumber salad, butternut squash soup, mushroom spinach quiche, calabasitas, hash browns, enchiladas, lasagna, breakfast calzones, spanakopita and chicken empanadas.  For our dessert spread we had an amazing apple bundt cake (we ate every last piece of it), an apple pie, triple chocolate cake, a yummy fruit yogurt salad, and I made my oatmeal chocolate chip cranberry pecan cookies. Since then, my gals have been asking for the recipe.

Here’s the recipe along with a picture of half of the ladies eating outside in my patio.

Ingredients:

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, drop your oatmeal dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart.  Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until crispy.  Take out of oven and let cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Here’s a picture of my baby boy Max testing out the cookies before the brunch.  He gave his stamp of approval!