A Duo of Smokin’ Salsa’s
If you could have seen my face the first time I tasted a salsa that had been smoked! Just when I thought I had tried just about every salsa known to man, lol! It was during a trip to Austin, Texas while visiting my brother Ismael and his wife Janet Lynn. My sister in law is an accomplished cook and she literally cook run circles around me in the kitchen, ha, ha, ha!!! I love that girl! The love of cooking and good home cooked food rubbed off onto my brother Ismael and he loves to grill and smoke all kinds of dishes.
The salsa was he prepared that night consisted of tomatoes, serranos and onions with lot’s of lime and salt. I am not sure what kind of wood he used to smoke it, but the flavor was amazingly delicious. This spring and summer, my goal is to learn a little more about using my charcoal grill to smoke different meats. Now I can add salsa tot hat list as well. I was very happy with the results of my first attempt at preparing a smoked salsa! Thanks Ismael and Janet!
For the smoked salsa pictured above I used 3 large jalapeños, 6 roma tomato, 1/3 white onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Smoke as directed. Pulse to chop. Add juice of 3 key limes, cilantro and salt to taste.
Tri tip steaks! So easy to quick grill for some of the best steak tacos right off your grill! Choose your favorite steak rub to season the steaks 20 minutes before grilling. Grill on high heat for about 3 minutes per side. For medium/rare, I pull the steaks when internal temperature is between 125-130 degrees F. Let rest for a few minutes and then slice!
Ingredients
For Smokin' Salsa Roja
- 8 to 10 roma tomatoes
- 4 red fresno peppers
- 2 jalapeño peppers
- 1/2 large white onion
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Salt to taste
For Smokin' Salsa Verde
- 8 to 10 tomatillos
- 4 to 6 serrano peppers
- 2 poblano peppers
- 1/2 large white onion
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Salt to taste
*You will also need about 4 to 5 cups of hickory chips that have been soaked in water.
Instructions
- Wash all the vegetables and place them in a metal dish that is lined with foil paper. Make sure pan will fit on one side of grill with lid closed.
- Build your charcoal fire one one side of grill. We use lump charcoal. Preheat until you reach 275 to 300 degrees F. Add 3 cups soaked hickory chips to one side of hot charcoals, in the center of grill. Once they start smoking, add the pan of vegetables to the indirect heat and cook with lid closed for 30 minutes.
- Turn all the vegetables over and move pan to the direct heat and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until tomatoes and tomatillos are soft. You want most of the skins on the peppers to blacken and blister as well. You want to try and keep the lid closed as much as you can.
- I like to process all my veggies separately by pulsing them in the food processor. I find that by doing this, I avoid big chunks of tomato or onion left behind. But if you like your salsa's more smooth, you can process or blend all together.
- Before finishing the salsa recipes, remove the skins from the poblano and fresno peppers. The other chile peppers will be fine because the skins are thin.
- For the Salsa Verde: Add tomatillos, poblanos, serranos and 1/2 of the onion. Season with lime juice and salt to taste. For the Salsa Roja: In a separate bowl, add all of the remaining ingredients. Season to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. Each salsa yields about 5 cups each. Cool completely and store in airtight containers in the coldest part of your refrigerator. It will keep for up to 6-7 days.
Hickory Smoked Tomatillo Poblano Salsa
smoked tomatillo poblano salsa
Tips~ After salsa has been refrigerated, I like to serve only the salsa I know I will need in a small bowl. This will prevent the salsa from spoiling. The constant temperature change is not good for any food.
Do you leave the skin on the peppers after smoking them or remove them before you chop them in the food processor.
Hi Linda, thank you for the question. I revised the instructions. Yes you remove the skins from the poblanos and from the red fresno peppers.