Every Road Leads Me To Salsa! Lol!
Before I begin any Mexican recipe, first thing that comes to mind, is salsa! What kind of salsa should I prepare? And whether it’s going to be salsa for tacos or maybe enchiladas down the line, it never hurts to do a little planning ahead. At any given time, you will find various glass jars of homemade salsa, sauce and or adobo waiting in my refrigerator. It comes in handy! Remember this tip! I often use enchilada sauce(red or green) for braising meats or in soup base. Add broth to thick adobos and they too can work for braising or stewed meats.
Green Go! Green Go!
I try my best to always have both red and green salsa or sauce readily available in my refrigerator. The fresher, tomatillo avocado salsa, I prepare and serve the same day. It’s still good the next day, but really best on the first day. It does make a tasty topping for any tacos, including tacos de lengua(beef tongue).
Chile Verde Sauce/Salsa
I love this recipe for chile verde sauce! It’s so versatile and can be used in various recipes. Enchiladas, tacos ahogados, burritos, pozole, chile verde, guisados and more! I developed this recipe quite a few years ago. When I decided I wanted it to be one of the recipes in the cookbook, Mexican Salsa, I tested it several times. I didn’t change a thing, except that now I have a power blender and there was no straining of the sauce as in the original recipe.
Roasted Salsa Verde!
I heard a famous chef announce that tomatillos should never be boiled for salsa recipes. He prefers and instructs to always roast under the broiler. Broiling tomatillos, I must confess, is not my favorite way to prepare salsa verde. As much as I admire and respect this famous chef(not mentioning names), I grew up with a Mexican mama who prepared her tomatillo chile de arbol salsa with boiled tomatillos forerver! The salsa was always delicious and it’s still one of my top favorites. For my roasted salsa verde, I like to use a comal(griddle) and dry roast my ingredients slowly. Almost like a right of passage, we pass it on.
Roasted Tomatillo Avocado Salsa!
The green sauce! Tomatillo avocado salsa! The more simplified and quick version of this recipe was one of the very first salsas I learned to prepare. The simplified version is basically adding all of the ingredients raw to the blender. Season and blend until smooth! Dry roasting the ingredients(minus the avocado) adds another level of flavor. Dip your chips, flautas, veggies and more into this! Mix with sour cream and dress your favorite wedge salad! Mmmm! I think that may be a future post!
Back To The Lengua!
When I prepared this lengua en salsa, I never intended on adding it to the blog. But since I used the chile verde sauce, it just kind of all tied in together. I am hoping to revisit the recipe and prepare it once again. I was nursing a bad cold when I prepared it and I was kind of rushing through it all. My friends were waiting to eat Sunday brunch! Lol!
Equipment
- 8 quart pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 4 1/2-5 lbs beef tongue
- Water
- 1 large white onion
- 1 large bulb of garlic
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 tsps peppercrorns
- Salt, to taste
- Avocado oil
- 2 -2 1/2 cups Chile Verde Sauce see link above for recipe
Garnish
- Chopped cilantro
- Diced onion
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- After trimming away excess fat from the beef tongue, rinse well under cold water. Transfer to the pressure cooker.
- Cover tongue with enough water to cover 1-2 inches above. Add half the onion, half the garlic. Also add the bay leaves, peppercorns and salt to taste. Secure and lock the lid of pressure cooker and heat to medium/high.
- Once pressure cooker begins to release pressure rapidly, reduce the heat to below medium. Set your timer for 1 hour.
- After the timer goes off, carefully remove the pressure cooker from the heat. I say this only because if you have an electric flat top, it will stay hot for a little while. While you wait, slice the remaining onion into thin strips. Mince or slice the remaining garlic.
- When safety valve releases and it's safe to open the pressure cooker, remove the tongue and transfer to cutting board. Let cool for a few minutes. Drain solids from the broth remaining. Discard solids.
- Preheat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, deep skillet at medium heat for a few minutes. Carefully remove the loose skin from the beef tongue and discard. Slice beef into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch rounds.
- To the preheated skillet, add the onion. Saute for 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Pour in the 2 cups of Chile Verde Sauce and 1 cup of reserved beef tongue broth. Lay in the sliced beef tongue, making sure it all gets covered with sauce. Taste for salt after a few minutes. If you like it more saucy, you can adjust the amount of chile verde sauce and beef broth as you like. Serve with your favorite sides and plenty of warm tortillas!
Notes
Reader Interactions
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Would Love to Hear From You