Me Pico la Salsa! Salsa Basics

Homemade tortilla chips are a must for any fresh made salsa! Go to the end of post for chip recipe! This is a collection of some of the salsa recipes that I prepare often.

“Me pico la salsa!“ (this salsa burned). Those were the words my Mom would say as she sat there enjoying countless meals she prepared for us with lot’s of love. If my mom thought it was spicy, then I knew it was going to be good. Believe it or not, there are some Mexican foods that are not spicy, but I grew up loving it.

Tomatillo Salsa. This is a slight variation of my other salsa verde recipes. The tomatillos are cooked for a shorter period of time, cooled and combined with fresh chile peppers, cilantro and lime. So, a cross between a cooked salsa and a salsa fresca all in one. Tasty!!

Ingredients

1 pound tomatillos
2 jalapenos
2 serrano peppers
1/3 cup cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
1 red fresno, diced fine (optional)

Directions

1. Remove husk from tomatillos and wash. Transfer to sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and let cool. If you blend hot tomatillos with fresh ingredients,  they will end up cooking from the heat and the flavor won’t be quite the same. So, let them cool.

2. Remove stems from chile peppers and give them a rough chop. Once tomatillos are cooled, combine with the remaining ingredients and pulse to blend. If it’s too thick, add a little water. Taste for salt. Garnish with red fresno chile. Someone please pass the chips!

A Trio of Summer Salsa’s. These salsa recipes are about the most basic cooked version that I prepare at least once a week. It’s my go to salsa! The hot peppers plentiful from the garden right now and my good friends Joanie and Kim were kind enough of share their harvest with me. One of the peppers featured in these recipe is a yellow version of a jalapeno, also known as “chile guero” or “caribe”. It’s not easy to find around here and I really enjoy using it for poppers or in my salsa recipes when I find it. It’s a little more mild than a jalapeno.

Ingredients
1 large white onion, peeled and sliced into thick rings
6 cloves garlic, leave skins on
4 to 6 large roma tomatoes
4 to 6 large tomatillos, skins removed and washed
3 to 4 chile caribe (gueros)
3 to 4 chile jalapeno
3 to 4 chile fresno
20 chile de arbol
*remove all stems from the chile peppers
2  limes
Salt to taste
water

Directions

1. In a large pot, add the tomatoes, tomatillos and all of the peppers. Cover with water, bring to boil, reduce heat and continue cooking for 20 minutes. Drain all but 1 cup of water.

2. Transfer the onion and garlic to a skillet or griddle pan and heat to medium heat. Drizzle lightly with oil and continue cooking until you get some browning and charring in some spots. Remove the garlic after 15 minutes so it does not burn. Remove skins from garlic and combine with onion in mini chopper. Pulse to chop into a coarse chop, set aside.

3. Separate the varieties of peppers and tomatoes and blend or chop them individually. I often do this when there are more than one kind of pepper and tomato. But you most certainly can blend them all together if you like. Add the chile de arbol to the blender with 1/3 of reserved water from the peppers. Blend on high until smooth. 

4. Once everything is chopped or processed you can mix/blend your salsa’s. You should have a tomato base, tomatillo base and chile de arbol base. Divide the chopped hot peppers and onion/garlic mix equally among the three salsa’s. Season with  a little fresh lime juice,  and salt to taste.

5. I would highly suggest cooking each salsa at a low simmer for ten minutes after blending. The cooking improves the flavor, extends the refrigerator life by a few days and cooks out all of the pectins that are in the tomatoes and tomatillos. This will prevent the salsa from clumping up in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Serve warm or at room temperature. Tomato and Tomatillo Salsa’s yield about 2 cups, chile de arbol salsa yields about 1 cup.

Tips~ For more flavor, try grilling all of your ingredients on an outdoor grill, minus the chile de arbol. After cooking the fresno peppers (red peppers), you may want to peel the skins off because they can be a little harder to chew.

Pico de Gallo, the first salsa I ever learned to make when I was 14 years old….it is simple, fresh and delicious!

Ingredients

6 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium white or red onion, diced
2 -3  serrano peppers,  minced
Handful of chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste 

*adding garlic is optional, my Mom never added it, but I love it now! 

Directions

Combine all the ingredients and stir well. Let salsa sit for 30 minutes before serving.

Tips~ And for a smokey pico, add 1 chipotle in adobo!

Tomato and Chile de Arbol Salsa or Salsa de Mesa

Essential to any Mexican table, this Salsa de Mesa can be prepared with a variety of chiles, fresh or dried. Most commonly prepared with  chile serrano, but I really love the flavors of the chile de arbol.

Ingredients

4 large roma tomatoes
8-12 chile de arbol
1 clove garlic
Pinch of Mexican oregano 
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Salt to taste

*For the serrano pepper version, replace the chile de arbol with 2 large serrano peppers.

Directions

Combine the tomatoes and chile de arbol in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain most of the water and transfer to the blender. Add all remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth, taste for salt. Transfer to a small pot and cook at a steady simmer for 10 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. For a milder version, just reduce the chiles by half.

Salsa Verde was the favorite salsa when my Mom prepared her traditional tamales. We loved it so much, we would request it at least once a week!

10 to 12 tomatillos, quartered (remove husk and rinse well)
3 to 5 serrano peppers, cut into thirds
6 -8 chile de arbol
1 small white onion, quartered
1 clove garlic, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup chopped cilantro, optional

*The lime, garlic and cilantro were not included in Mom’s original salsa recipe. Chef’s choice!

1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rinse in lukewarm water. Transfer tomatillos, serranos, chile de arbol and onion to a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Drain the water and transfer the tomatillo mixture to the blender, add the garlic, cilantro, lime juice and salt to tatse. Blend on high for just a few seconds. Taste for salt. Serve at room temperature.

Tips~ If you want to keep the tomatillo salsa all green just eliminate the chile de arbol.

Salsa de Tomatillo Fresco con Aguacate, this is always the hit of the party when I prepare it for friends and family. I often prepare it with all fresh ingredients when pairing it with homemade chips. My Mom would prepare a cooked version as well that was awesome with shredded beef taquitos. 

6 to 8 tomatillos, peeled, washed and roughly chopped
2 to 3 serranos, roughly chopped
1/4 of a white onion, chopped
1 large avocado (or 2 for extra creamy)
Handful of washed cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and blend on high until smooth. Taste for salt. I sometimes will add a tiny bit of water for easier blending.

Tips~ For a Taqueria Style Avocado Salsa, poach the tomatillos, chiles and onions until soft. Let cool, then blend as directed with remaining ingredients.

There is something so delicious and addicting about habanero peppers when added to your favorite salsa recipe! Cannot get enough!

Blackened Tomatillo-Habanero-Poblano Salsa

10 tomatillos, husk removed and washed
2 poblanos
1 small white onion, sliced thick
3 habaneros
4 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 key lime
Salt to taste

1. Preheat a large skillet or comal to medium heat for 5 minutes. Line with heavy foil paper and drizzle a little canola oil onto foil.

2. Lay all the veggies onto hot pan and cook until blackened in most spots. Cook the garlic and onions towards the outside of pan because they cook a lot quicker. When ready, transfer the poblanos to a plastic bag to let them steam and cool slightly. Remove other veggies from heat and let cool.

3. Once vegetables have cooled slightly, add the tomatillos and habaneros(remove stems) to the blender. Pulse to blend to create a coarse chop. Peel the blistered skins from the poblanos and remove the stems and seeds. Chop the poblanos and garlic. Combine all of the ingredients together, add lime juice and salt to taste.

 Spicy Grilled Tomatillo Chile Japones Salsa ~ April 28, 2014

2 tablespoons olive oil
25 chile japonés, remove stems if they have any
4 large tomatillos, grilled
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste

1. Line a medium pan with easy release foil paper. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil and preheat to medium heat for 2 minutes.

2. Add the chiles and cook just until you get some blackening and they become aromatic. Do not leave them unattended or they will burn and become bitter. Remove from heat and transfer to the blender; set aside.

3. On an outdoor grill or stove-top grill, add the tomatillos and drizzle with another teaspoon of oil. Grill and cook the tomatillos until they blacken on most sides. Remove from heat and transfer to the blender with the chiles.

4. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the blender and start by pulsing to blend. Leave as chunky or as smooth as you would like. Taste for salt and transfer to serving dish. Let the salsa come to room temperature. It will be hot! Yields about 2 cups. Store in an airtight container for up to one week in refrigerator.

Go To End Of Post For Homemade Tortilla Chips Recipe!

And with all these tasty homemade salsa recipes, we must have homemade tortilla chips! Once you have tried and tasted homemade tortilla chips, you will never want store bought chips again!

Grilled Poblano Salsa…. and with warmer weather comes grilling! Lot’s and lot’s of grilling! May 13, 2014

Ingredients

3 poblanos
1 red bell pepper
3 jalapeños
2 serranos
2 fresnos
3 roma tomatoes
1 small red onion, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic, skins on
olive oil
Juice of 1 lime, if you can find key limes, I would suggest using them, tasty!   
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cilantro, optional

Directions

1. Wash all the peppers and tomatoes. Preheat grill to medium heat. Remove the stems and seeds from the large mild peppers. Remove the stems from the hot peppers. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and transfer to hot grill.

2. Grill and cook until the skins on the peppers begin to blister and char in most spots. Turn as needed. The garlic should be ready after about 10 to 12 minutes, remove and reserve.

3. When ready, transfer the large peppers to a plastic bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let them steam for 20 minutes. Remove skins from garlic and transfer to food processor along with onion. Pulse to chop, transfer to a bowl. Remove skins from steamed peppers and continue processing the remaining ingredients. Mix all together, add lime juice, salt and pepper.

Spicy Tomatillo/Chile de Arbol Salsa. I really enjoy this salsa for huevos rancheros!

Ingredients

5 tomatillos
2 guajillo peppers, stems and seeds removed
15 chile de arbol, remove stems if any
1/4 white onion
1-2 cloves garlic
Salt to taste

Directions

Combine the tomatillos, guajillos, chile de arbol and onion in a sauce pan, cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and continue cooking for about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain water, transfer mixture to blender, add garlic and salt to taste. Blend on high until smooth. When I have them available I like to add a little fresh key lime juice to the salsa. Yields about 1 1/2 cups.

Salsa Asada-Roasted Tomato Poblano Salsa

Salsa Asada/Roasted Tomato Poblano . For years I would watch my Mom slow roast poblanos on the stove top on her comal. And to this day, I prepare mine the same way. Especially since I only have an electric stove and roasting them on the direct flame is out of the question, lol! Oven roasting is nice also, but the flavors developed from slow roasting on a comal are like no other. Thanks Mom…

Ingredients

4 roma tomato
1 small white onion, sliced into thick rings
2 serrano peppers
1 jalapeño pepper
1 poblano pepper
4 cloves garlic, leave skins on
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lime or 2 key limes
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste

Directions

1. Heat a cast iron pan or comal to medium heat. Line the pan with easy release foil paper…or not, lol! I use it to save me some scrubbing time (bad wrist). Add the tomatoes, onions, peppers and garlic. Drizzle with a little oil and cook for 25 to 30 minutes turning as needed.

2. Remove the garlic after 15 minutes. Once the vegetables have charred and blackened in some spots, remove them from heat, cover and let them cool.

3. Remove blistered skin from poblano, stems and seeds from peppers and skins from garlic. Roughly chop all of the ingredients before adding to the food processor. Pulse to chop until you reach the consistency you like. Add lime juice and salt to taste. Mix and pour into serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Yields about 2 cups.

And, finally. After all of these tasty salsa recipes, some cooked and some not, this last recipe is my semi homemade, Restaurant-Style Salsa(Easy Tomato Jalapeño Salsa). It won me a first place trophy a few years back, lol! Crazy, right? I had one lady prepare this recipe and she canned it, sent it all the way to Saudi Arabia! Her daughter, who was in the military there loved it! After visiting San Antonio, Texas seven years ago, I was inspired to prepare this salsa. It was winter time here in New York and I needed an inexpensive way to make a large batch of salsa for a lunch I was preparing every week. This was it! Everyone loved it!