On salsa: ambrosia itself

Cafe Society
21

I didn’t try it with oregano – I know, sacrilege, but after I tried it with the dill it was so close to the stuff I had known and loved that I called it a win and stopped. I’ll pick up some Mexican oregano and try that, it sounds good.

I don’t necessarily disagree with you in principle, but remember that I was trying to copy a recipe that was created by a guy trying to make an assembly-line, year-round product. What he could buy by the case was I’m sure preferable to hoping to get good fresh stuff reliably year-round.

I currently have 60 pepper plants well on their way to fruiting beautifully. Jalepenos, anaheims, serranos, hatch, and half a dozen other varieties. But no habs. I personally don’t like the taste of habs, they have an almost petrochemical taste to me. Plus, they ain’t that hot. You want to mix in some superior heat and flavor, add some Fataliis and some Sugar Rush Peach peppers. Yummmmmm.

TBH I had never used dill in anything, I was snooping around some random corner of the internet one day and someone somewhere mentioned putting dill in salsa. I figured what the hell and tried it. That was my eureka moment.

Interestingly, I don’t like raw tomatoes. My parents love them and always have. When I was a kid they would give me all sorts of crap for no eating tomatoes, but whatever. I didn’t like them. Well into adulthood I decided to try one again: freshly picked off the vine from my parent’s garden. I didn’t start gagging like I thought I would (and what would’ve happened if I ate one when I was 14), but I just didn’t like it.

And I think that’s one reason I don’t like most commercial salsas. Tostitos, Pace, and similar just taste like tomatoes to me. Interestingly, I like cooked tomatoes (like in a sauce) or even raw tomatoes in a pico de gallo. I used to have a pico de gallo recipe that sounds identical to WildaBeast’s. Everything was raw of course, and that was good.

So I think any salsa where the tomato flavor is not the primary flavor is all right by me. Mrs. Renfro’s used to have a black bean salsa that was wonderful. The product still exists, but it doesn’t have the same flavor as it used to — not nearly as good.

22

Come fall, I’ll make some tomatillo salsa (salsa verde) from the volunteer tomatilla plants that pop up in our garden each year. We planted tomatillo plants years ago and they’ve come back up every year since.

23

Canned tomatoes in a salsa is perfectly fine, nay, preferred if you don’t have a source for good, fresh tomatoes (and unless they’re coming out of my garden, I don’t.)

Dill is an oddball ingredient in salsa, I must say. Dried dill doubly so. I’m almost curious now, though I never keep dried dill around the house (have fresh in the garden, though.) Mexican oregano is the more typical dried herb of choice.

And if you don’t like tomato-ey salsas, there are plenty of salsas out there that have nothing to do with tomatoes (often using tomatillos – both in red and green salsas.)

24

I have a book here, in Spanish (though I think it has an English edition now), called “Tacopedia” that in the back section has about 30 recipes for various salsa, from your standard Mexican restaurant table salsas (like salsa taquera, salsa ranchera, and salsa verde) to stuff not as well-known in the US like peanut salsa (one of our local taquerias has a blazingly hot one), “drunken” salsa (salsa borracha) which is made with beer or pulque (a fermented agave drink), to a a chile guajillo salsa made with maguey worms. The pico de gallo recipe is interesting to me, as it also includes half a jicama, a shot of orange juice (instead of lime), and a splash of vodka in it. (For those interested: 1/2 medium jicama, 2 medium tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 2 jalapenos, 1 serrano, 1 “caballito” (I think “shot” in this context) of orange juice, 1 small bunch cilantro, 1 splash of vodka, salt to taste. Proceed as you would with any other pico de gallo, i.e. chop everything fairly finely.)

25

In the interest of science, I made a batch of salsa and cooked it in a couple tablespoons of hot oil for 15 minutes, as the Restaurant Salsa recipe I linked to upthread directed. I used my recipe; I just used the cooking technique from the link. It’s cooling now, and I’m looking forward to trying it for dinner. Will keep y’all posted.

Here’s a link to the Restaurant Salsa recipe again, in case anybody’s interested but doesn’t feel like going back and hunting for it:

26

Thanks for taking the initiative, solost; I was gonna do the same thing today but I have to get more tomatoes at the store.

27

I just used canned tomatoes I had on hand. I would’ve used fresh if I could easily get my hands on vine-ripened plum tomatoes from the Farmers Market, but Bon Appetit and pulykamell back me up on canned being perfectly fine. So to canned tomato haters I say :stuck_out_tongue:

28

So the cooked salsa is cooled and I tried a little with a few chips. I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. When all the ingredients are raw there’s a brightness to the flavors that gets muted with cooking. It helped to mix back in some fresh lime juice, but overall I prefer my homemade salsa to be “garden fresh”, in the raw.

The exception to that is when in the past I’ve grilled some flank or skirt steak for fajitas, and I’d take the peppers and onion and sear them, but not cook them though, on the grill. Then I’d blend them up with the raw tomatoes (canned or fresh) and a raw clove or two of garlic. That’s some good salsa! Nice smoky but subtle chipotle-like flavor.

29

I only waited 23 hours. :smiley:

Lancia’s Roseburg Salsa is pretty good IMO. I like the heat level. I like the dill but I can prolly cut it in half for my tastes. I think it needs some cebolla onion, so I’ll add one tonight to the recipe. In fact, I think i’m gonna saute the onion first. I like green peppers too so I’ma add a small one.

What do store-bought salsa like Tostito’s or On The Border do to make their salsa thicker and more goo-like? I like that consistency and the way it helps grab onto the chips. Is it just oil from cooking it?

30

I’ve wondered about that too. I suspected some kind of thickener additive like xanthan gum. So I looked it up on the Tostitos.com site. Here’s what’s in Tostito’s Restaurant style Salsa (Medium):

Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Juice, Water, Unpeeled Ground Tomatoes in Tomato Puree, Onions, Jalapeno Peppers, and Less than 2% of the Following: Salt, Garlic Powder, Vinegar Pectin, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Tomato Paste, and Spices (including cilantro).

Which of these ingredients is not like the other? Spoiler:

Pectin
Pectin is a naturally occurring substance (a polysaccharide) found in berries, apples and other fruit. When heated together with sugar, it causes a thickening that is characteristic of jams and jellies.

31

I make my own salsa occasionally, and I make it for my taste. I don’t think anyone else would appreciate it, but I like it. Playing around with different types of peppers and spices is fun.

I recently came across a copycat recipe for a restaurant salsa that I loved but haven’t had for more than 20 years – Taco Cabana’s salsa fuego. I’m going to try it out. If it’s even close to what I remember, it’ll be remade often.

32

That’s interesting. Before seeing that ingredient list I would have guessed tomato paste, since when I add that to cooked salsa when I make it it seems to have a thickening effect.

33

Interesting; I know that tomatoes are high in pectin, too, especially ripe ones. Well, that definitely means I’m gonna try cooking my next batch of salsa then.

Thanks for spotting that, solost.

ETA: I just checked and none of the On The Border salsas list pectin as an ingredient so maybe just the heat reaction is all it’ll take.

34

The salsa I cooked today had a bit more body but there’s still a separated-out watery component. But as mentioned, I used canned tomatoes, not fresh. So YMMV.

35

Mine is similar with rotels, a small amount of fresh onion vs onion power (crunch) and a finely diced jalapeno (more crunch and sweet heat). Some people will turn their nose up at using rotels vs fresh, but its available year round and consistent.

36

Flavor. It’s a bit like the difference between, say, fresh tomatoes and tomato taste. Maybe not that extreme, but the idea is that less cooked or raw = fruitier taste, cooked salsa = a more deep, mellow, perhaps earthy taste? Think raw onions vs cooked onions. Raw garlic vs cooked garlic. You get the idea. Cooking tends to mellow and concentrate the flavors and it seems, at least to me, to also temper perceived acidity.

It’s kind of like the difference in taste between a quickly cooked (like 10 minutes or so) tomato sauce and one that’s been sitting on the stove for hours. Different flavor profiles.

37

Rotel is the go-to when I can’t be arsed to make pico de gallo but I’m too into it to just open a jar of Tostitos. Rotel, diced onions, a little cilantro, a lot more garlic and we call it good.

38

This version, I assume?

39

That’s a big thumbs-up!

40

Because I put some stuff in blender the other day, I felt I was obviously qualified to make my own salsa with my own recipe.

:smiley:

It’s in the fridge now, chilling.

I diced two good sized cebolla onions and then sautéed them at very low heat for about 30 minutes.

Then I added ½ tsp. minced garlic and a medium sized green pepper (diced) and gave it another 30 minutes of low heat.

Next I added 2 10 oz. cans of Ro-Tel Original and 2 14.5 oz cans of Del Monte Tomatoes with green chiles, a teaspoon of dill, a teaspoon of cumin and a teaspoon of black pepper and got it to a boil. Covered and simmered with occasional stirring for an hour at low heat.

Then I put it all in the blender on “Low” and “Blend” just until the top started to move (there was a lot of inertia because it was so thick with stuff).

And now it’s in the fridge. I’ll report back tomorrow afternoon when I take my first taste.