I say I don’t love Mexican (or Tex-Mex) food because I don’t love spicy, peppery food, but I do love it. You know? I think that I won’t want any, but then I cry through the whole meal — I end up wanting all of it and craving more! The struggle is so real…
I’ve been to very good authentic and inauthentic Mexican restaurants, so I think I know what I want in a salsa — but apologies to those of you who actually know what you are doing. I know how it feels to have an ignorant person give you their version of something you are super familiar with. Auntie Leila would not wish to be accused of cultural appropriation, especially if poorly done.
On the other hand, it hurts me to buy jars of salsa! I’m so cheap! It’s so expensive!
In my defense, I did look up a bunch of highly rated recipes and, aside from the lack of fresh cilantro, which I don’t have on hand but can add when I get some, tried my best not to offend with my bumbling attempts.
I wanted something both roasted and fresh, so I followed my heart. I think I succeeded — this salsa has a deep but also very bright flavor. I’m a spice wimp, but to me it has a bit of heat that lingers (you will roll your eyes, but you can tweak it). The Chief says that its spice is “different” and comes on towards the end of the bite.
I'm writing down what I did here because next year I want to plant tomatillos and cilantro so I can make my own salsa and can great batches of it. I have had cilantro in the herb garden (down in my veggie garden, not by the porch) in the past — it reseeds itself well, but I disturbed the soil it was in and now I have to start over. But I've never grown tomatillos.
I will know how much to increase the recipe so we can have it all year, I hope!
SALSA, Like Mother, Like Daughter
(It's not spicy because, it’s me — use more jalapeños for more kick. You can also add a small amount of minced chipotle for another kind of heat. I am happy using the pickled kind because I have no interest in handling fresh hot peppers! Too wimpy!)
4 tomatillos
5 or so large tomatoes or 15 or so small Roma-type ones, which is what I had from the late garden here
1 small yellow or red pepper
1 small green pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
8 slices pickled jalapeño pepper (these come in a jar and vary in heat — I have no idea how hot these were — I never willingly eat them)
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup lemon and lime juice
1/4 cup tomato juice/puree
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp coriander
(Optional — I didn't think of this until later — about a teaspoon of minced chipotle, of the kind that comes in a small can as far as I am concerned. Usually I take a tiny amount of this dangerous substance and put the rest in the freezer.)
Everything needs to be chopped into salsa-size bits (I like it somewhat chunky, but if doing this by hand, that means smaller pieces than you think — but don't make it into an undifferentiated mush)
Reserve half the tomatoes, 1 clove garlic, and half the onion for the fresh part of the salsa.
For the roasted part: Take the tomatillos, half of the tomatoes, the peppers (including pickled peppers), half of the onion, and one garlic clove and roast under the broiler. The liquid should cook off and the veggies should begin to brown a bit.
Transfer all that to a bowl. Add the other, raw ingredients (I really mashed the other clove of garlic). You can add the minced chipotle if you are using it, at this point. Mix well and taste. If it’s good, process as directed* (this means you have to look it up, and I will next year, God willing! This batch will stay in the fridge until we gobble it up — the avocados are ripening as we speak!)
Here's this year's little batch-let. Not even processing it, just going ahead and eating!
*You need 1 cup of lemon juice and/or vinegar for 5 cups of salsa but Auntie Leila doesn't want you getting botulism so look it up!
staralfur21 says
Oh this looks so good!! I’m some what of a wimp when it comes to heat, too! I just hate that when I processed my salsa this year that it does kind of cook into mush!! I have the same issue with canning cucumbers!! Everything just cooks down a tad too much during the processing time. Sigh. But still beats buying good quality/expensive salsa in the store all winter!! You know we live for these recipes of yours, thanks for posting!
Esther C says
Definitely going to try this! Thanks for sharing.
Thrift at Home says
haha, I used to make and can salsa and it was so much work that I stopped and just buy salsa 🙂
Your method and your end result look really good!
But this year I had super-success with a salsa last week. I need to write the blog post to go with the photos. It’s on my list!
BridgetAnn says
Anything special when growing your cilantro, Aunt Leila? We put it once, if not twice in our herb garden and it doesn’t thrive like the other ones. I love cilantro! In addition to being so much cheaper than the store, fresh herbs are ready whenever you want them instead of planning around store-bought herbs that need to be used before they go bad…
Leila M Lawler says
BridgetAnn, mine grew well in the part of my garden that has rather poor, dry soil. I find it does not transplant well at all, but grows from seed and reseeds well. It does die back by July-ish though…
Kate says
I only make my own salsa if we have a lot of tomatoes in the garden; otherwise, it’s cheaper to buy good salsa at Trader Joe’s. We grew tomatoes and jalapenos this summer, but the tomatoes were mostly a bust. and so I was left with all these lonely jalapenos. My husband loves chile rellenos and I briefly thought of using the jalapenos for that dish until I looked up videos and saw how much work it was (almost as involved as tamales). The whole jalapenos are still in the frig.
Donna L. says
Hello Kate~ We had the same problem–no tomatoes-lots of jalapenos…I made cream cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon {no breading} baked for 30 minutes and they were divine! Just a thought~
NY Mom says
To take this to the highest heavens it might be neat to try making your own tortilla chips. I bought some at our local farmer’s market recently and it was a revelation to see how much better they are than store-bought. Of course I have not tried this yet myself…but am suggesting it as a possible worthy complement to your beautiful salsa!
Leila says
Oh my, NY Mom, you are upping the ante haha!
Matilda says
Yum!
On a side note, Auntie Leila, I found out today that “Around the Year with the Trapp Family” was just reprinted earlier this month by Sophia Institute Press. Perhaps you mentioned it already and my searches aren’t catching it. But since I found out about the book from your blog, this was one of the first places I thought of to share the good news.
Leila says
Matilda, this is so exciting! I need to get a copy. Maybe we can do a giveaway here!