Walt's Corner

As I’m perusing my daily news stories via Apple News and Google News (yes, I use both), I usually come across an article that claims this that or the other about recipes. Most of the time I click on them and I think what an idiot the author is. Like that time someone claimed this expensive Seiko watch was now on sale at Walmart. Total rubbish. Sure it was a nice watch. But no, not one person has ever bought it for over $1000 like the article claimed.

Which takes me to today’s news. I clicked on the story fully expecting to bullshitted. Or is that bullshat? Either way I was pleasantly surprised. It was not bullshit. Why Mexican restaurant salsa always tastes better than homemade. The big reason stated is to use quality veggies and roasting them. You can roast them in a pan, in the oven, on a griddle or on grill. Use a grill and add some wood for smoke. I personally love that smoked salsa, but Carol doesn’t so I don’t do that too often. Alternatively, you could blanch the veggies instead – that is throw them in boiling water instead of roasting. For about 10 minutes. Then blend.

My simple red salsa recipe is Roma tomatoes, jalapeños (or Serranos if needed when jalapeños are not in hot season), red onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. For example, in that order, yesterday I used 5,4, 1/2, 5 cloves, half a bunch, 1, and to taste (probably about a tsp). I roasted the tomatoes, peppers, onion, and garlic on the Weber grill until they had the charred appearance I wanted (lots), transferred the peppers to a ziplock bag so they could steam for about 20 minutes, stemmed everything and transferred whole to my food processor. I don’t even bother to scrape the peppers. Pulsed a few times to get them somewhat chopped. Added the cilantro, squeezed the lime juice and added the salt. Processed on high until it was the consistency I wanted. Perfecto.

That’s just my ratio. And just the start. Play with it. Throw some cilantro leaves on top when done. Add more of one and less of the other. Add more spices if you like. Mexican oregano and cumin are a good start. Try different chiles. Go beyond processing and turn that shit into a red smoothie. Makes a great red sauce. If you do that add some avacado and/or cream to make it more smooth.

If you haven’t already figured out this secret, go ahead and give it a shot. You’ll bring your salsa game up to the next level. Playing around with it by varying the ratios is half the fun of trying out new salsas.

I’d like to say that I have never met a salsa that I didn’t like, but I’d be lying. There was this “Mexican restaurant” in San Angelo, TX we visited that was absolutely horrid. Tasted somewhere between tomato sauce and ketchup. If your salsa is that bad you might as well crack open a jar of Pace or Old El Paso. That would have been preferable over what they were serving. We ended up leaving and going to a Dairy Queen instead for tacos.