WhateverYouWant
Sous Chef
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2019
- Messages
- 609
TL;DR… Looking for your best Salsa Verde methods.
I love salsa… on chips, tortillas, tacos, tostadas as a braise for various proteins, and more. I will include my go to method below as a reference to what I find ideal in a tomato salsa.
But I have never made Salsa Verde. I used to have a neighbor who's wife canned it regularly, and it was really good. I am not looking to can, just want a great fresh one. I have scoured the internet and have yet to find one that sounds right. Some say fry the veggies, others say broil, and still others say char. A number of them don't have cilantro (??), and some don't have lime juice(????). Some say serrano peppers, others say poblano, and others jalapeno. Many of them came out looking more like salad dressing than salsa, so I gave up.
Scott's Favorite Red Salsa
2 Tomatoes
1 Jalapeno
1 small handful Cilantro
1 to 2 garlic cloves (depending on size)
1/4 to 1/2 white onion (depending on size)
1/4 teaspoon ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
juice of 1/2 to one whole Lime (depending on size)
large pinch of kosher Salt
large pinch of freshly ground black Pepper
Tomato Paste (to taste)
Agave Syrup (to taste)
1.) Cut up the tomatoes for a fine dice in the food processor, and if you find your tomatoes have a lot of seedy liquid or white flesh, you'll want to remove about half of it from each tomato. Pulse in the processor until you get a fine consistent dice. The mixture should be red and not pink. Add to a mixing bowl.
2.) Add garlic and seeded, ribbed jalapeno to processor and pulse to mince.
3.) Cutup onion to get a consistent fine dice in the processor, add cilantro and process. Add to the mixing bowl.
4.) Add cumin, chili powder and lime juice to the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Now I use a small bowl with the paddle on my stand mixer to do this, which I know seems like overkill, but I got it sitting on the counter anyway, and it does a really great job evening out the tomato flesh and creating consistent flavor/texture, which makes the next optional (but usually not for me) step ideal. If you don't have one just use a large bowl and whisk.
5.) If your using supermarket tomatoes, and they are typically not that sweet or flavorful, you'll want to doctor this with same tomato paste (I use a tube af Cento Double Concentrated), and some Agave Nectar (yeah you could use sugar, but the agave is much more stable). Start with a tablespoon or so of the tomato paste, and a light drizzle of the agave. This usually nails it, but mix it well again and taste. If it is close, don't add any more as these flavors will intensify during refrigeration.
6.) Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
I love salsa… on chips, tortillas, tacos, tostadas as a braise for various proteins, and more. I will include my go to method below as a reference to what I find ideal in a tomato salsa.
But I have never made Salsa Verde. I used to have a neighbor who's wife canned it regularly, and it was really good. I am not looking to can, just want a great fresh one. I have scoured the internet and have yet to find one that sounds right. Some say fry the veggies, others say broil, and still others say char. A number of them don't have cilantro (??), and some don't have lime juice(????). Some say serrano peppers, others say poblano, and others jalapeno. Many of them came out looking more like salad dressing than salsa, so I gave up.
Scott's Favorite Red Salsa
2 Tomatoes
1 Jalapeno
1 small handful Cilantro
1 to 2 garlic cloves (depending on size)
1/4 to 1/2 white onion (depending on size)
1/4 teaspoon ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
juice of 1/2 to one whole Lime (depending on size)
large pinch of kosher Salt
large pinch of freshly ground black Pepper
Tomato Paste (to taste)
Agave Syrup (to taste)
1.) Cut up the tomatoes for a fine dice in the food processor, and if you find your tomatoes have a lot of seedy liquid or white flesh, you'll want to remove about half of it from each tomato. Pulse in the processor until you get a fine consistent dice. The mixture should be red and not pink. Add to a mixing bowl.
2.) Add garlic and seeded, ribbed jalapeno to processor and pulse to mince.
3.) Cutup onion to get a consistent fine dice in the processor, add cilantro and process. Add to the mixing bowl.
4.) Add cumin, chili powder and lime juice to the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Now I use a small bowl with the paddle on my stand mixer to do this, which I know seems like overkill, but I got it sitting on the counter anyway, and it does a really great job evening out the tomato flesh and creating consistent flavor/texture, which makes the next optional (but usually not for me) step ideal. If you don't have one just use a large bowl and whisk.
5.) If your using supermarket tomatoes, and they are typically not that sweet or flavorful, you'll want to doctor this with same tomato paste (I use a tube af Cento Double Concentrated), and some Agave Nectar (yeah you could use sugar, but the agave is much more stable). Start with a tablespoon or so of the tomato paste, and a light drizzle of the agave. This usually nails it, but mix it well again and taste. If it is close, don't add any more as these flavors will intensify during refrigeration.
6.) Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.