Salsa Dancing

As you might be able to tell from my limited posts throughout this summer, writing has taken the backseat to a few of my other summertime hobbies. With summer coming to a close I didn’t want to lose the results of my cooking obsession. Posting some recipes online is not only a way ensuring I have a point of reference for future cooking, but also provides an opportunity to share my joy of cooking (and eating).

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 cloves of garlic (cloves, not heads!), this is about 4 to 6 teaspoons of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley OR cilantro or 1 teaspoon of dry (I use parsley, cilantro tastes like soap to my palate)
• 2 to 6 jalapeno peppers*, deseeded (note, latex gloves help relieve pain of deseeding)
• 2 medium onions, de-skinned and quartered
• 3 pounds of Tomatoes, vine core removed, quartered and deseeded (deseeding doesn’t need to be obsessive, run fingers through tomatoes a bit to pop seeds out)
• 4 tomatillos, paper husks removed (optional- the ingredient, not the de-husking)
• Juice from ½ a fresh lime (lemon can also be used, but lime is much better with tortilla chips)
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (red wine vinegar is a good substitute)
• 1 to 2 ears of corn, grilled and removed from cob (corn is optional)
• Salt to taste
• A few shakes of Salsa Seasoning (if you are not lucky enough to have a Penzey’s Spices by you, order some online or add some cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper and/ir chipotle pepper)

Directions

• Put garlic and parsley/cilantro in food processor** and pulse 4 or 5 times, open food processor and spatula contents back to the middle.
• Add quartered onions to food processor and pulse 4 to 5 times.
• Add jalapenos to food processor, pulse 5 to 6 times.
• Add tomatoes and tomatillos to food processor; pulse until tomatoes are at desired consistency (some people like chunky salsa, some like saucy salsa)
• Pour into strainer to remove excess liquid (optional)
• After excess liquid removed, put into bowl
• Add lime juice, vinegar, salt and seasonings. Refrigerate for an hour or two before serving. Will remain edible for about a week, but won’t last that long!

*Peppers and spice are a very personal thing. Other peppers also work well in salsa including chilies, habaneros, serranos, and poblanos. With Jalapenos my rule of thumb is 2 jalapenos for mild, 4 for medium, 6 for hot. Anything less than 2 peppers is tomato sauce, not salsa.

**If you don't have a food processor this can kinda be done with a blender but honestly, you cannot call yourself a cook unless you own a food processor. Grab one of those billion Bath & Body Works or Linens 'N Things coupons that come in the mail and get a basic food processor. You will not be sorry.

As with any recipe, each person can play around with ingredients and amounts to fit their taste. Enjoy!