On my last post I announced that this month’s Homemade challenge was salsas. There are many kinds of different salsas in Mexico, but the most popular ones are red salsa made with dried chiles and tomatoes and green salsa made with fresh chiles and tomatillos. When you eat at traditional Mexican restaurants, taquerias, torterias, fair booths or any other place tha serves authentic Mexican food, you are always able to choose between the two (plus any other specialty of the house). At my parents’ fonda part of the morning prep was to make a big batch of each salsa for the day. Two bowls of salsa (one of each) were served for every table, according to the traditional Mexican way.
Roasting these salsa ingredients before blending them will enhance the flavor significantly. But you can also used them raw to give the salsa a taste of freshness. Here are the recipes for these two salsas:
Salsa Verde
The ingredients:
- 1lb tomatillos
- 2 jalapeno chiles
- 1 small onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- handful cilantro
- salt
The how-to:
- On the grill or a iron cast skillet over medium high heat roast tomatillos, chiles and garlic. Turn ingredients a couple of times to roast them evenly.
- Blend with the rest of the ingredients for 1-2 minutes and cool down before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Salsa Roja
The ingredients:
- 2-3 large fresh tomatoes
- 1 small onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- dried chile (the amount will depend of the kind of pepper you are using and how spicy you want your salsa to be. For this salsa I used ghost peppers that I received from Marx Foods. They are very hot so I only used one. Be sure to know how hot the peppers you are getting are and be very careful when handling them)
- 2 TBSP vinegar
- salt
The how-to:
- In an iron-cast skillet over medium-high heat roast garlic and dried pepper (make sure your kitchen is well ventilated before this step)
- Cut tomatos in quarters and blend with the rest of the ingredients.
- Store leftovers in refrigerator.
All homemade salsa recipes, no matter how mild or hot, are welcomed this month that we are celebrating Mexican cuisine. Also remember that heidileon is having a Mexican Fiesta on her blog for the same reason so you can send your Mexican food creations over to her.
¡Buen provecho!
29 Replies
Those salsas sound and look fantastic!!!!! Great pictures as usual.
Posted on September 8th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Your salsas look absolutely delicious! I happen to love salsa so much that I'm doing a salsa series on my blog! So far, I've posted recipes for Guajillo Salsa, Avocado Salsa, and Fire Roasted Salsa.
Posted on September 8th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Wish I could have a few bottles of each. These sound great!
Posted on September 8th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
A wonderful start to your event Ben. Your salsas sound delicious and look even better.
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 12:17 am
Looks Awesome!! Salsa Roja is our favorite, & was planning to do some with my yard grown tomatoes!
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Very nice! I'd love to see all those salsas
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 1:49 am
As usual, I love your photos, especially the photo of the jalapeños. I love making homemade salsa. I should have participated in this challenge. I had made two or three batches of pico de gallo and salsa roja but didn't take any photos of them.
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 5:35 am
*I meant to say that I should participate (not "should have participated").
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 5:36 am
A wonderful choice! i always make salsas at home, will try and send my entry!
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Love the first shot of the 2 bottled salsas! I have a plantain salsa for you which I'll be posting tomorrow. Hope you like it.
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Beautiful, homemade are the best !!!!!
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Homemade salsa is just the best!
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
These look both gorgeous and delicious. It was great getting these technique suggestions!
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I'm loving your photography- simply gorgeous! And the salsas look amazing. Great post.
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Wow, they both sound soooo good! Great shots too!
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
[...] sending a heaping spoonful of this over to Ben at What’s Cooking? for his ‘home-made salsa [...]
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I love the bottles! They are so cute. And your salsa recipes are perfect for the upcoming 16 de Septiembre.
Posted on September 9th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Hola guapo!!!! I was missing your sweet comments in my blog
. It's so nice to see your face again 
Everytime I come to your blog you have changed something in its design, I love it the way you have it now!!!
Salsas are such a great acompañamiento to dishes and I would love to participate in your event Ben. I will think about something and send it over.
Ah, also, your photography is awesome chico!!!!!!!!
Posted on September 10th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I would more than delight to taste your salsas. They looks so good. Love the bottles.
Posted on September 11th, 2009 at 2:01 am
I love making salsas. I've decided to challenge myself this year and actually can the salsas for the winter. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Posted on September 12th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I'm obsessed with trying different salsas!! And I definitely need to try making my own. Yours looks delicious
Posted on September 13th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I love salsas! They are so versatile; whether eaten with chips, rubbed on griled meats, thrown in stews at the last minute…so many possibilities. Thanks for sharing these recipes…I am especially excited about the green salsa. Yummy!
Posted on September 14th, 2009 at 3:14 am
That's what I miss the most from my country: the salsas! I can imagine the huge amounts of salsa you were used to make at your parents Fonda (otra belleza que merece un post aparte), and I also like the fact that you mention how important is for us at any real Mexican restaurants that salsas are complimentary. You don't have idea how many so called Mex Rest I ask for more salsa only to find out the will bring it to the table with a surcharge. (no, no!).
Posted on September 14th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Both salsas look superb! I'm not sure if I can find tomatillos here, but I'll definitely try the second one. I just wonder how long I can keep them in refrigerator?
Posted on September 14th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
In my house they don't last long, LOL, but I would suggest less than a week. At my parents' restaurant they only kept them (when there were leftovers) for a couple of days. I am not sure if they can be frozen, but I'll experiment with that in the future.
Posted on September 15th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I must say that your still life photography is one of the best that i 've ever sen keep up with the excellent work. By the way, great recipe! I tried it on london broil steak and was so delicious!
Posted on September 15th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
you make me want to go back to Mexico, asap. I love your people, your country and your food! se ve super fresco y delicioso. me'ncanta los colores. espero que estes bien. abarazos.
Posted on September 16th, 2009 at 2:14 am
Homemade salsa sounds totally great right now. Makes a nice gift all bottled up like that.
Posted on September 21st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
[...] Cooking: Salsa Roja The Culinary Sherpas: Salsa Morita Taste as You Go: Milk Steamed Corn Snippets of Sue: [...]
Posted on December 21st, 2009 at 6:57 pm
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