Salsa Time - preserving the last of the summer bounty!
This week, we are offering salsa making kits. Dan and Shelley of Moondog's Farm were able to return to their farm after being evacuated for over a week. They brought their friends and volunteers to harvest as many of the crops as possible. As a result, we have a great bounty of tomatoes and peppers in the shop. The rain is needed right now and we are grateful for it, but it does harken the end of tomato season and cooler nights mean that summer crops are on their way out. So before it's over, let's make some salsa. Here are a few of our favorite recipes:
Classic Pico de Gallo
This salsa is best enjoyed fresh but can also be canned. It's best to make this with your friends or family members as their is a lot of knife work involved!
Makes 4 pints of Pico
2 large white onions, peeled and diced diced
2 lbs tomatoes - heirlooms are great, diced into 1/2" cubes
1 lb sweet peppers, seeds and stems removed, finely diced
.5 lb hot peppers (or spice to your liking)
1 large bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
Combine all of the ingredients except for the diced hot peppers. Taste for salt and adjust to your liking and add a little bit of hot pepper at a time, until the salsa is spiced to your taste!
The Roasty Toasty Magic
2 lbs tomatoes - mixed varieties, stems removed, cut in half
1 lb sweet peppers
.5 lb hot peppers
2 large white onions, peeled and cut in half
2 limes, cut in half
1 head garlic, cloves separated, skin left on
1 bunch cilantro
salt to taste
On a grill or cast iron pan over high heat or in the oven on broil, char the sweet and hot peppers until they swell and blacken, turning with tongs as they heat. Place the blistered peppers in large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. This will steam the peppers, making them easy to peel.
Char the halved onions on their flat surface until they blacken, about 6-8 minutes. Set them aside, Char the garlic cloves in their skin until the skin starts to blister and turn black, set them aside. Once they are cool enough, peel them and place them in a blender with charred onions. Char the halves tomatoes until they start to turn black. Char the halved limes on their flat side until they start to caramelize.
Peel the peppers and removed the seeds, set some of your hot peppers aside so you can add them a little at a time.
In a food processor, combine the onions, charred lime juice, garlic, peeled peppers, charred tomatoes and cilantro and pulse until it forms a nice salsa, not need to over mix, it can be a little chunky. Add salt and hot peppers to taste. This salsa is perfect for canning and loses none of it's flavor in the process. It is amazing served with tacos, chips, enchiladas, or over scrambled eggs!
"Hot Chonk"
This is a quick an easy hot sauce or topping that Michaela, our LCB Warehouse Manager, loves to make on the fly to accompany any meal.
Ingredients:
4 heatless habanero peppers, seeded, de-stemmed and diced
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 red pepper, sweet or hot depending on how spicy you like things, finely diced
Over medium high heat, saute all of the ingredients together until they become fragrant and tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and salt to taste. Soon this tasty mixture over whatever you're having for dinner, or freeze it in an ice cube tray to toss into any soup or braise that you make during the winter!
