David Ross

I also love the char taste but I've never gotten used to much heat in the chiles so I order the mild which is still hot to my taste buds. The store sells them mild, medium, hot and extra hot and most of the people I see on the chile roast days are ordering hot and extra hot. They also freeze well and so I use them throughout the year.

This is a link to my video of the Hatch Chile Roast last August. I use them in one of my Salsa Verde recipes. These guys are too busy and to hot for idle chat. I'm always just amazed after box and box go in the roaster for two days in a row. And the scads of people that buy box after box--for one family! I'm always the sheepish fellow who quietly says, "I'll have the mild please." And even those are hot for me, but delicious in the Salsa Verde. https://youtu.be/3ZhsfKocNws

It doesn't ever seem to taste as good as "out of the bottle" or made by hand when it comes to salsa, but there are some very good Mexican sauces that are bottled. For the good ones around my area I cook to the Mexican market.

That reminds me of a question. Every year our local Mexican grocery store and cafe has a Hatch chile roast in the parking lot. It's an annual event and people can't wait to get their chiles. Some friends think I'm crazy because I leave all that char on the chile before putting it my salsa. They seem to think it's best scraped off, but I say that's scraping off flavor. What do you think?

That plate is indeed really delicious looking. I like my dishes having a good eye on them. Up here most folks only look at avocados as something for guacamole, maybe for a salsa, usually only for a football or sporting event on TV, pretty rare right now, or in the summer. I like salsas year-round.

This salsa was a surprise to me during our Avocado Cook-Off. I actually went into it pretty nervous. I had heard about pickled watermelon, and of course using avocado in some type of salsa, but this was going to be sort of a reversal by pickling the avocado and pairing it with watermelon and then some Mexican flavors. It was pretty easy, and I just invented the steps and the recipe as I went along. I served it with grilled salmon, then also with skillet corn cakes. I think I preferred the skillet corn cakes more. Next time I think I'd dice the avocado and watermelon into smaller chunks and probably try it with chips. Or what do you think it would go with, or what type of chip or bread? It's not a Pico de Gallo because it has a pickled as opposed fresh avocado in it, but it turned out to be a really good salsa. I think it might be good with a fish taco, although surprisingly I've never made fish tacos at home. Pickled Avocado-Watermelon Salsa-makes 3 cups ½ cup white vinegar ½ cup water 1 tbsp. Kosher salt 1 tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. coriander seeds 1 tsp. mustard seeds 1 tsp. cumin seeds 6 fresh cilantro sprigs 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1 tbsp. finely diced jalapeno 1 tsp. lime zest 2 unripe avocados 1 cup, seedless watermelon cut into small cubes ½ cup finely chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp, minced jalapeno ½ cup finely chopped cilantro 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice 2 tbsp. olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, coriander, mustard and cumin seeds and water in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the brine into a container. Add the cilantro, garlic, jalapeno and lime zest to the brine. Let the brine cool to room temperature. Cut the avocados in half then remove the pit. Peel off the skin and dice the avocado into small cubes. When the brine is cooled add the avocado cubes. Cover the container and refrigerate the avocado overnight. The pickled avocado will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Before serving, drain the pickled avocado from the brine. Place in a bowl and add the fresh watermelon and avocado cubes, the onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice and olive oil and gently toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The salsa should be served the same day you combine all the ingredients. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/158091-eg-cook-off-81-the-avocado-finding-new-popularity-in-the-kitchen/?do=findComment&comment=2193863

Some of you have seen my Chipotle-Pepita Salsa over the years, but I always like telling the story of how this recipe came to be. It was some years ago that I entered a local salsa contest. At the time salsa wasn't really much more than Pico de Gallo where I live, and I knew I was creating something different but why not. Well, I spent way too much time cutting the tomatoes, removing the seeds, then cutting them in uniform dice, and did the same size of dice for the onions. What I thought was my two secret ingredients were adding pepitas, which at that time most folks had no clue what they were, even after I'd explain they were "green pumpkin seeds." And I added a chipotle chile. Some knew that was a smoked and dried jalapeno in a vinegary sauce, the stuff in cans, but I think they thought it went into sauce or chili not salsa. Well I didn't win, didn't get a ribbon, and drove a long way home of course thinking what did I do. I put it in the fridge and the next day thought, all that dicing took way too long, so I put it in the food processor and gave it a go. I wanted to retain some chunkiness and keep the pepitas in pieces so I just pulsed it a few times. Now I could use the disguise and call it a "blended" salsa. Well it tasted better and the flavors all came through. The chipotle adds heat and the pepitas add texture and a bit of herbal flavor. Sometimes I might add honey instead of sugar depending on how acidic the tomatoes are. Where I live the best garden tomatoes aren't until late July. I've been serving this salsa for years now. Still gets odd looks when I tell them it has "pepitas" and they ask "what is that" and then they dig in. Ingredients 1 cup pepitas-green pumpkin seeds 8-10 large Roma tomatoes, cut in quarters, then cut out the seeds 1/2 large yellow onion 4 cloves garlic 1 cup cilantro leaves, minced 2 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. ground coriander 2 tsp. chili powder 1 canned chipotle pepper and 1 tbsp. adobo sauce 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice 2 tsp. sugar 2 tbsp. olive oil salt and pepper to taste Instructions Heat the oven to 400. Spread the pepitas in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Toast until the pepitas start to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. In a food processor, add the tomatoes, onions and garlic and pulse to coarsely chop. Put the tomato mixture in a large bowl, then add the minced cilantro, cumin, coriander, chili powder, chipotle, lime juice, sugar, and olive oil. Stir to combine. Roughly chop the toasted pepitas and stir into the salsa. Serve with fresh lime wedges.

Thanks I also add some cumin but I never thought of honeydew or cantaloupe.

I'm so glad you mentioned oregano, I also love the fresh if it has flowers. I use a Mexican oregano from the local Mexican market. So much better as it's dried whole with the flower buds and is incredibly fragrant. In fact I use it in my Italian dishes too and at the Mexican market it's very cheap.

One of my best cookbooks for learning about chiles, techniques and salsa is Truly Mexican by Roberto Sanchez. I think my family and friends would be shocked if they looked through the pages and saw the spills, tatters and notes I've made to some of the recipes. I guess they think it's a picture book that should never be read and just displayed. It's one of the best resources and has pages of salsa recipes.

Sometimes I'll add charred onions and garlic to my salsa. Depends on the salsa. I don't add it to Pico de Gallo, but usually a blended salsa I do like a tomatillo or a roasted guajillo chile salsa. It brings out sweetness and flavor and adds a hint of smokiness. Ingredients- 1 yellow onion, cut in half, skin left on 4 cloves garlic, left unpeeled Preparation- Heat a cast iron skillet on the stove-top over medium-high heat. Do not add oil or butter, leave the skillet dry. Add the onion, flesh side down, to the skillet. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves to the skillet. Let the onion and garlic char and get some black bits and start to soften, about 6-8 minutes, turning in the skillet a few times. Remove the onion and garlic from the skillet. Remove the onion skin and chop or dice to use in your recipes. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and mince or chop. You don't need to add any oil to the cast iron skillet. Just heat it up and let the garlic and onions char.

I like using the manual chopper. I use one too, or sometimes chop my Pico de Gallo by hand. The food processors go too fast for that style of salsa for me. I go light on the chiles, but I too like lots of cilantro and it's growing a LOT right now in an herb pot on the patio. I add some chives, also from the garden and growing crazy right now.

Street Tacos with Salsa Verde, Le Merced Market, Mexico City Mexican Salsa. It can be hot and numbing to the tongue, sweet or bitter, made with red tomatoes or green tomatillos, dried, roasted or fresh chiles, grilled pineapple, chopped, diced, chunky or blended smooth. Salsas can be raw or cooked, or use a combination of raw and cooked ingredients. And the style of the salsa, the heat and the flavor, should be matched to the dish you serve it with. The two most common types of salsa most people think of are Salsa Roja, better known as red sauce, often mild and sweet in flavor. Salsa Fresca usually takes the form of Pico de Gallo, which translates to "rooster's beak." Pico de Gallo is simple to make using just a few ingredients. But salsa is of course much more diverse. Some Mexican salsa recipes borrow from condiment recipes in Asia and use heady amounts of ginger. Pico de Gallo is good with homemade tortilla chips, but it might not be the right choice for every dish. A fresh tomatillo and Manzano chile salsa is delicious with grilled snapper, while a grilled pineapple salsa is best with butter pound cake and crema. Matching the complexity and flavor of a salsa with the dish is akin to pairing the right wine with food. The techniques used to make a Mexican salsa also vary. The Maya made salsa by hand using a molcajete or mortar and pestle type of tool. Today, a blender or food processor makes the job go by quicker, but the mortar and pestle still has its place, as does making salsa by hand with a good kitchen knife. The comal is a flat, smooth griddle used throughout Mexico, Central and South America to cook tortillas, toast spices and sear meats. It's also used to toast dried chiles to bring out their smoky flavor before blending them into a salsa. Comals are typically made of steel, flat or with a low outside rim. I use both a comal or a cast-iron skillet to toast onions and garlic to add char and bring out sweetness before adding them with other ingredients and blending into a salsa. Charred, toasted onion and garlic in a cast-iron skillet. Let's come together in our home kitchens and present and savor our favorite Mexican Salsas. In the tradition of the eG Cook-Off Series, this is eG Cook-Off #85: Mexican Salsa. See the complete eG Cook-Off Index here: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/

Well, these aren't from the 70's but do fit within Sunset Cookbooks. I have three volumes of the Sunset "Kitchen Cabinet Recipes" that date to 1946. They contain recipes from the magazine dating back as far as 1934 and are filled with illustrations and quotes that were fitting at that time. I'm not sure, but I think they were most likely owned by my Grandmother Mildred Ross who lived in Prineville, Oregon, on a ranch and was a lifelong subscriber. Or, they may have been owned by my other Grandmother, Edna Pink, who lived in Twin Falls, Idaho, and was a homemaker and quite the entertainer, including the host of her ladies bridge club. I can see her using these recipes. Mother was also a lifelong subscriber and I have the 70's cookbooks she collected. Her are a few pages from the "Kitchen Cabinet Recipes." Apparently my Grandmother thought that the Spinach Salad, Armenian, was "O.K."

How wonderful. Just last week I started going through my very large collection of old cookbooks. It includes some of the Sunset series, but I think I have about 400 or so of those little booklets that were usually sponsored by a food industry or a product company like Frigidaire. I love those old colored photos and some of the recipes are still good today. I just read them over and over. I'll post a photo of the Sunset Mexican cookbook I've got on the front stack in the kitchen right now with post-it notes of dishes to make. I think my Mother bought that one and for her, it would have been really delving into a cuisine she didn't cook very often.

Gosh it's hard to believe we started our Grilled Pizza Cook-Off back in 2009, and the world of grilling, grills and pizza has taken on so many changes since then. Our recent discussions over in the Pizza Toppings thread reminded me to bring back this topic as we head into summer grilling season. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/20749-pizza-toppings-simpleelaborate-traditionalunusual/page/14/?tab=comments#comment-2249775 I recently purchased some new grates for my old Weber kettle grill, so I'll be doing some new grilled pizzas this year, hopefully much better than the pizzas I did all those 11 years ago.

Brilliant. The bread and the presentation. I should think this is how we'll see many presentations in the coming days.

Our markets aren't opening until June, which really isn't a problem as we have a later growing season in Eastern, WA. The latest update is that we will see like above, some fresh produce being given out for free. We've already seen farmers give out thousands of pounds of russet potatoes that were in storage from last fall that they didn't want to till under. I'm looking forward to it.

Fantastic

There has been little press here in the Pacific Northwest about the opening of the annual Copper River Salmon season, which is understandable given the times. I haven't ventured out, but this weekend I'll check a few local markets to see if it's in and at what price point. It's always expensive this time of year, and given the economic factors, I doubt there will be much demand. I checked on the Alaska Seafood website and they are selling it flash frozen for $67.95 a pound. Don't know what it was from them this time last year, but I bet it wasn't that much. For my tastes I think it is a salmon that is actually best prepared fresh.

Black Cod, or sometimes called sablefish, is one of my favorites dating back about 10 years ago when I had it in different dishes, smoked, in Vancouver, B.C.

I saw some fresh trout in the market this morning, which reminded me of the smoked trout I made when we launched this Cook-Off. But it was almost $6 per lb which is more than double what it usually is around here. I guess in addition to meat seafood is also going up in price. So still thinking about which fish to smoke this time around.

I was thinking this morning about what type of fish I was going to use to cure and smoke. Three years ago right now I was buying the first of the season Copper River Salmon, but these days that is probably going to be out of the question due to price and demand. Trout would be an alternative, but a totally different fish in terms of flavor and oil content. I can find a lot of frozen fish in the Asian market, so I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions or recipes you have used to salt, cure or smoke fish using an Asian style recipe? Is mackerel a good fish for smoking?

That just reminded me of a dish I did years ago, and I'll search for the photo. It was a Midori melon sorbet I made with the Japanese liquer Midori. Then Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. Sort of my take on prosciutto wrapped in melon. Your dish above sounds delicious.

I posted this over in the dinner topic, but it's proper home is right here. This is a more chunky type of cream of asparagus soup. The recipe calls for cream, but I've made two batches this spring, the first one using cream. Then for the second batch I used half and half which I preferred over full cream. I think half and half lets more of the asparagus flavor come through. Ingredients- 1 lb. fresh asparagus 1/2 cup chicken stock 3/4 cup cream 1 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice dash cayenne pepper salt and pepper to taste blanched asparagus tips and sliced asparagus for garnish Instructions- Heat 4 cups salted water to a boil in a heavy stockpot. Cut the white stalk ends off the end of the asparagus. Add the asparagus and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the asparagus and drain. Reserve some of the asparagus tips and slice some asparagus to garnish the soup. Cut the asparagus spears into 1" pieces and place in a blender. Add the chicken stock and start the blender on low speed. Add the half and half and continue to blend, then add the tarragon and lemon juice. Continue to puree the asparagus soup, adding more half and half to your desired consistency. Season the soup with cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. You can store the cream of asparagus, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just before serving heat the cream of asparagus in a saucepan over medium heat. Ladle the cream of asparagus into bowls and garnish with asparagus tips and sliced asparagus.