eG Cook-Off #85: Mexican Salsa

[David Ross]

6 minutes ago, Smithy said:

As it happens, I just stumbled over a container of frozen persimmon pulp in my freezer. I like the idea of making a salsa with it. Persimmon pulp, charred onion, a bit of chile for heat...what else should go into that? Garlic and/or oregano as above? And would it be better with chicken breast or pulled pork?

I would probably pair it with chicken. I think it would be delicious with a poached chicken breast, chilled, then served as a sort of salad with the salsa. 

[heidih]

19 minutes ago, Smithy said:

As it happens, I just stumbled over a container of frozen persimmon pulp in my freezer. I like the idea of making a salsa with it. Persimmon pulp, charred onion, a bit of chile for heat...what else should go into that? Garlic and/or oregano as above? And would it be better with chicken breast or pulled pork?

 

Are chicken breasts a food stuff?  I would go pork but CB could use the lift of a flavorful salsa  (unintended pun - cross my heart)

[Smithy]

1 minute ago, heidih said:

 

Are chicken breasts a food stuff?  I would go pork but CB could use the lift of a flavorful salsa  (unintended pun - cross my heart)

 

I love the pun, cross my heart.  I occasionally go for chicken breast in the interest of reduced fat. Then I undermine the whole thing by mixing it with heavy amounts of mayonnaise and various seasonings to make a chicken salad, or slather bread with mayo for chicken sandwiches. My latest sous-vide chicken breasts are still sitting in their unopened package, so I have some to play with for this. It might even be lower-fat!

[heidih]

54 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I love the pun, cross my heart.  I occasionally go for chicken breast in the interest of reduced fat. Then I undermine the whole thing by mixing it with heavy amounts of mayonnaise and various seasonings to make a chicken salad, or slather bread with mayo for chicken sandwiches. My latest sous-vide chicken breasts are still sitting in their unopened package, so I have some to play with for this. It might even be lower-fat!

 

If you do them as @liuzhou does with his numerical formula where they barely simmer and then poach in the hot liquid I am ok. Chicken quality a factor as well.  It is funny that "a chicken in every pot" was referring more to the rarity of slaughtering a chicken as a treat/luxury because why kill an egg source on your farm.. As to added fat - all those skinnny socialites and actors were eating mayo heavy chicken salad at Bullocks watching the fashion shows. https://laist.com/2016/07/12/wilshire_bullocks.php

Edited July 26, 2020 by heidih (log)

[Smithy]

35 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

If you do them as @liuzhou does with his numerical formula where they barely simmer and then poach in the hot liquid I am ok. Chicken quality a factor as well.  It is funny that "a chicken in every pot" was referring more to the rarity of slaughtering a chicken as a treat/luxury because why kill an egg source on your farm.. As to added fat - all those skinnny socialites and actors were eating mayo heavy chicken salad at Bullocks watching the fashion shows. https://laist.com/2016/07/12/wilshire_bullocks.php

 

 

I too like that method of poaching chicken, but the convenience of sous vide is I can have it essentialy "poached" for a long time before using it. The consistency comes out about the same. At any rate, I think I'll try that persimmon for a Mexican-style salsa, and see what it does with the chicken. If it isn't a total disaster I'll report back. Maybe if it is a total disaster I'll still report, for the comic effect.

 

(Thanks for the Wilshire Bullock's article. I used to love driving past that building. The fashion show lineup in one picture is hilarious!)

[David Ross]

I did a taste test this morning with two of the salsas that I had frozen.  The Roasted Tomatillo Salsa lost a bit of the bright green color, and was just a little diluted from the thawing process, but still tasted just fine.  It will still be good to serve in a lot of dishes as an accompaniment, but I for salsa and chips, it's better fresh.  The other salsa I tested was the Roasted Tomatillo-Chile Salsa.  The deep reddish brown color hadn't changed and the mild spicy level was still there.  It was just a little diluted from the thawing, but still is a great salsa for lots of dishes.  So a surprise to me that some salsas hold up pretty well when frozen and thawed.

 

[Tri2Cook]

On 7/26/2020 at 1:10 PM, heidih said:

Are chicken breasts a food stuff?

I hope so because, other than an occasional round of wings, it's pretty much the only part of the chicken I eat. 

[heidih]

36 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

I hope so because, other than an occasional round of wings, it's pretty much the only part of the chicken I eat. 

 

I did not mean to be dismissive - everyone eats and cooks to their own taste.  Stepmother got all weird on when I mentioned @Shelby and using her hunted game. Really? and ya eat jellied pig feet! people and judgement!

[Shelby]

5 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

I did not mean to be dismissive - everyone eats and cooks to their own taste.  Stepmother got all weird on when I mentioned @Shelby and using her hunted game. Really? and ya eat jellied pig feet! people and judgement!

I will never forget --it was Thanksgiving and I was SICK to death of the same old turkey etc.  So I was hosting (don't do that anymore--and I think they are glad lol) and chose to do a venison chili and a potato soup with all the side fixings...desserts...etc.  Thank goodness I made potato soup because I had no idea that so many of Ronnie's family were adverse to venison.  To me, it's just like hamburger.  *shrug*. More for me then lol.

[Tri2Cook]

15 hours ago, heidih said:

 

I did not mean to be dismissive -

 

I didn't read it as dismissive, I was just being conversational. 😁

[Tri2Cook]

Salsa verde tonight to go with shredded chicken in adobo that will either be tacos or tostadas or quesadillas, still undecided. Nothing fancy to this one, tossed tomatillos, serrano peppers, onion and garlic cloves in a pot of water and simmered them for a bit, scooped 'em all out of the water and into the blender where they were joined by cilantro and pulverized. Added salt and lime juice until I was happy and called it done. Sometimes I char everything on the grill or in a hot pan instead of simmering... tonight, I did not. 

[David Ross]

17 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Salsa verde tonight to go with shredded chicken in adobo that will either be tacos or tostadas or quesadillas, still undecided. Nothing fancy to this one, tossed tomatillos, serrano peppers, onion and garlic cloves in a pot of water and simmered them for a bit, scooped 'em all out of the water and into the blender where they were joined by cilantro and pulverized. Added salt and lime juice until I was happy and called it done. Sometimes I char everything on the grill or in a hot pan instead of simmering... tonight, I did not. 

That looks delicious and thanks for the tips on how you made it. Yesterday I went to an annual Hatch Chile roast at a local Mexican store and cafe.  It's an annual event in the summer held in the parking lot.  The aroma of roasting chiles is unmistakable.  I'm thinking of using some of them, char bits included, in a salsa verde.

[Tri2Cook]

5 hours ago, David Ross said:

Yesterday I went to an annual Hatch Chile roast at a local Mexican store and cafe.  It's an annual event in the summer held in the parking lot.  The aroma of roasting chiles is unmistakable.  I'm thinking of using some of them, char bits included, in a salsa verde.

That sounds amazing. Unfortunately, obtaining Hatch chiles, roasted or not, where I live would fall somewhere in the range of impossible to prohibitively expensive. 

[David Ross]

16 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

That sounds amazing. Unfortunately, obtaining Hatch chiles, roasted or not, where I live would fall somewhere in the range of impossible to prohibitively expensive. 

I am so fortunate that we have some really good Mexican markets where I live in Eastern, Washington, also in Central Washington.  The annual Hatch Chile roast is at DeLeon Foods which owns two large markets and a number of cafes.  It's been going on for at least 10 years as far as I remember and so they've built up a large following that turns out each August.  They are shipped in by the crate, hundreds of boxes, fresh from New Mexico. 

 

I buy the "mild" which are still a little too hot for my tastes.  Most people buy the "hot" and skip over the mild and medium.  Rarely, but I do see folks buy the "extra hot" which I can't imagine.  The mild Hatch roasted chiles I bought were $3.98 a pound.  A few local supermarkets carry them fresh if I want to roast them at home.  I plan on using them in my roasted tomatillo salsa up thread.  I think I'll cut back on the tomatillos to let the Hatch chiles come through, and probably not put in any jalapeno.  Although it's a salsa I think I'll put it on a cheeseburger.  Not the traditional Hatch chile cheeseburger but a variation I guess.

[David Ross]

This morning a memory came up on my Facebook page about our Empanada Cook-Off back in 2011.  I had almost forgotten the empanada and realize how delicious it is with one of our salsas.

 

[MokaPot]

Salsa (canned tomatoes). Prefer fresh tomatoes, but canned is what I had and it's pretty good.

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

8 hours ago, MokaPot said:

Salsa (canned tomatoes). Prefer fresh tomatoes, but canned is what I had and it's pretty good.

 

I use canned diced tomatoes more often than fresh. Really good fresh tomatoes are pretty much impossible to get where I live except during a narrow window in late summer/early fall. The canned tomatoes are better pretty much 100% of the time outside of that window. Even during good tomato time, the good ones are only available at the once-a-month farmer's market. The grocery store tomatoes are no better even then.

[KennethT]

On 7/5/2020 at 6:27 PM, David Ross said:

Now on to another tomatillo salsa, but this one includes toasted, dried chiles.  The recipe I use a few years bask as the base calls it Roasted Garlic Tomatillo Salsa with 

but I just call it a Tomatillo-Dried Chile Salsa.  For the tomatillos I used the same technique as the fresh tomatillo salsa, run them under the broiler to soften and get some char.  For this batch I used dried chiles I had on hand, Ancho, Mulato and Cascabel.  The heat factor would be considered in the mild range.  When I make red chile sauce, I cut out the stem and remove all the seeds from dried chiles.  For this salsa, I cut out the stem and the main seed pod with scissors, but left some of the seeds.  The chiles were toasted in a dry, hot cast-iron skillet until they puff up and get soft, then you catch a whiff of a wonderful smokey aroma.   I added about a tablespoon of water to thin the salsa just a bit, then processed with, a lot, (10 cloves), of toasted garlic cloves, Mexican oregano, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar and a few drops of liquid smoke and a bit of fresh cilantro from the garden. 

 

I've got some quail in the freezer so I think I might grill them and serve with the salsa.  Also thinking about serving this salsa with an egg dish for breakfast.

 

 

 

 

 

I just picked up a bunch of pasilla de Oaxaca chiles and was planning on making something similar to this.  I love the intense smoky flavor of the the pasilla de Oaxaca... but when I make it, I can't use all of it at one time, by a long shot.

 

Does anyone know if this type of salsa freezes well?  Or when defrosted does it lose a lot of its essence?

[KennethT]

On 8/4/2020 at 4:02 PM, David Ross said:

I did a taste test this morning with two of the salsas that I had frozen.  The Roasted Tomatillo Salsa lost a bit of the bright green color, and was just a little diluted from the thawing process, but still tasted just fine.  It will still be good to serve in a lot of dishes as an accompaniment, but I for salsa and chips, it's better fresh.  The other salsa I tested was the Roasted Tomatillo-Chile Salsa.  The deep reddish brown color hadn't changed and the mild spicy level was still there.  It was just a little diluted from the thawing, but still is a great salsa for lots of dishes.  So a surprise to me that some salsas hold up pretty well when frozen and thawed.

 

Sorry - I just saw this post now...

But, if using a really smoky chile like the pasilla de Oaxaca or a chipotle, would that smoky flavor survive the freeze/defrost?

[heidih]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

Sorry - I just saw this post now...

But, if using a really smoky chile like the pasilla de Oaxaca or a chipotle, would that smoky flavor survive the freeze/defrost?

 

I freeze both leftover chipotles en adobo and home made salsa with fragrant pasillas. To me - they are close enough to freshly made to make it wortwhile. Sometimes it seems when you have just toasted and ground them there is an olfactory pleasant memory like when you sip coffee and can smell the beans being ground at the counter?

[David Ross]

4 hours ago, KennethT said:

Sorry - I just saw this post now...

But, if using a really smoky chile like the pasilla de Oaxaca or a chipotle, would that smoky flavor survive the freeze/defrost?

it does survive i had some last week in a roast pork dish, but not as good as when made fresh.

[heidih]

I had my mind expanded today when I read a review of a weekend pop-up of suckling pig, Split head to tail and roasted to land with the young meat and crispy skin in simple tacos.  The kicker being the salsa "Plates are quickly assembled with white meat tacos and a dark, crispy strip of skin, then a dealer’s choice of spicy mustard salsa made with Roma tomatoes and chiles serranos, or a milder mustard salsa with tomatillos. Both are kissed by smoke from time in the oven, and finished with ribbons of raw, white onion. That’s it — just lightly salted pork on corn tortillas and some salsa de mostaza, which adds all the seasoning these tacos need." I had never associated mustard which I love, with Mexican cooking.  I am in.

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

I had my mind expanded today when I read a review of a weekend pop-up of suckling pig, Split head to tail and roasted to land with the young meat and crispy skin in simple tacos.  The kicker being the salsa "Plates are quickly assembled with white meat tacos and a dark, crispy strip of skin, then a dealer’s choice of spicy mustard salsa made with Roma tomatoes and chiles serranos, or a milder mustard salsa with tomatillos. Both are kissed by smoke from time in the oven, and finished with ribbons of raw, white onion. That’s it — just lightly salted pork on corn tortillas and some salsa de mostaza, which adds all the seasoning these tacos need." I had never associated mustard which I love, with Mexican cooking.  I am in.

Good god that sounds delicious.

[David Ross]

Superbowl menu planning is upon us and looking through our discussion, I have lots of choices for making salsa.

[heidih]

12 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Good god that sounds delicious.

 

For your drooling pleasure - w/ images  https://la.eater.com/2021/1/22/22243588/suckling-pig-tacos-nayarit-los-angeles-pork-new-street-food-stand-cudahy-news-open