Peppers Original
Blue Crab Salsa

First impression: Right from the get go I was hemming and hawing about doing this review. It’s just that crab salsa didn’t seem to appealing to my palette. But read on folks, and you’ll see what I found out about Peppers Original Blue Crab Salsa! The label itself is quite unassuming on its own. But it sure let’s you know that you are picking up a jar of salsa with crab meat in there… See I just found this to be an odd combination at first. So seeking out a dish that I felt would make me really taste this salsa, I decided upon something simple. NACHOS! I just happened to have some shredded cheese in the fridge and half of a bag of jalapeno tortilla chips! Heating up the toaster oven and preparing my foil dish, I glanced at the ingredients and took note that it was relatively clean, with the exception of the HFCS in the Worcestershire sauce and the hydrolyzed soy and corn protein. I won’t go into detail here about these additives but you can follow this link and read up more on the subject if you prefer…http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/soy.htm

You can find this salsa on the Peppers website, at $5.99 for a 12 oz. jar…

Ingredients: diced tomatoes, crab meat, diced green bell peppers, lime juice, chili peppers, Worcestershire sauce (vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, anchovies, water, onions, salt, garlic, tamarind extract, cloves, natural flavorings, chili pepper extract, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein), special blend of herbs and spices, salt.

Appearance/Smell/Taste: At first glance through the glass jar, this salsa has a medium red color, and visible are some various chunks of the previously listed ingredients. You can even see little strands of crab meat in there. Hmm, this is going to be an experience for me I can tell you that! So I crack open the lid and take a large inhale. It smells initially of fresh tomatoes! Towards the back I get hints of the sweet green peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and a slight seafood smell. Mind you it’s not an overpowering seafood smell at all. It’s probably right where it should be for a salsa with crab meat. And surprisingly this salsa is actually pretty hearty and thick. I wasn’t sure before I twisted off the cap, it seemed looser in the jar before I opened it. Peppers gets a big thumbs up for this!
So scooping a heap out onto my tasting spoon, I sniff sniff one more time before I give it a taste. Just making sure that I’m matching up what I smell and taste together. The initial flavor that hits my tongue is the tomato flavor, sweetness from the bell peppers, and then a slight tickle of heat that fades in about 5 seconds. I’d say roughly a solid 3 on the HSB heat scale. I thought I saw chili pepper extract in that ingredient list someplace, didn’t I?!? Almost immediately following the dissipating heat is the slight hint of crab meat. It’s very subtle, which is probably why I’m actually enjoying this salsa thus far. But let’s give it the food test to see if it stands up to its initial taste test.

Prepared meal: Nachos w/Peppers Original Blue Crab Salsa

Spreading the remaining chips out, then covering them with about ½ of the jar of Peppers Original Blue Crab Salsa, topped off by some shredded white cheddar cheese. After slapping them in the toaster oven for roughly 5-8 minutes, depending on how ‘done’ you like your nachos. The smell is very mellow and pleasant coming off the plate of hot nachos. Let’s see how they taste…

Complement to meal: Initially the flavor is almost the same as it was cold, with one exception being that the heat has been notched up 1 unit to a solid 4 on the HSB heat scale. I wonder if this is the added kick of that chili pepper extract (probably added more as a flavor enhancer than concentrated oleoresin would be added for heat) showing it’s head a little once heated?!? Still not sure about that ingredient because I don’t ‘taste’ extract in this salsa. And I also detect that the the bell pepper and crab flavors have been enhanced slightly too. Yeah, most definitely they have. I think that this is what gives Peppers Original Blue Crab Salsa it’s appeal. It doesn’t have too much of a ‘seafoody’ flavor and the tomato and bell pepper mixture is just right, with a nice thick and even consistency. Overall I feel that Peppers has a nice product here. It’s not something that would grab my attention on the shelf, once I read ‘Blue Crab’. But honestly after trying it, I would definitely have it again and won’t snub my nose immediately at a salsa that contains shellfish or any other seafood until I actually give it a try. Go for it! I did… -Lars-

Initial impression: 8/10
Ingredient quality/content: 6/10
Flavor/texture/smell: 9/10
Heat: 4/10
Overall: 6.75/10

Peppers
www.peppers.com
Tanger Factory Outlets
36445 Seaside Outlet Drive
Suite # 1815
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
302/227-4608
peppers@peppers.com

This just came in from a reader:

Hi Nick,
The place I will be working around July 4 is having a salsa contest and my Cuban co-worker vows to win the contest. Do you have a recipe to recommend so I will have the bragging rights? ~ Loyal HSB Reader

This recipe comes from Brian at Loco Luna - the man knows his salsas almost as well as he knows his hot sauces!

Ingredients

• 1 can drained whole tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tbs oregano
• 1 tbs thyme
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 poblano chile, stemmed and seeded
• 1 chipotle chile, seeded and diced
• 1 new mexico chile, stemmed  and seeded
• 2 habanero chiles, stemmed and seeded
• juice of 1/2 lime
• kosher salt to taste

To finish:  Combine the ingredients in a food processor.  Process to desired consistency (from chunky to smooth), transfer to a bowl and get ready to eat!  I like it with chips.  Remember to consider the saltiness of your chips in salting your salsa.  The flavors get better the longer they have to rest and blend together, but it usually doesn’t last long enough for me to find its true potential!

Notes: When making this salsa, I tend to use high quality whole canned tomatoes.  Canned tomatoes tend to be much more consistent in flavor and water content, which translates directly into a more consistent salsa. 

Fresh herbs also make a huge contribution to the flavor.  I grow a large variety of peppers and herbs on and around the patio so I always have fresh ingredients to use.  All herbs and peppers (excepting the chipotle) were home grown.  Also, I prefer kosher salt, as it is free of the metallic taste you get from iodized kitchen salt.  Be aware that kosher salt doesn’t dissolve immediately, so be careful not to over do it!

Conclusion:  Salsa is a fun, refreshing food!  It is very healthy and can easily be tailored to your personal taste.  Feel free to add or remove items from the the guidelines above and adjust quantities to what most suites your palate.  Experiment!  This salsa has wonderful freshness, flavors and nice heat.  Enjoy and be prepared to get hooked!

**This is a little old, in fact I made the salsas over 6 months ago but never got around to posting the results. Either way, ENJOY!

Okay, so I know what makes a good salsa, but I’ve never made a good salsa. I’ve never made any salsa for that matter. So, armed with our new food processor and several salsa specific cookbooks, I was off on a mission. I spent 2 weeks reading and researching recipes and settled on not one, but 2 recipes to break into the salsa making world. I picked out a variety - the standard pico style hot sauce and a tomatillo based sauce.

Basic Salsa Recipe:
• 3 Med Tomatoes, diced. If necessary, drain
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 med red onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano
• 2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and diced
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Steps:
Dice everything up, drain the tomatoes, combine in a bowl and let set for a day or two. The longer you let the flavors blend the better the salsa turns out.

Tomatillo Salsa
(Can’t remeber the exact recipe)
• Tomatillos
• Red Onion
• Poblano Chiles
• Cilantro
• Garlic

Steps:
Remove the husks from the tomatillos, then toss all the veggies on the grill. Cut the tomatillos in half before adding to the food processor and remove the seeds from the pepper. Run through the food processor, add some lime juice to taste and let set for a few hours.

Verdict: I wasn’t thrilled by the Tomatillo salsa, not nearly enough heat and the basic salsa recipe was a little too tomato-y for my tastes, but the wife loved it. After letting both the salsas sit for a day the flavors really blended together and each of the salsas became that much better. I’ll definately be making some more salsa again soon…

Big ups to Ryan O’Toole for this great salsa recipe! This salsa turned out to be quite amazing and it is painfully hot. It starts off with a very sweet, almost tangy flavor and then hits you like a falling brick with a blast of fiery heat.

Ingredients:
5 Plums (2 peeled)
1 Mango (peeled)
1 Cucumber
1 Red Onion
8 Jalapeno Peppers
1 Hot Hatch Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
2 Habanero Peppers (1 red and 1 yellow)
1/8 Cup Chives
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Cilantro
4 TBSP Sontava! Habanero XXX Hot Sauce
4 TBSP Coyote Cocina Tequila Habanero Grill Sauce
2 TBSP Sugar
2 TSP Salt
1 TSP Minced Ginger Root
2 Minced Garlic cloves

Directions:
Just throw the sliced cucumber, peppers, onion, chives, garlic, ginger root, and cilantro into a large food processor and blast it into a chunky goop, then pour into a large container. Cut the pits out of the plum and mango and remove skins. Place the meat of the fruit into the food processor with the rest of the ingredients and lightly chop until chunky. Pour into the large container and mix well. Refrigerate for 1-2 days, occasionally stirring to let the ingredients marinate, and serve.

If you’re afraid that it will be too hot, remove the Hatch pepper and one of the Habanero peppers. The recipe could probably also do without the two hot sauces and still taste great. If you have a mild chipotle or favorite barbeque sauce, you could use it instead of the Coyote Cocina Tequila Habanero Grill Sauce.

May is National Salsa Month, along with National BBQ, Egg, Beef, Salad and Hamburger Month and that’s just to name just a few. It’s also that time of year that we Americans, at least those of us in the Southwest, celebrate Mexico’’s independence from France. What’s that all about? Actually Cinco de Mayo is an excuse for us to party with a Latin flare. And celebrate we do. With music, great food, Mexican beer, margaritas, and bowls of hot and spicy salsas. Read More…

I don’t have much experience making salsa although I’ve got a PhD in eating salsa. Okay, not really but you get the point. Last weekend to prepare for Cinco de Mayo I decided to try my hand at salsa making. Since it was my first excursion into the salsa world, I settled on a recipe that was easy to make and that both the wife and I could enjoy.

Basic Salsa Recipe:

• 3 Med Tomatoes, diced. If necessary, drain
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 med red onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano
• 2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and diced

Step 1: Dicing Everything
I started dicing the onions first, then moved onto the jalapenos.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Step 2: Putting it All together
Now it’s time to mix all the ingredients together. It’s best to mix everything but the tomatoes, and add them in last, that way you don’t break down the tomatoes while stirring everything else. Or you could do it like I did and just toss everything, including the dry Oregano in one bowl. It still turned out just fine.

Click to Enlarge

Step 3: Wait
Once you’ve mixed it all up, put it in the fridge and wait a day or two. This allows the flavors to blend and marinate together. ENJOY!

Ingredients
8 large, ripe plum tomatoes
2 to 4 fresh jalapenos
Water
4 dried chilies de arbol
Salt, to taste

Place tomatoes and jalapenos in a nonreactive large saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook 15 to 20 seconds, until the skin on the tomatoes begins to loosen. Drain tomatoes and chiles in a colander and rinse under cold water.

When cool enough to handle, remove and discard stems from chilies and, if desired, remove and discard tomato skins.

Place tomatoes and chilies in a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade and puree. Season with salt. Makes about 2 cups.

Makes: 1 1/2 cups / Preparation time: 15 minutes / Total time: 30 minutes

This sauce is excellent as a marinade or glaze for slow-cooked pork, ribs, beef or grilled chicken. It will also enliven a pot of beans and give kick to tofu. You can adjust the heat by adding more or less chipotle.

Ingredients
4 to 8 medium chipotle chiles in adobe, about 1 can
5 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into small pieces or mashed
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 to 1/2 cup water or broth, depending on thickness desired in sauce as well as desired heat level
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the chipotle chiles, along with the sauce clinging to the peppers, in a food processor. Add the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, honey, water, vanilla and lime juice and puree until smooth.

Pour the mixture through a sieve to remove seeds and fiber.

Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Place the mixture in a medium saucepan and bring it to almost a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture rest until the it’s cool. This will keep, chilled, up to 1 week.

From “Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor and Fragrance” by Patricia Rain (Tarcher/Penguin, $22.95). Tested by Susan Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen. Analysis per 2 tablespoons. 48 calories (43% from fat), 2 grams fat (0 grams sat. fat), 8 grams carbohydrates, 0 grams protein, 44 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 mg calcium, 0 grams fiber.

Article from the Detroit Free Press

PHILADELPHIA (KYW) Well today’s tip of the day is going to be with something to give your food and recipes a little bit of heat, a little bit of spice. I’m not talking about jalapeños, I’m talking about Habanero peppers.

Did you know they can be as much as 30 – 50 percent hotter then a jalapeño? Yes they are that hot, so what you want to do simply is use just a little bit sparingly to give that dish the heat or spice that you need, but you want to select them right to retain all that flavor.

Now take a look at these. These have a bright orange color all the way around. These are the hottest, and they need to be a bright orange, free from any shriveling, and the stem needs to be nice and green.

When you bring them home, store them in the refrigerator. Shelf life, 5 – 7 days, so they last longer then jalapeños do, longer then certain jalapeño varieties do.

Another thing about these hot chiles when you do cook with them is to make sure your wash your hands thoroughly after you cut them, or use gloves. That is very important. The reason why is that heat can get on your fingertips and if you touch your eye or any part of your body, believe me, you will feel it especially in your eye or in your mouth. So, wash your hands thoroughly after you cut these wonderful small chile peppers that will give your dish the heat it needs.

Today’s recipe “Fresh Habanero – Tomato Salsa “is courtesy of Melissa’s Corporate Chef, Ida Rodriquez. Enjoy and always remember to “Eat Fresh & Stay Healthy.”

Ciao,
Tony

Fresh Habanero – Tomato Salsa

Makes 2 cups

1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped
6 radishes chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 Habanero Chile, seeded and chopped very fine
12 sprigs cilantro
1/2 half teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in small bowl, chill at least 1 hour before eating. The longer this salsa sits the hotter it gets and is great for spooning onto tacos, grilled fish and other meats. Other chiles you can use; jalapeños, Serranos (3 - 5) or Manzano chiles (1/2 of 1).
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc., All Rights Reserved.)

This is a long recipe — and it’s just a simplified version of the stuffed poblano appetizer served at Redrock Canyon Grill (theirs, for instance, contains roasted chicken and fresh tomatillos). But the result is impressive, and the ingredient list is not as intimidating as it looks at first glance. Some of the same ingredients, such as cilantro and red bell pepper, are used in more than one section of the recipe. And the sauces and stuffed poblanos can be prepared up to two days ahead of time, up to the point where the poblanos are breaded and fried.

10 poblano peppers (look for uniformly shaped poblanos)
1 bottle (12 oz.) salsa verde

Chipotle sour cream:
1 chipotle, minced, with juice
1/2 cup sour cream

Poblano filling:
1 lb. shredded cheese (a combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack or a Mexican cheese mix)
1 chipotle pepper, diced, including juice (canned chipotle peppers are available on Mexican aisle of most supermarkets)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

Black bean salsa:
1 can (16 oz.) black beans, washed
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup minced jalapeno peppers
1 1/4 cups chopped red onion
Salt and pepper, to taste

Breading:
2 cups flour, divided use
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup dry Jiffy cornbread mix

Roast poblanos: You can do this on a grill, in hot oil, under a broiler or on the flame of a gas burner. When the poblano skins are blistered and charred, remove from heat and place in a bowl or other container; cover with plastic and set aside for 10 minutes. Then remove skin from poblanos under running water. With a paring knife or your fingernail (the poblano with be tender), make a slit in the poblano from bottom to top. Pull and discard the seeds and inner membranes, being careful not to tear the rest of the poblano. Set poblanos aside.

Stuff the poblanos: Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Put about 1/2 cup filling mixture in each poblano. The poblanos can be prepared up to this point ahead of time and refrigerated for up to two days.

Make the chipotle-sour cream sauce: Stir together minced chipotle and sour cream. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the black bean salsa by combining all ingredients in a bowl.

When ready to cook poblanos, heat several inches of vegetable oil in a heavy pot and set up the three-part flouring station as follows: In the first bowl place 1 cup flour. In the second bowl combine the eggs and milk. In the third bowl combine the dry Jiffy cornbread mix and remaining flour.

Coat a stuffed poblano in the flour, shaking off excess. Dip it in the egg-buttermilk mixture, then roll it in the cornbread-flour mixture. Repeat with remaining poblanos.

Place one or two poblanos in the hot oil, depending on the size of the pot; don’t crowd them. Fry about three minutes or until light golden brown. Remove and keep warm while frying remaining poblanos.

Spread some salsa verde on a plate and place the stuffed poblano on top. Spoon some chipotle sour cream over the poblano (or use a squirt bottle for a more dramatic effect) and serve with black bean salsa on the side.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/living/food/10468796.htm