Recipe: Five Pepper Salsa
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!
Wow! Thats some good lookin salsa. It never ceases to amaze me about the versatility of salsa, especially fresh salsas like this one. Good on chips, as marinades, topped onto fresh grilled items, the list goes on and on. What about a best salsa recipe contest?
A best salsa contest? That would be interesting! The only problem is which one to enter? It is an exceptionally versitile food as you say both in terms of ingredients and uses. I LOVE it!
One thing I forgot to mention – the contrast of the smokiness of the chipotle with the fruitiness of the habaneros make for great flavor depth in this salsa. Being aware of this type of dissimilarity in your ingredients can add a lot to the experience, IMO.
Send me a bowl!!!!…and a beer! Lookin’ good!
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Aren’t you supposed to be working hard there Tracy
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Yup! just getting a late start. .Killer ear ache is slowing me down…
Hey Brian, so when’s the salsa hitting the shelves???
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Good question Tracy. That IS in the plans, but the timing is unknown at this point. There are so many varieties of salsa that I love too… where to begin?
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This is Hoffbrau Munchen… good stuff!
Mmmm.. Salsa….. That looks so good right now! I eat more salsa than most i think, my gal and I go through almost a jar a day. I know, it’s a wierd obsession. I also have to make salsa for the restaurant a few times a week, but I could never throw the Habs in mix. The general public still freaks out when I put too many jalapeno’s in there!
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Interesting Coincidence… I’m wearing my Hofbrauhaus Munchen sweatshirt right now!
What a great looking salsa recipe, Brian. I must indulge this weekend.
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Good man Adam2!
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Hi Dan. Let me know how it works out! This method is quick and easy, and sooooo good:)
That looks good Brian, it looks like my homemade salsa ussually does, puke colored, I acctually made a new salsa a week ago that finally didnt come out that color, it was 18 serannos(destemmed), a bunch of cilantro, some garlic powder, some lemon, half a tomato, and a teaspoon of vinager, it came out dark vibrant green and it was good.
If you want your salsa to be bright red, you can to do several things – larger chunks of tomato or simply more tomato, more red colored peppers (versus green, orange or yellow), fewer green herbs (I like a LOT of cilantro). I have several other versions I make that come out nice and red. Maybe I can share those later.
We would have to have a red base salsa (tomato), a green base salsa (tomatilla and peppers), and a fruit base salsa to cover the three main salsa areas. This division would allow for contestants to specify his or her type entered.
I like where you are going Cheffy!
Man that stuff looks good!
So when is the pool party?
Any time! Come on down, the water is warm and the flowers are about to bloom!
I like how you have a lava sauce in the picture
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I couldn’t resist
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send directions, i will bring the beer and chips
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Sounds good eman! We can enjoy some home-grown chile POWER!
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How did it work our for you Dan?
Brian – My bro emailed me today and said he got a package but couldn’t pick it up yet – it must be from you! He is going to be SO pumped you don’t even know. The detainees have been especially rough lately, so he’ll need it. Apparently there was some poo flinging??…
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Poo flinging? I thought that is what monkeys do in the zoo?
I’m glad he got it! Hats off to our service men!
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Your on the Demo table this weekend. Bret