Friday, August 31, 2007

Attack of the killer tomatoes!

So more notes on the scariness of offering to help with someone's garden. Beware! If they have more than one tomato plant, they are going to pawn lots of them off on you.

In speaking to the grandma and the mom, I casually mentioned that I needed to make some salsa. Grandma tells me that she is going out of town and wants to know if I could possibly, please, do her a solid and pick her plants clean so she does not have to worry about all those tomatoes going to waste. Remember kids, grandma's don't like to waste food. So I stop by the day before she is slated to leave and I am nudged toward the garden. I was prepared with my lovely plastic bags. I filled four. There were Romas and beefsteak, and lovely little cherry tomatoes that I ate off the vine. Talk about variety. I pawned some off on friends and neighbors and took the rest home.

Next day, Mommy drops off a lovely bag of peppers. Anaheim, Yellow wax and lots of Jalepenos. I only needed a few, I say. She says, oh well. You have all those tomatoes, you have to do something with them.

I did the only thing I could think of. I made salsa. Lots of salsa. Luckily I know people who like my salsa.

My Mommy's Salsa

A note about this salsa. This is a salsa fresca, meaning it is chunky and bright. If you want a smooth, dark salsa this is not the one for you. Also, it is a bit watery when I make it. This can be solved by straining the tomatoes after chopping. All the ingredients here are suggestions. I add more or less peppers depending on who I made it for. I add more or less garlic depending on who is eating it. Modify it to your taste. If you make it too hot, add more tomatoes.

A note about chopping: I do all my chopping by hand with my wonderful santoku knife. You can whir the tomatoes in the food processor and throw everything else in, but it tends to make the tomatoes really watery and foamy. Whir at your own risk.

6-8 large roma tomatoes, chopped
2 anaheim peppers, seeds removed and minced
1 yellow wax pepper, seeds removed and minced
1-2 jalepeno pepper (enough to satisfy your hotness), seeds removed (unless you like it really hot) and minced
1 medium size onion, chopped to your size preference
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon salt

Mix together and enjoy. Can be refridgerated for up to a week or frozen for about a month before the flavor starts to be sub-par.

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