Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Fresh Red Salsa

Believe it or not, I'm a quarter Mexican. My maiden name was Gomez and the blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin usually threw people off. Many times people would ask "Ummmm.....are you married to someone from Latin America or Spain? How do you have that last name?" Nope! Padre Gomez is Mexican and Irish (there's some Spanish and French thrown in there as well). A fun combo I might add. Our family gatherings are always lively!

Grandpa Gomez was from Guadalajara and Grandma Gomez is from Oregon. When Gramps lived in Oregon he could never find any Mexican restaurants that had really good authentic Mexican food. Soooo.....Grandma G, as I call her, started making Mexican at home. She collected some recipes from the family in Mexico and perfected them. This is why I'm a Mexican food snob. Because when I say she perfected them - I mean it! Grandma G's Mexican food is pretty much AMAZING and I can't say enough about it.

Here's a quick pic of Grandma G. She is such a beautiful woman inside and out. I love her dearly......



For Christmas one year we received the family recipe book from Grandma G and I was beside myself. Phily and I have been slowly but surely trying each Mexican recipe. We want to perfect them just like Grandma G has. I have to admit, we are getting pretty good. Especially with the fresh red salsa. We make that pretty much every week.

But still, nothing seems to taste as good as Grandma G's. 

Fresh Red Salsa
Source: Kitchen of Grandma Gomez 
Servings: 10-12 

8 large ripe Roma tomatoes, peeled
1/2 cup water
1/2 small onion, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste

Peel tomato skins and dice tomatoes. Add diced tomatoes and water to bowl. Transfer to Molcajete in batches and mash well. Transfer back to bowl. Mince onion. Roast and mince jalapeno. For a mild salsa, take out the jalapeno ribs and seeds. Chop cilantro. Add onion, jalapeno, cilantro and desired amount of salt to bowl. Mix thoroughly. Refrigerate. 

QUICK VERSION: dice tomatoes into medium size pieces and add to food processor. Mix well. Transfer to bowl and add water. Dice onion and jalapeno into small pieces and add to food processor. Mix well. Transfer to bowl. Add cilantro to food processor. Mix well. Transfer to bowl. Add salt and mix thoroughly.

Step By Step

Peel tomato skins and dice tomatoes. Helpful Hint: for easy peeling, slice a few X's in each tomato, blanch for a few minutes, transfer to cold water and peel. 

Add diced tomatoes and water to bowl. Transfer to Molcajete in batches and mash well. Transfer back to bowl. Fun Fact: a Molcajete is the Mexican version of the mortar and pestle.

Mince onion, roast and mince jalapeno, chop cilantro and transfer to bowl. Helpful Hint: roasting the jalapeno brings out the flavor. A quick way to roast a jalapeno is to hold the skin over an open flame or burner until it bubbles and blackens. Do this on both sides.

Add salt and mix thoroughly. 

 Enjoy with tortilla chips!

2 comments:

  1. Love it! The world should be given the blessing of knowing Grandma's salsa recipe. We can't keep it to ourselves forever.

    ReplyDelete

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