Flame Roasted Salsa Food

FIRE-ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, sugar and salt. Cover and process until desired consistency.

FIRE ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• If you are grilling, get your grates hot and scrape them clean. Place your onions and tomatoes cut side down on the grill. Place the chiles and garlic cloves on the grill, too. If you are broiling, arrange everything on a baking sheet, cut side up.
• Let the onions and tomatoes grill a solid 5 minutes before trying to move them. You want significant blackening. Turn the garlic cloves as the peel blackens, and rotate the chiles so their skins blacken. Remove the garlic when several sides of the cloves have some char, when the skins of the chiles are well blackened, when both cut sides of the onion quarters are charred, and when the cut face of the tomatoes are well blackened. You will want to use a thin metal spatula to do this. If you are broiling, simply wait until you get good char on most of the vegetables.
• Put the chiles into a plastic bag to steam. Chop the onion roughly. Peel the garlic and if the cloves are large, chop into a few pieces. Remove the skins from the tomatoes. After 10 minutes or so, peel the chiles with the back of a butter knife, then open them up and scrape away their seeds. Chop them roughly.
• If you are grinding your salsa in a molcajete, add the salt, oregano and garlic and pound to a paste. Add the onion bit by bit, grinding and pounding all the way. Next comes the chiles, then the tomatoes. Finally, grind in the chopped herbs into the salsa. If you are not using a molcajete, simply put everything into a food processor and blitz it a few times. You want this salsa to have some texture. Add salt if you need it, and you are good to go.

AUTHENTIC FIRE-ROASTED TEX-MEX SALSA

Steps:

• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler to high.
• Spray a 9x13-inch glass casserole dish with cooking spray. Arrange tomatoes in the prepared dish with cut sides down. Add onion and jalapeno.
• Broil until tomato skins are blackened and blistered, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove onion and jalapeno halfway through cooking time, once skins are slightly softened.
• Combine broiled vegetables in a blender; add cilantro, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon garlic salt. Pulse until smooth. Taste and season with remaining garlic salt as desired.

ROASTED CHILE SALSA

Steps:

• Roast the poblano chiles one-by-one over the flame of your stovetop, using metal tongs to hold them, until the skin is totally charred. (If you don't have a gas stove, you can use an outdoor grill OR place them on a baking sheet directly under your oven's broiler.) When the skin is totally blackened, place the chiles in a large resealable plastic bag and seal the bag to allow the chiles to sweat for a good 20 minutes. Remove the chiles and use a knife to scrape off most of the blackened skin. Slice the chiles in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds and membranes.
• Divide the ingredients into 3 batches so they will fit into a 12-cup processor
• Combine whole tomatoes, roast chiles, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, salt, sugar and lime juice in a blender or food processor.
• Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
• Refrigerate the salsa for at least an hour before serving.

CLASSIC ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• Heat broiler, with rack in top position. Place tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and garlic in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Broil until vegetables are blistered and slightly softened, rotating sheet and flipping vegetables frequently, 6 to 8 minutes (garlic may need to be removed earlier, if it is browning too quickly).
• Discard garlic skins. In a food processor, pulse garlic and vegetables until coarsely pureed. Add lime juice, season with salt and pepper, and pulse to combine.
• Transfer salsa to a bowl and stir in cilantro. Refrigerate up to 3 days, freeze up to 3 months.

FLAME ROASTED SALSA

Steps:

• Fire up the grill. Make it really hot in the middle, medium hot on the sides.
• The jalapenos and serranos are a good starting point, but are just suggestions. I like to use a variety of peppers, including poblanos, mexibelles etc. Just remember, that the level of heat comes strictly from the peppers. Either way, you are going to want 8 or more peppers. Make sure to leave the stems on.
• Place the tomatoes in the center, over the hottest part of the grill. Place the peppers and onion over the medium hot part.
• Roast on the grill for 15 minutes The tomato skin will get black. That is fine. Don't move them. Turn the peppers and onion half way through. The peppers should blacken as well, but they cook faster than the tomatoes, so keep an eye on them. If the peppers get black and soft before the 15 mins is up, take them off.
• Turn the tomatoes at 15 minutes Cook the other side for 15 mins as well. Remove the peppers as long as they are soft and place them in a brown paper bag. Keep cooking the onion, turning every 7 mins or so, until soft and caramelized, usually as long as the tomatoes.
• Remove the tomatoes from the grill, pulling off any of the skin that stuck to the grill. Remove the onion as well.
• Place all of the tomatoes in a large blender with the onion. Remove the peppers from the brown paper bag. Using gloves as necessary, peel the peppers and pull the stems off. I leave the seeds in, but you can try and remove them if you prefer a milder salsa. Place the peppers into the blender.
• Add the remaining ingredients and blend until puree. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. If salsa is too thick, you can thin with water to required consistency.