Mexican Salsa Verde

The exquisitely piquant Mexican Salsa Verde


I believe in the magic of preparation. You can make just about any foods taste wonderful by adding herbs and spices. Experiment with garlic, cilantro, basil and other fresh herbs on vegetables to make them taste great. ~Jorge Cruise

Salsa verde (Green sauce) is a type of spicy, green sauce used mostly in traditional Mexican cuisine made of tomatillo (also called Mexican husk tomato), green chili peppers, onions, garlic and herbs. Tomatillos are from the same family as tomatoes, but really they are more closely related to the gooseberry. 

Be warned, while most salsa verde sauces look absolutely the same, they vary in overall spiciness. Some recipes use extremely mild chilies. This recipe amp up the heat with jalapeño peppers or its hotter cousin the serrano peppers.

This recipe uses broiled tomatillos, rendering a deep charred, almost smoky flavour that mellows the tartness. 


Tip: Instead of an electric blender use a stone mortar and pestle. A molcajete is a stone mortar and pestle traditionally carved out of a single block of vesicular basalt from Mexico. typically round in shape and supported by three short legs it's great for grinding spices and making salsa and guacamole because The rough surface of the basalt stone creates a superb grinding surface that maintains itself over time giving everything a nice coarse and rustic feel.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb tomatillos

  •  1/2 cup chopped white onion

  •  2 cloves (or more) garlic

  •  1/2 cup cilantro leaves

  •  1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

  •  2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 Serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped (I used whole for more heat)

  •  Salt to taste


Directions

  1. Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.
  2. Cut the tomatillos in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. 
  3. Add chili peppers and a few garlic cloves in their skin (if using) Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skins of the tomatillos.
  4. Blend tomatillos, chili peppers, garlic, chopped cilantro and lime juice







Even just a few spices or ethnic condiments that you can keep in your pantry can turn your mundane dishes into a culinary masterpiece. ~ Marcus Samuelsson


Usage

    • Salsa verde is most commonly served cold as a dip with tortilla chips. 
    • Another possibility is to add salsa verde to rice and beans. 
    • Some people prefer to add sugar to the sauce, they believe that sugar balances the acidity from the tomatillos and adds an extra dimension to the taste.
    • Adventurous cooks add toasted nuts or roasted vegetables or even potatoes. All these add texture and flavor to an already rich sauce.


    Location: Willowgate Community Gardens, Andsbury Ave, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. Kindly don’t engage in trolling, flame-baiting, name-calling, insulting, stereotyping or gratuitous attacks. Thank you for being a good citizen.

    Popular posts from this blog

    Our Lady of Perpetual Succor

    Image
     Significance of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual  Succor The title, Our Lady of Perpetual Succor , is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, emphasizing her unfailing eagerness to pray for the welfare of human beings, especially those who seek her intercession. You probably recognize the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor, which has become one of the most venerated pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but have you paused to think about the various elements of this icon? In this iconography, Mary is represented as the one who guides us to her son, Jesus Christ the Redeemer. The icon is known for being miraculous; over the centuries countless healings and special graces have been attributed to it. The elements of the icon It shows the Most Blessed Virgin Mary holding her divine child in her arms as two archangels Micheal and Gabriel tower above carrying the instruments of his Passion with veiled hands.  The initials of the four main characters are shown in Greek initials. The inscripti
    Read more

    Mango - The King of Fruits

    Image
    Mango - the King of Fruits Much has been written about the influence of popular culinary items that now form the mainstay of Indian cuisine, which are thought to be indigenous but were actually imported by the Portuguese . These include chillies, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cashews, papaya, pineapples, peanuts, tapioca, guava and chikoos (sapodillas).  But did you know that the Portuguese also exported Indian culinary items like mangoes, sugarcane, pepper and many other spices to far-flung areas of the world including S America and Africa? The Portuguese did however play a vital role in introducing the techniques of mango grafting which vastly highlighted the desirable qualities skyrocketing the popularity of the mango, making it the talking point of Moghul courts and inspiring Emperor Akbar to plant 100,000 mango trees aka Lakhi Bagh orchards about 1,200 kilometers from Delhi, where grafting led to hundreds of mango varieties. The mango tree ( Mangifera indica ) is considere
    Read more

    Understanding Cholesterol

    Image
     Get Your Cholesterol in Check -  By Knvul Sheikh, a New York Times reporter covering chronic and infectious diseases and other aspects of personal health. Credit: Molly Cook Escobar (NY Times) Introduction: High cholesterol, caused mainly by eating high-saturated-fat and high-trans foods, not exercising enough, being overweight, smoking and drinking alcohol, can cause blockage of the arteries, making it more likely to have heart problems or strokes. High cholesterol can also run genetically in some families. To get a risk assessment of cholesterol in your blood you need to take a 12-hour-fasting blood test which reveals levels of HDL, LDL and triglycerides, which combined with other factors, such as your age, blood pressure and health conditions will determine your QRISK score. Getting your cholesterol tested — and under control — is critical to preventing heart disease and other serious health problems. But figuring out when to test and what to make of the numbers can feel daunting.
    Read more