I've been asked to make some homemade salsa for a friend gathering. The issue is, I only know the most basic shit like pic related. What recipes does Veeky Forums have that I can try out?
BONUS ROUND: Help me do it with only a 20$ budget.
BONUS BONUS ROUND: I live in a small town with one of the smallest walmarts in the country and a small locally owned shop
That doesn't seem too hard at all. $20 will make a fuckload of salsa, and the ingredients are easily found.
Assuming you want to make a pretty generic "red salsa", here's my basic recipe. Scale up as needed. this makes 1 quart.
1/2 a white onion
1 tsp salt
1 tb cumin
4-5 cloves raw garlic
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
canned or fresh jalapenos (amount up to you)
dried Arbol chilis (again, amount up to you)
A few sprigs of fresh cilantro
Put everything except the tomatoes and the cilantro into a blender and puree it. If the mixture is thick enough that it won't blend easily then add a little of the liquid from the tomato can. Then add the cilantro and the tomatoes (leave out the can liquid) and pulse it until it gets to your desired texture. Let it sit for a few hours for the flavors to mix before serving.
Whoops, I forgot to mention: go easy on the cilantro if you aren't sure how much you will like it. The flavor gets stronger as the salsa sits. You can always add more but you can't take it out.
Is there a good substitution for the arbol chilies? I am fairly certain that the stores in town don't carry it, however I may be wrong. They are extremely small, and I live in a town that's a step above 'bum-fuck nowhere'
Hmm, I use the arbols because they have a sharp, acidic (but short-lived) sort of heat. Maybe use some cayenne powder? Or some of those generic red dried chilies you see in the Asian section of markets? Or just leave it out and add some more jalapeno.
I sincerely hope you won't have to use anything canned OP, but I know how much it sucks living in nowhereville. You don't need a fancy recipe with a million rare peppers to impress the pants off everyone though.
- 1 red onion
- 2 fresh jalapenos (more or less depending on how adventurous you're feeling)
- 2 limes
Juice the limes, mince the onion and pepper, mix 'em up in a bowl, and let it soak in the lime juice while you get the rest of the shit ready
- 8 roma tomatoes
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
- teaspoon of salt
Dice your tomatoes by hand (this is important, I've never had good results otherwise) and mince your garlic. Once that's all ready, toss it in the bowl from step 1 and mix it all together. I recommend doing this a day before you eat any, the flavours will mingle overnight and you'll thank yourself for your patience.
Okay! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much you've helped me out.
This will sound like a stupid question, but after doing it the night or two before the gathering, should I refrigerate it, or leave it out in a seal jar?
If OP has that limited a market selection then the canned tomatoes are going to taste way better than the "fresh" ones from the Wal-mart counter. And frankly while I do love a good fresh tomato, I would still use canned for making this salsa simply because it's a closer match to the expected flavor. I have beefsteak tomatoes in my garden but I still use the canned (Red Gold brand) for salsa.
refrigerate it.
I refrigerate mine. Better safe than sorry.
fry an onion, two tomatoes, a japapeno, and three cloves of garlic in bacon grease. throw in a blender with some cilantro. done
Canned tomatoes? No thank you
You think OP is going to be able to get better with the store selection he described?
this guy is somewhat right. The tomatos sold in town are way inconsistent to the point that it's been just downright awful sometimes, and pretty damn good at other times. I think I might make two batches, though. One with canned and one without.
Thank you, everyone, btw. You guys have been super helpful.
Then sub fresh ones if you want
but it seems like op isn't going to have any good ones with his store selection
Trying this recipe right now! In the process of making it, first. Then will try the other recipe.
The best tip I can give is to ROAST THEM VEGGIES. Roast all of them, the tomatoes, the peppers, the onions, the garlic. Roasted salsa is just generally more flavorful. Also, make sure you add enough salt and lime to make it bright tasting, and add cilantro if your friends are faggots.
That was a Freudian slip, lel.
*if your friends AREN'T faggots*
I've used the pic in OP's post, and it turned out pretty good for a basic, easy salsa. (thank you based booru)
But, you can adjust salsa pretty much to your heart's content. I also agree with , roasting the veg makes for awesome salsa.
I'll definitely have to try that! I finshed recipe. We had a rough time because the limes at the store were super small, so we add more lime in hope to adjust for the small size. We fucked up, and it's a bit too limey. Also, two jalapenos was not quite enough heat, so next time I'm definitely going to add a third one. I'm going to start on recipe here in a bit
It's also in the fridge right now. gonna sit over night