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-   -   Secret Ingredent for Salsa? (http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=42910)

whoose October 11, 2016 09:59 AM

Secret Ingredent for Salsa?
 
Secret Ingredent for Salsa? I have found through exhaustive experimentation that good old canned tomato juice really adds that missing ingredient.

What is you secret?

MarianneW October 11, 2016 10:01 AM

Key limes.

Fair disclosure, I usually make guacamole and not salsa. Loving aji cristal chiles right now.

ContainerTed October 11, 2016 10:58 AM

Good ole' "Homemade" tomato juice made from Heirloom and OP tomatoes with excellent taste. Commercially sold tomato juice is made from roma type tomatoes and is too bland for me. Had a small glass over at my great-nephew's this past spring and couldn't get past the first sip. I made the 22 mile round trip back to my house and took him a dozen of my homemade quarts. He poured out the commercial can.

heirloomtomaguy October 11, 2016 11:35 AM

Cumin

Worth1 October 11, 2016 11:53 AM

I make way too many flavors to even consider making a statement on secret ingredients for salsa.
But one thing I would like to mention when it comes to Mexican food like this.
It almost always involves a lime in one way or another.
Something sadly missing from most Tex-Mex restaurants.
I will either put lime juice in salsa and or citric acid and sometimes asorbic acid.

Gerardo October 11, 2016 12:10 PM

To keep them alive longer, most places add vinegar to their tabletop offerings, which usually makes them RT stable for the day.

A pinch of oregano and cumin (yeah HTG) can definitely improve things.

You can experiment with the different types of citrus to see which one suits your palate best, there's variety within the "green" lemons/limes in terms of acidity-sweet-bitter.

You can use yellow lemons, they impart a different profile. My citrus tree at home puts out yellows, they make outstanding lemonade.

Disclaimer: I've never used canned tomatoes for salsa, so can't really comment.

Worth1 October 11, 2016 12:25 PM

I cant stand vinegar in salsa and is the reason I use citric acid instead.
Vinegar is also the main reason I cant stand most chorizo made here.

lavanta October 11, 2016 07:31 PM

Chili powder (others already alluded to cumin but this covers all the bases)

Cole_Robbie October 11, 2016 07:34 PM

I put bell peppers in mine, usually yellow or orange.

kurt October 11, 2016 08:18 PM

Down here in our Latin quarters the most common in all the mixes and after questioning these seem to be a basics.
Cilantro,minced is a must.
Garlic almost invisibly minced.
Persian and or Key Lime juice.
Any old mater(red) that is at least diceable for texture.This will give you the red.
Tomatillos show up alot as a stiffener to hold the mix together.
Seasoning, for individual(cultural) tastes.
My favorite in the mix some Morugas,Scorpians(sans seeds),dredged via a cheesecloth infusion that should be timed and removed or left longer if brave enough.
We drain the diced maters so as not to make it mushy(is that a word?).

oakley October 11, 2016 08:47 PM

1 Attachment(s)
I make salsa every Sunday night this time of year starting early August. It is important to me that it is from my garden, nothing canned, bottled, or processed. Except for the few last tweaks after a final tasting.

Using garden fresh i may have different tomatoes, different peppers, etc. So it is always slightly different but my key ingredient is a smoked pepper mix. Just a 1/2 pint of my frozen smoked and add fresh cilantro, (with the stems!), fresh toms, fresh garlic, (some garlic is in my smoked mix but that is smoky sweet). Some fresh red sweet pepper sometimes, and fresh hot pepper. Lots of fresh lime, and i do use good vinegars. I make my own from my apple and Asian pear trees. If it needs a sweetness to balance the acid i use my maple syrup, just a touch. (we tap our trees)

Pic is this past Sunday's batch. I like a wet salsa. Not thick and ketchup-like. Never heated...and it freezes beautifully.
(i take a pint into work every Monday and it is a stampede when announced...NewYorkers are a tough crowd....they LOVE it).

This batch had fresh roasted corn.

greenthumbomaha October 11, 2016 10:09 PM

[QUOTE=whoose;595638]Secret Ingredent for Salsa? I have found through exhaustive experimentation that good old canned tomato juice really adds that missing ingredient.

What is you secret?[/QUOTE]

Canned tomato juices have a ton of added salt. You can let some of your toms simmer longer than the rest of the tom/vegetable mix to make your own reduced juice. I'll have to try some of the above tips next year. I just made a little bowl of salsa. I hope it lasts for a while. Tomorrow comes the freeze.

-Lisa

berryman October 13, 2016 01:32 AM

roasted whole garlic

dmforcier October 13, 2016 10:10 AM

"Love"






[SIZE=1]Or at least lust.[/SIZE]

Cheryl2017 October 13, 2016 10:15 AM

beer and sugar.

dmforcier October 13, 2016 10:21 AM

Okay Cheryl, recipe time.

Cheryl2017 October 13, 2016 10:38 AM

Haha. Well I never measure but ingredients are approximately
6 pounds of tomatoes, 1-2 onions, 6 gloves of garlic,one handful cilantro,3 -6 habanero's, dash of comino 1/4 cup beer and couple tablespoons sugar. Salt to taste and if I need a little more of something I'll add it at the end depending on my mood.

edited to add squeeze a lime over the finished product

Zeedman October 14, 2016 12:12 AM

Like several other posters, I add lime jiuce. Although I generally use bottled juice, I try to use fresh if there are good limes available. Good vinegar too, but the lime juice reduces the amount of vinegar needed.

LOTS of heirloom peppers, almost double the amount called for in the original recipe. The tomatoes I use vary from year to year, as do the peppers to some extent... but Beaver Dam is usually the backbone of the pepper mix. I let them ripen for several weeks, until they turn deep maroon & begin to shrivel. That gives the salsa both body, and a deep red color.

Cilantro sometimes... but depending upon the flavor of the tomatoes, I sometimes substitute dill seed. If I have a secret ingredient, that's it.

Taste test while cooking, sometimes add a little sugar or celery salt to balance the flavor.

When the salsa has cooked & is ready to can, I insert a conical strainer into the mix, and ladle out broth until the salsa is the consistency I want (I like it thick). That hot broth can be poured over ramen noodles... it can be pretty spicy, depending upon the peppers used.

mcool61 October 14, 2016 08:45 PM

I use garden tomatoes if I have them, if not I use stewed tomatoes from save a lot. Chop them up a bit. I use all the stuff everyone else mentioned except I also use some celery salt. I may add a little tomato juice but not too much. Must have minced garlic, cilantro, diced onion, lime juice, a bit of chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, lime basil, pinch of oregano, diced candied jalapenos if I have them, diced green chilis, black pepper, & a little sugar.
Also a must to have good corn tortilla chips made from nixtamalized corn.

Gerardo October 15, 2016 01:37 AM

[QUOTE=oakley;595778]

This batch had fresh roasted corn.[/QUOTE]

Very nice. Heated on top of a tortilla with a slice of ham and egg is happiness.

oakley October 15, 2016 02:07 AM

1 Attachment(s)
Roasting/smoking a 5lb box of hatch chilis tomorrow. First for me, (not the smoking part as i do that all summer), but ordered hatch from NMexico picked tuesday, on my door yesterday. Still fresh and green with a bit of blush red/pink on just a few. Now i will have two chili smoked batches to pull from, all winter, for salsa. At least 5 dozen smoked frozen 1/2 pint packages...
28 10 inch Hatch chilis.

oakley October 15, 2016 02:12 AM

I should add it is very hard to grow any peppers in my climate at altitude over 20 years...but always try...had two plants give me a dozen minor peps this year but had 12 healthy plants, then 6 , then 2...just not my climate.

whoose October 15, 2016 02:44 PM

Alitude and Peppers
 
I am at 6000 feet in the Northern Rockies and have no problem growing peppers. Start early and put in either the greenhouse of a low tunnel. What is your altitude?

terrazoon October 16, 2016 03:04 PM

I use black tomatoes instead of red tomatoes. Actually, I try to use black tomatoes instead of red tomatoes for everything. :)

Down_South November 21, 2016 02:01 PM

Add a chipotle pepper along with a spoon full of the adobo sauce it comes in.

matereater November 22, 2016 09:31 AM

"Add a chipotle pepper along with a spoon full of the adobo sauce it comes in."

I love that stuff, I use it in everything now since I ran across it.

Worth1 November 22, 2016 11:19 AM

[QUOTE=matereater;601123]"Add a chipotle pepper along with a spoon full of the adobo sauce it comes in."

I love that stuff, I use it in everything now since I ran across it.[/QUOTE]

Put it in your next pot of chili.:yes:

Worth

KarenO November 22, 2016 11:34 AM

Chill powder, lime juice and zest. Chopped picked peppers gives more reliable heat. I find often that fresh peppers can be very unpredictable.
Never put cilantro in before processing. Cooked cilantro has a terrible funk to it. Add it fresh, when serving. Infinitely better.
Canadian Salsa. :) add black beans and corn for a nice chunky dip.
KarenO

Down_South November 22, 2016 11:43 AM

1 Attachment(s)
[QUOTE=Worth1;601139]Put it in your next pot of chili.:yes:

Worth[/QUOTE]

+1

I make an old traditional Texas Red Chili using dried guajilla and ancho peppers that has no tomatoes in the recipe (except what's in the adobo sauce). No beans of course. I took the recipe with me to competition. I placed in the top 15 out of 56 teams. Not bad right? The chipotle peppers give it a "something smokey."

dmforcier November 22, 2016 11:52 AM

Not bad at all, especially given how seriously Texans take their chili. Care to post the recipe somewhere? Or is it a closely guarded secret?




[SIZE=1]... but then I'd have to kill you. [/SIZE]


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