Cooked salsa #2, end of the summer...

First week of classes - Summer is officially gone in Bloomington.  It's a good thing for my productivity so I can't complain.  Last weekend was our Farmers' Market's salsa contest.  I've entered a few times in the past, getting second once before and first place also.  I made a salsa that I've been working on for most of the summer.  Most recently I've tried pureeing half of the roasted tomatoes and coarsely chopping the other half.  I put both sets of tomatoes into a saucepan and cook on low with three crushed garlic cloves and a tablespoon of dry white wine for about an hour to cook out the water (which there is always a lot of) while intensifying the tomato flavor.  The wine adds a nice element and I find a little garlic is always necessary. 
So on to the contest.  I entered a cooked salsa into the salsa contest and it was not my best one, but it was still pretty good and it took second. I couldn't get my hand on any anaheim green chiles, which are my favorite, so I'm making sure to include them in this recipe.  For the contest I used hungarian and cayenne which are pretty good but not anaheims. 
So here's my salsa recipe. 

Ingredients:
8 large heirloom tomatoes, roasted and peeled
5-6 anaheim chile peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped*
2-4 jalapeño peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. dry white wine

4 green onions, chopped
1/4 c. cilantro chopped
1 lime, juiced

Sea salt (depends on you) and 1/2 t. dry oregano (crushed finely)

Start with half of the roasted tomatoes and put them in the blender and mix at a low speed for about 30 seconds.  Coarsely chop the rest of the tomatoes.  Add all tomatoes to a sauce pan and turn heat to low.  Add wine and garlic to the tomatoes and cook on low for about an hour. 

When hour is up, add diced chiles to the tomatoes.  At this point you can add a little salt and taste the salsa to see how it's faring.  Continue to cook for another 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.

When salsa is cool, stir in onions, cilantro, lime juice and oregano.  While I imagine everyone has different ideas on what goes well in a salsa and what doesn't I am a huge fan of dry oregano.  It holds its own against all the spice and even the cilantro.  I love it.  Give it a try if you haven't before. 

'Tis the season: Cooked Salsa #1

One of the first good and mildly original recipes I learned was my dad's salsa recipe.  I have great memories of weekends back home when my dad would make salsa.  It wasn't something he always did, I seem to remember that at one point, he just started and the salsa was always great.  I often helped with the chopping and lucky me, I learned how to make a great salsa.
I like all kinds of salsas, whether they are raw, cooked, fruit-based or tomatillo.  Of course the fresher the ingredients, the better.  But my all time favorite salsa is a cooked salsa.  Whether for nostalgic reasons or for the fact that cooked salsas are, in fact, complex 'sauces', they are my favorite.  Although I've tinkered with my dad's recipe, adding different ingredients and modifying the cooking technique, I rarely stray from my favorite ingredients: tomatoes, green chiles (anaheim most often), green onions, and cilantro.  Even without jalapeños, you can make a great salsa with just those ingredients. 

So, I've had a few years to play around with my dad's recipe and good incentive.  Here in Bloomington, our Farmers' Market has an annual salsa contest.  The categories are cooked, raw, and more recently 'specialty' (which often means a lot of fruit salsas).  I've entered in the past and depending on the year, the competition can be stiff.  Two years ago, I placed first with this recipe.  I think that this one came out so well particularly because of the heirloom tomatoes and the mild smoky flavor given by putting a couple of soaked mesquite wood chips on the grill while I roasted the tomatoes.  I named the salsa after my favorite chopper and taster.


Ramblin' Rosie's Smoky Roasted Salsa 

15  (to 18) assorted tomatoes (Roma, heirloom) 
18  cherry tomatoes 
1  red bell pepper 
3  Anaheim chilies 
2  jalapeños 
1/2  red onion 
1 1/2 can(s) tomato sauce 
3  green onions, chopped 
1/4 cup(s) chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt, to taste
Oregano, to taste

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Directions

1. Halve tomatoes and skewer cherry tomatoes.
2. Quarter and seed bell pepper.
3. Brush tomatoes, pepper, chilies, and red onion with vegetable oil.
4. Wrap onion in foil.
5. Place vegetables on grill with 2 mesquite wood chips that have soaked in water for an hour.
6. Cook until skins easily fall off.
7. Chop all cooked ingredients and place in bowl (alternatively, you can put all of the cooked ingredients into a saucepan and cook on a low temperature to reduce the mix and increase the flavor of the salsa).
8. Let cool and add tomato sauce. Stir to combine.
9. Add green onion, cilantro, and lime juice, and season to taste