Starting the new year right

This holiday season, my sister asked me to make some of my salsa, which I lovingly refer to as "El Sombrero del Muerto," for her to give as gifts to some friends of hers (I assume they're friend. Could conceivably be enemies she never wants to speak to again). I've developed my salsa recipe over the course of much trial-and-error and many years. Each batch varies a little, but in the end the gist is the same. I used to make it hotter, but at some point the scalding heat and flavor of the habañeros overwhelms the other flavors, and truth to tell, I'm just not that big a fan of habañero flavor (I much prefer the taste of serranos).

I haven't made any salsa in the better part of a year, so I enthusiastically responded to the request. Making salsa is an event with me, you see. Much shopping and preparing and the like. Lisa figured it up once, and we realized I wasn't saving any money by making it myself. In fact, all things being equal, it probably cost us more to make the stuff than to buy from the store. But they all make it wrong, you know? One thing I can't abide is sweet salsa, and it seems like every brand out there dumps loads of sugar into their confections, and those that don't seem intent on drowning it in vinegar. Ugh.

So. I spent January 1, 2008 making salsa. Several jars of "mild" were set aside for the rest of the family before I added the majority of the chili peppers, but ultimately I estimate I came out with around three gallons of the hot stuff. Here's the "official" recipe for those of you interested in such things:

Sombrero del Muerto
(Salsa del Fuego)

Ingredients: 12 large tomatoes
4 12 oz. cans tomato paste
10 tomatillos
20 jalapeños
20 serrano peppers
20 habañeros
1 7 oz. can chipotle peppers
1-3 nopales (cactus leaves)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup salt
1 bunch cilantro
1 white or yellow onion
1 bunch green onions
1 clove garlic
crushed/ground peppercorn

Slice/dice nopales. Chop onion greens, 1/2 cilantro. Blend up tomatoes, tomatillos, chipotles, garlic, remaining green onions and cilantro along with half of all peppers. Combine in large pot/kettle along with salt, vinegar, peppercorn and tomato paste (paste is VERY important, otherwise sauce won't be proper consistency). Heat until it starts to bubble. Dice remaining peppers and add to mixture. Simmer 20 minutes. Enjoy!

For mild salsa, blend 5 serranos and 5 jalapeños in step 2, then separate out mild salsa before adding remainder of peppers.

This recipe had a few variants, as is to be expected. For some reason, my brain hiccupped and I read the "12 large tomatoes" as "20 large tomatoes" so the brew was a bit increased in volume this time around. My grandmother had sent me a dozen or so jalapeños a few months back which I had frozen, so I added those as well to balance the extra tomatoes. The local H-E-B also didn't have any nopales (prickly pear cactus) pads, but had some fresh, pre-diced ones bagged up. This was about twice as much as I needed, but I used them all. The nopales don't add any heat to the salsa, but they do contribute to the chunky body style I prefer, and give a vaguely vegetable flavor to the proceedings. I also get a kick out of people's reactions when I tell them I put cactus in my salsa. It's not exactly a secret ingredient, but it is a pretty rare one (I've encountered exactly one other salsa that uses nopales as an ingredient). I also had 3/4 of a bottle of my jalapeños mead in the fridge that wasn't going to be drunk any time soon, so I poured that in as well. No discernible sweetness was added to the salsa, but I was pretty overdosed on capsicum by that point. I'll have a better idea of the flavor after taking a taste tonight.

And by the by, don't wipe your eyes after cutting up those peppers. Just, you know, a suggestion.

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