Another salsa post? Yes, absolutely. There’s a few reasons for it. I can’t find very many salsas that are both spicy enough for me, and tasty enough to enjoy. I know it’s a fine line. Habanero is my favorite level of heat right now – but everyone sweetens it up with mango. That makes me have to look for ghost, which doesn’t have as good of flavor as habanero – in my opinion.
Frequent question I get: Which store bought salsas do you like? I’m always finding and buying new ones.. and hopefully they’re local for you too.. but Maria’s is a good store go-to. Spicy Gnome has a phenomenal product – well worth the order. But sometimes you gotta make your own.
The Prep Table
MrsForensicBBQ’s co-worker gifted us with a pile of tomatoes. We couldn’t possibly use all the tomatoes we received – so I was forced to make a salsa. “forced”. Only once have I seen fresh ghost peppers in the store, and I’ve went back a couple times and nowhere to be found. But I did come across the dried variety and bought a pack. My plan was to use this for my next jerky .. but we’re using ’em today.
The Process
We’re going to roast these and get some flavor on it. If you recall from the Chile de Arbol post – I thought it could’ve been better without the sweetened onion flavor from the roast, so we omitted it today. I also had some jalapenos that needed used, so that’s why you see some green on that board. Lastly, perfectly fine to throw the garlic cloves in there with the skins on, because it makes it way easier to peel once they got that heat on them.
Now it’s the easy part. Throw it all in the food processor and go. MrsForensicBBQ helped as we tried to find the perfect balance of heat. I told her to give me a handful here and there as we tried to make the perfect salsa. How’d you think that went? We used all the ghost peppers. Of course we did.
Usually I need the salsa to sit in the fridge and incorporate and chill for a bit until I can tell if it’s going to be a banger. I took a chip and was surprised at how AWESOME this salsa was. And the heat was perfect for me. It had a burn, let you know it was there – but still allowed me to enjoy the flavor. This is what I was looking for in a salsa. My father would disagree, but I cook for me and let everyone else try it.
The Result
Had to re-gift the tomatoes back to the purveyor and then a couple of test cups. Kind of disappointed in my co-workers who continuously pass on the spicy. Not for everyone, I get it. But I ate a lot of this salsa.
Next time, I might half the roast of tomatoes and add some raw to play with the tomato flavor, but this was a damn good salsa. Ghost peppers, I’m warming up to you.. kinda like you warmed up my belly.