What was left of The Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa after one day. Dawn and I can put away some salsa.
Dawn and I are pressing on in our quest to create the perfect at-home Mexican food. Our first great success was the adaptation of this near-perfect burrito sauce from a Cooks.com recipe. We both almost always order a bean burrito, so this was a big success. We’re still working on perfecting the filling, though. I know at restaurants they just shove some refried beans in there and call it a day, but we’re shooting for something a little more… something, but we’re not sure what that is (which is probably the problem). The first time we made these burritos it was because we had lot of leftover bean and veggie mix that we were sick of rolling up in tortillas but couldn’t bring ourselves to throw out. That filling was good, but no one really remembers what was in it other than various vegetables and beans in various quantities. The second time I made them I just used a combination of a few different types of beans. This was okay, but on the whole pretty bland because the filling was just beans, and I didn’t even have time to mash and refry them (whatever that means). The most recent time we made the burritos, we made a filling of a few different kinds of beans, diced carrot and mushroom, a little salsa, various spices, and brown rice. This was good, but it seemed to be still missing something–though I have no idea what. But, really, that’s not what this post is about.
This post is about salsa. More than burritos or Mexican rice, Dawn and I are pretty crazy about salsa. When I say I’m in the mood for Mexican food, what I usually mean is I’m in the mood to eat about 5 lbs of chips and salsa and then complain that I’m about to be sick the whole way home. There are plenty of foods that I love and can’t get enough of, but my love of chips and salsa is past that point. Sometimes I think I actually need it to survive. Having said that, I’ll say now that it’s nice to know that if we’re ever snowed in for weeks on end (like that will happen anytime soon in southwest Louisiana), my existence will be sustained as long as I’m able to make this slight adaptation of The Pioneer Woman’s Restaurant Style Salsa recipe. We added a little more sugar, and left the cilantro out entirely (yuck!). This is, by far, the best at-home salsa we’ve had. Now I’m free to focus my efforts on perfecting that burrito filling (suggestions?) and finding a decent Mexican rice recipe.
To make this, you’ll need:
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, with juice 2 10 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chiles ¼ C chopped onion 1 clove garlic, minced 1 jalapeno, diced 1 t sugar ¼ t salt ¼ t ground cumin juice of one small lime Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse 10 to 15 times, testing once or twice with a tortilla chip for consistency and seasoning. Adjust as needed enjoy!
