August 16, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Summer Salsas
During these hot weeks of summer a lot of us pay more attention to the cooking traditions of people who know hot weather, and understand how to thrive in it. The Latino world is wide and complex, and its influences on our cooking is indisputable. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School has learned, quite a few Latino staples have become our staples. The classic example is salsa.
The Spanish word "salsa" shares a derivation with the French word "sauce"and the two are strikingly similar. In essence, you have liquefied ingredients that are added to a dish to enhance its flavor. True, many salsas are pretty chunky, but there is the sense of a liquid in all of them. Here is a collection of recipes from Jerry.
Summer Salsas
Chefs Amy von Lange & Jerry Pellegrino
Salsas are a great way to take advantage of summer produce. Combinations are only limited by your imagination. Remember, when making a salsa, try to balance the four basic tastes; sweet (ripe fruits and vegetables, honey or agave), sour (citrus juices or vinegar), bitter (raw garlic or onions) and salty (salt, fish sauce or soy sauce) in a way that makes your creation refreshing, light and tasty.
Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 3 red onions cut into ¼ inch dice
- 12 Roma tomatoes, seeded and cut into ¼ inch dice
- 2 cups fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and cut into fine dice
- 2 limes, zest & juice
- Salt to taste
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Serve at room temperature with freshly made tortilla chips.
Charred Yellow Pepper Salsa
Ingredients
- ½ pound roma tomatoes cut in half
- ½ pound yellow bell peppers
- 2 jalapeños
- 1 large dried guajillo chilies
- 1 large dried ancho chilies
- 1 large yellow onion cut into ¼ inch dice
- 4 whole garlic cloves, sliced
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Char the tomatoes, peppers and jalapeno either on the grill or with a torch until the skin is dark brown.
- In a sauté pan set over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the oil until soft and translucent.
- Split the dried chilies down the middle and remove the seeds, using the tip of your knife to loosen if necessary. Roughly chop them and add to the onions and garlic.
- Add a few tablespoons of water and cook the chilies.
- Adding more water if necessary as they hydrate for 5 minutes.
- Place all ingredients in a food processor set with the chopping blade and pulse to purée the salsa.
- The consistency is up to you, Amy likes it smoother, I tend to like it a little chunky.
Pressure Cooker Pork Ribs
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Canola or Olive oil
- 4 lb. Pork Ribs
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ cups honey
- 10-oz. can red chili sauce (we like to use Heinz)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- Heat olive oil in the base of a pressure cooker over medium high heat until just smoking.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, honey, chili sauce, salt, chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Cook until boiling. Add the ribs, place the lid on the pressure cooker and allow to fully pressurize. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Release the pressure according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Remove the lid. Remove the ribs.
- Place the pressure cooker back over medium heat and allow the sauce to thicken.
- Pour as much of the sauce as necessary to coat the ribs as you’d like.
Smoked Corn & Tomato Salsa– adopted from Steven Raichlen’s Book ‘Project Smoke’
Ingredients
- 4 ripe tomatoes cut in half
- 3 ears sweet corn, roasted in the husk until tender, shucked and cut in half
- 1 small red onion, cut into ¼ inch dice
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 2 lemons, zest & juice
The idea for this salsa is to smoke all of the vegetables in a smoker for about 15 minutes. What we do is to smoke the tomatoes and the corn with our smoking gun (four rounds of Applewood smoke in a large bowl, 15 minutes each) and leave the onion crisp and fresh.
Smoke the corn and tomato in a bowl on a rack with a smoking gun. Dice the tomato and cut the corn from the cob. Combine the tomato and corn with the remaining ingredients and season with salt.
Spicy Peach Salsa
Ingredients
- 6 cups finely chopped pitted peeled peaches (about 3 lb or 9 medium)
- 1 cup finely chopped seeded roasted red bell pepper (about 1 large)
- 1 cup finely chopped red onion (about 1 large)
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (about 14 cloves)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ¼ cups honey
- ¾ cup malt vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons hot pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons salt
In a sauce pan set over medium high heat, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and cook just until the peaches are warm. Serve immediately.
