Salsa Picante

This is a rip-off of the hot salsa you find at Rubio's. I originally found the recipe on a Chowhound thread and tweaked it a little further to make it as close to perfect as I could get it.  So, here we go:

Ingredients:


1 can of tomato sauce (15 ounce)
2 tablespoon red chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Method:

Put the tomato sauce, sugar and salt in a saucepan, and set it aside.

Put the chili flakes in a non-stick frying pan. Cook them for 5-7 minutes on medium heat, turning very frequently. You want to turn them close to black, without burning them. It's a very fine line. Be careful.

When they're done, run 2/3 of the flakes through a coffee grinder then add them all to the sauce. Stir and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Let it cool in the refrigerator for an hour or so and serve.

Warning: This gets ugly. Cooking the flakes releases the oils which fills the air with a teargas-like experience. Running them through the coffee grinder takes it to a whole new level. Do this in a well-ventalated area with all your fans blowing. Better yet, do these steps outside, if possible.


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New Mexican Egg Rolls

INGREDIENTS

• 12 Egg roll wrapers, Large
• ⅓ pound Ground beef
• 8 ounces Diced green chilies
• ¼ pound Shredded hash brown potatoes
• 8 ounces Shredded colby-jack cheese
• Canola oil
• Taco seasoning
• 1 Egg, beaten

METHOD

Fry the hash browns.

Brown the ground beef and season with taco seasoning.

While you're prepping the egg rolls, heat 3/4" of canola oil in a skillet.

Lay out 4 egg roll wrappers. Add a scoop of each: Potatoes, ground beef, and diced green chilies. Then add as much cheese as you think you'll be able to conceal in the egg roll wrapper. The more, the better.

Roll up the egg roll wrappers (directions should be on the package), using the egg wash to seal the edges.

Fry on one side until golden brown (3-4 minutes), then turn and brown the others side for a minute or two.

For best results, serve smothered with green chili sauce and topped with shredded lettuce.

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Habanero Papaya Salsa

Ingredients:

• 7 roma tomatoes
• 1 large white onion
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 cup diced papaya
• 1 habanero chilie
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 4 ounces pineapple juice
• Juice from 1 fresh lime
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

Finely dice all vegetables. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir, and let sit for an hour or two. Serve with tortilla chips.

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Fresh Chipotle Salsa

Fresh salsa is always a favorite around the Doody house. Here are instructions and a video that demonstrate how I make my chipotle salsa.



Ingredients:

• 1 white onion
• Tomatoes (2-3 times the amount of onion, in mass, keeping in mind you’ll be removing the seeds from the tomatoes
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2-4 dried chipotles (depending on desired heat level)
• Juice from 1 1/2 to 2 fresh limes
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

Process:

Grind the dried chipotles in a coffee grinder until you have a fine powder.

Run the leaves of the cilantro through the food processor. Discard the stems. Run the onions through the food processor until diced. Remove 1/2 of the onion/cilantro blend, and set aside in a mixing bowl.

Remove the seeds from all but about 1/5 of the tomatoes, and cut them into a size that travels well through your food processor.

Squeeze the limes into the food processor. Add the ground chipotles, a few pinches of kosher salt, and the cut tomatoes. Blend well.

Pour the tomato mixture into the bowl of onions, add fresh ground black pepper (to taste), stir, and refrigerate for a few hours.

Serve with fresh, hot tortilla chips.




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Green Butt Chili

This bowl of green is hotter than hell, but de-freakin'-licious!

Ingredients:

• 64 oz Sadie's Salsa
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatos
• 6 (13 oz) tubs of thawed chopped green chilies
• 16 chicken bullion cubes
• 1 large white onion (diced)
• 4 fresh chopped jalapenos
• 4 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cans black beans
• 1.25 lbs (cooked weight) pulled pork (Boston Butt)

Get your ingredients all layed out:


I didn't have any leftover pulled pork, so I put one in the smoker last night. Here's how it looked when it came out:


Foil that thing immediately. Get all your ingredients chopped/opened/blended while the butt rests.


Blend your green chilies up really well in a food processor or blender. The idea is to create a puree.


Add everything but the pork and black beans to a monsterous chili pot. Stir.


While that's coming to a light boil, pull your pork.


Once your pork is ready, add it to the chili and stir it up.


Reduce to a simmer and let it sit for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Do a quick-drain of your black beans. Don't bother rinsing or using a colander. Just turn 'em upside down with the removed lid on.


Simmer for another 1/2 hour.

Serve!


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Green Chili Sauce Part 1

This recipe is labed "Part 1" because it is a work in progress. I have begun a quest to come up with a green chili sauce that is good enough to compete with those made by restaurants such as Alberto's in Greeley, Colorado, and Santiago's, which is scattered throughout Colorado. This recipe doesn't even come close to matching what you'll find there, but, for my first attempt, it was pretty stinkin' good.

For those of you who aren't familiar with green chili sauce, it's a thin, gravy-like chili (made primarily from green chilies), which is typically served as the topping of a smothered burrito. These recipes usually contain pork, but for my first shot, I decided to keep it simple and go hippie with it.

• 26 ounces roasted green chilies (diced, frozen okay)
• 1/3 cup minced white onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons Sadie's salsa
• 1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
• 1 fresh diced jalapeno with the seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons bacon grease
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat bacon grease to medium-low, and cook the onions, garlic and salt for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Puree your green chilies and the onion/garlic/salt/grease mixture. You want a really fine texture. To get the texture I wanted, I had to run it through the food processor, then the blender.

Once you're done blending it up, put the puree, and everything else, back into the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, and let it simmer until it's reduced until you're left with a gravy-like constancy. Stir as needed throughout the cooking process to keep it from burning to the bottom of the pan.

Serve over a bean and cheese burrito. Or, our family's favorite is to get a take-out taco pizza and smother it. We like it on Godfather's Taco Pizza.


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Spicy 16 Mexican Dip

I take the insulting of an entire culinary culture to a whole new level with the use of Velveeta in this tortilla chip dip gem.

• 1 (16 oz) block of Velveeta Pepper Jack *
  
• 1 (16 oz) jar Pace (hot) Picante Sauce **
• 1 (16 oz) can refried beans
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Cube the Velveeta, and dump everything in a pot.

Heat to melt, stirring frequently.

Garnish with fresh ground black pepper, and serve with store-bought tortilla chips.

Variations:

* Velveeta Pepper Jack is hard to find. If you can't locate any, Mexican Velveeta will do just fine.

** If you're a wuss, go ahead an use Pace Medium Picante Sauce. If you're such a wuss that you'd require the Mild version, go away. You have no business trying any recipe with the word "spicy" in it. If you're a male, you might as well change your name to Nancy.

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Refried Beans

Great-tasting refried beans. Put them in a burrito, on the side, or my personal favorite, on a tostada.

• 2 lbs pinto beans
• 3/4 cup bacon grease
• 1/2 onion (diced)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  

The night before cooking, dump the beans out on the table, and remove the broken beans and foliage. Rinse the beans in a colander, then put them in a pot, cover with at least 3" of water, and soak overnight.

The next day, strain the beans in the colander, put them back in the pot, and add fresh water to cover to at least 3". Bring to a boil, then reduce. Simmer for 1.5 - 2.5 hours, or until the beans are very soft. Stir occasionally.

While the beans are simmering, simmer the chicken broth to reduce to 1/2 cup. If you had to cook up some bacon to get your bacon grease, deglaze the bacon pan with the broth, then start the reduction simmer.

Once the beans are done, put them in a colander to drain.

Heat up the bacon grease in a large cast iron pan, and cook the onions and salt for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the cumin and chili powder, and cook for another 30 seconds. Add your beans, and and smash 'em up with a potato masher. Fry that stuff up for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Enjoy. :)

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