Ditch Fahrenheit's Journal 7 7

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Here are the prepped ingredients prior to roasting.

 

At this point I was pretty excited. I love roasted garlic and roast them all the time for various dishes, but I've never roasted peppers before and it was something I've always wanted to do.

 

I've also never worked with tomatillos before. They have an interesting history. I guess they originated from a plant in South America, were hybridized and moved northward, eventually coming to Mexico and California. They're even grown commercially in Iowa now. After you remove the husk, they have a sticky, glycerin feel to them that needs to be washed off, but that's it.

 

 

(Next Slide)

[BlowUpTheMoon]

[jsilverjanet]

those tomatillos look huge!

 

I'm used to seeing the smaller ones

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

This is what I used to do the roasting. A friend gave this to me recently. At first I wasn't sure I wanted it, but now I don't know how I lived without it. I have a full blown convection oven, but this one is a fraction of the size and actually works better. It's perfect for one or two people; saves energy and heats up quicker.

 

The recipe called for a distance of 4" from the element. Because of this, I put it one level below the normal broiling position and turned off the convection fan. The distance turned out to be too great since it took about 15 minutes to roast the first side. So when I flipped everything over for the other side, I moved it up to the normal broiling position and it roasted better in half the time.

 

Don't laugh at my kitchen, I haven't remodeled this one yet, but I kinda like the Corian counters.

 

 

(Next Slide)

[seanfingh]

 

 

This may sound crazy, but I bet a teaspoon of honey, agave nectar or cane sugar will make it even better. Not enough to sweeten it, but to counteract the tartness of the tomatillos + the slight bitterness of the roasted garlic.

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

those tomatillos look huge!

 

I'm used to seeing the smaller ones

 

They had smaller ones in the mix, but I opted for the larger for some reason. I'll have to research that and see if size or shape affects quality or taste.

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

 

This may sound crazy, but I bet a teaspoon of honey, agave nectar or cane sugar will make it even better. Not enough to sweeten it, but to counteract the tartness of the tomatillos + the slight bitterness of the roasted garlic.

 

That might be a good idea. I used about twice the recommended lime juice, so that added a lot of sweetness too. I tasted the garlic after roasting and it was smokey sweet because of the slight caramelization.

 

The cool thing about this recipe is it's so simple it can be customized to anyone's particular taste rather easily.

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Here's everything straight out of the oven and fully roasted.

 

Next time I may roast them a little longer. I hunted around on the internet for roasting tips, and found that removal of the skin and/or anything charred is optional (for serranos and tomatillos at least) and decreases the smokey taste which I like a lot. Also, these peppers and tomatillos have a ton of vitamins and other organic goodness, much of it in the skin. Not removing it also reduces prep time, which I'm always looking to do.

 

 

 

Same stuff on the cooling rack. I found this was totally unnecessary and I'll eliminate this step next time.

 

 

(Next Slide)

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

I neglected to snap a pic of all the ingredients in the blender, but you get the picture.

 

The deglaze step wasn't really necessary, but I thought it would pick up some taste in the process.

 

Also, I pressed the lime half with a hand squeezer this round, but next time I think I'll just peel it and see if the pulp adds or diminishes anything.

 

After loading everything in, it took just a few pulses to get the consistency I wanted. My own preference with salsa verde is no big chucks, but not runny either. I like to dip the chip in and get a nice coating with a small amount cradled in its welcoming bosom. Again, you have a lot of flexibility with this step depending on what you like.

 

 

(Next Slide)

[Ogami]

Ditch Point Challenge Summary

 

Ken Aldred 145

HarveySwick 120

RockMyAmadeus 75

Batman 43

seanfingh 38

Bird 25

bababooey 18

jaybuck43 12

jaeldubyoo 11

Griff 10

jpepx78 10

kdoginohio 10

JAM_NYC 8

Park 8

Jeffro 7

jsilverjanet 5

Rune 5

MetalPSI 4

Revat 4

DeadPoolJr. 3

AmazingComics413 2

Gemma 2

Hibou 2

Jazzno 2

spideyfan76 2

BlowUpTheMoon 1

comix4fun 1

porcupine48 1

rjrjr 1

____________

 

Ogami 1 Pony

 

[+]

 

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Ditch Point Challenge Summary

 

Ken Aldred 145

HarveySwick 120

RockMyAmadeus 75

Batman 43

seanfingh 38

Bird 25

bababooey 18

jaybuck43 12

jaeldubyoo 11

Griff 10

jpepx78 10

kdoginohio 10

JAM_NYC 8

Park 8

Jeffro 7

jsilverjanet 5

Rune 5

MetalPSI 4

Revat 4

DeadPoolJr. 3

AmazingComics413 2

Gemma 2

Hibou 2

Jazzno 2

spideyfan76 2

BlowUpTheMoon 1

comix4fun 1

porcupine48 1

rjrjr 1

____________

 

Ogami 1 Pony

 

[+]

 

 

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

The Final Product:

 

 

 

 

 

Results:

 

Even though it's missing the chicken stock and cilantro, this was absolutely, hands-down, the best Salsa Verde I've ever had. I'm not kidding. And I'm the guy that would drive all the way out to Alviso to find the best authentic Mexican restaurants in the Bay Area just to eat it with Chile Verde and tortillas. The four serranos put it at the highest heat level I've found in CA, but it could probably use one or two more for my taste without obscuring the flavor.

 

Evidently, freshness really counts.

 

The books all say that salsa cans very well, but I'll bet it loses a lot in the process. And since it's so easy to make, and the ingredients are available year round, I doubt I'll try that.

 

I'm always experimenting, so next time I'll use the missing ingredients, step up the serranos and peel the lime to get the pulp. I also want to explore roasting the onion with the rest of the ingredients.

 

 

>> Next up for the DIY corner:

 

 

Using a thermocoupled, independent-platen DMP to facejob keys for fun, deception and profit.

 

 

 

You wish.

 

 

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

[Batman]

Now that's a chip (thumbs u

[jsilverjanet]

Impressive

 

 

I told my wife and showed her your progress today

 

She said to just become friends with the waitstaff at the Mexican restaurant and get them to give you the recipes

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Impressive

 

 

I told my wife and showed her your progress today

 

She said to just become friends with the waitstaff at the Mexican restaurant and get them to give you the recipes

 

On it.

 

I know someone who knows someone who owns Padrecito in SF.

 

Their salsa is really good. I'm waiting on recipes for all 5 shown.

 

But that yellow/orange stuff is too hot for me.

 

 

 

[thirdgreenham]

This fresh, onion and garlic-free salsa is fantastic! It comes highly recommended. (thumbs u

 

1 pound tomatillos, husked or canned

1 serrano chile peppers, minced

1-2 handfuls chopped cilantro

1/3 of a cup chopped fresh oregano 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon coriander seed ground

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

2 cups water or less depending on how thick you want it

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup vinegar

 

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

This fresh, onion and garlic-free salsa is fantastic! It comes highly recommended. (thumbs u

 

1 pound tomatillos, husked or canned

1 serrano chile peppers, minced

1-2 handfuls chopped cilantro

1/3 of a cup chopped fresh oregano 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon coriander seed ground

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

2 cups water or less depending on how thick you want it

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup vinegar

 

Thanks Andy!

 

I'll check it out. (thumbs u

 

I made Jimmers' "quick" recipe yesterday.

[jsilverjanet]

I spoke to my mom about her recipe. It was basically exactly as the one you did.