Labor Day Salsa Recipe

You could do this with your oven broiler too, but obviously won't have any smokey flavor.


Ingredients To Smoke:
8 Roma Tomatos from Sam's Club (those are the big ones)
Some smaller Roma Tomatos from our garden.
2 white onions halved
1 head of garlic (use half and save half for something else)
4-6 Jalapeño peppers from our garden
4 Mexibell peppers from our garden (a small bell-like pepper with a little bit of heat)
Sprinkle it all with Paula's House Seasoning

Smoke with charcoal/hickory mix at 250 until tender and skin falling off the veggies.

continued after the jump

Other Ingredients You'll Need:
1 tsp salt
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of one lime
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

The Heat:
After the veggies are done smoking let them cool off for about 15 minutes.  Then fire up your food processor.  First chop up the onions and peppers.  Pull onion/pepper mixture out of the processor and set aside.  You'll add this in later bit by bit until you hit the heat you are looking for.  Note:  smoked peppers can sometimes be hotter than when they are raw.  Remember that the heat is in the seeds and membrane inside the pepper.  Don't be a chicken and leave out the Jalapeño - just remove seeds and membrane prior to smoking.  You'll get great flavor without the heat. 

The Red:
I like to pull the skin off of the tomatos first.  Then, after you've pulled "the heat" out of the processor, toss in the tomatos (without rinsing out the processor).  Puree tomatos to the consistency you like for your salsa.  Dump these into a separate bowl.

Bringing It All Together:
Start with about half of The Heat.  Add to your tomato puree.  Add in salt, apple cider vinegar, and lime to taste.  Is it hot enough yet?  If so, stir in chopped cilantro and you're done.  If not, keep bringing the heat.