Watermelon Salsa

This watermelon salsa is very refreshing with just a bit of heat to it and some texture from the radish. I forgot the red onions when I made it but have left it in below. I purposely omitted 1/4 tsp cumin because the author and I don't see eye to eye on cumin in salsas. She suggests you could also make this salsa with cantaloupe or honeydew which also sounds delicious to me. You could also add some Cotija cheese to this, but it's not necessary. My first bite of this seemed a bit too spicy, but it seemed to mellow as it sat, so don't be afraid.

One year ago: Prosciutto and Cream Pasta
Two years ago: Blackberry Lemon Meringue Pie

Watermelon Salsa (from The Homesick Texan Cookbook)

Ingredients
2 cups peeled and diced watermelon
2 radishes, finely diced
1/4 small red onion, diced
1 serrano chile, diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice
salt to taste

1. Toss together watermelon, radishes, red onion, serrano chile, cilantro, and lime juice. Add salt to taste.
2. Place in refrigerator and let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Salsa Fuego

This is a smooth, smokey salsa. It's not overly spicy, so it makes a great dipping sauce for tortillas when you have guests with a wide variety of heat tolerances. Because the tomatoes are charred prior to be used in the salsa, don't be afraid to use those generally disappointing winter tomatoes.

Salsa Fuego (from The Homesick Texan Cookbook)

Ingredients
2 dried pasilla chiles, stems and seeds removed
450g plum tomatoes
salt
2 garlic cloves
1/4 medium yellow onion
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo
1/2 cup cilantro

1. Heat dry skillet over high heat, toast pasilla chiles 10 seconds on each side, cover with water, bring to a boil, turn off heat, and let soak for 30 minutes. Discard water and rinse chiles.
2. Meanwhile, cut tomatoes in half and place seed-side-up on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and place under broiler for 20 minutes or until black.
3. Turn tomatoes over and add garlic and onion and broil for 5 more minutes.
4. In a blender, combine tomatoes, garlic, onion, pasilla chiles, chipotle chile, cilantro, and 1 cup water. Blend until smooth.

Cranberry Salsa with Cilantro and Chiles

For some reason, I have an aversion to the idea of making cranberry sauce, so when I saw a recipe for cranberry salsa, I thought it would be a perfect alternative. I was a bit anxious about how it would turn out, but it was perfect. Tart cranberries with just a little bit of heat. I thought it was a little too much work to shell all the pumpkin seeds (I had some from when we roasted pumpkins), so I left the shell on and no one seemed to complain. I also didn't have pumpkin oil to toast the seeds and simply used canola.

Cranberry Salsa with Cilantro and Chiles (from epicurious, originally Bon Appetit)

Ingredients
4 teaspoons pumpkin seed oil (or neutral oil)
1/2 cup natural unsalted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds or unshelled)
Sea salt
2 cups fresh cranberries or frozen, thawed
1 1/3 cups chopped green onions (dark green parts only; about 2 bunches)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced seeded serrano chiles (I left the seeds in)
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add pepitas; stir until golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to plate; sprinkle with sea salt.
2. Place cranberries in processor. Using on/off turns, process until finely chopped. Transfer to bowl.
3. Add onions, cilantro, and chiles.
4. Stir sugar and lime juice in another bowl until sugar dissolves. (DO AHEAD: Cranberry and lime juice mixtures can be made 4 hours ahead.) Cover separately; chill.
5. Add cranberry mixture and pepitas to lime juice mixture; stir to combine.

Ninfa's Red Sauce

This sauce may be a bit spicy for some people, so feel free to reduce the amount of chiles. You should also expect a thinner table sauce rather than a thick salsa when making this.

Ninfa's Red Sauce (from The Tex-Mex Cookbook)

Ingredients
1 1/4lb tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno chile, stem and seeds removed (or leave the seeds in for something spicier)
2 dried chiles de arbol, diced and seeds removed (or leave in seeds if you want it spicier)
4 cilantro springs, chopped (I removed due to cilantro averse friends)
1 tsp salt

1. In a medium pot, bring a low layer of water to a boil over medium heat.
2. Add the tomatoes and garlic. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes are soft.
3. Remove from heat and drain or simmer longer to allow the water to evaporate off soon if you didn't put in too much water.
4. Add chiles, cilantro, and salt.
5. With an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
6. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill.

Tomatillo Sauce

I've been hooked on tomatillo sauce since the first time I went to Chuy's.  We had just finished moving in and there was a Tex-Mex joint around the corner.  The decorations were typical Tex-Mex kitschy - a bar covered in bumper stickers and a ceiling covered with hubcaps.  Nothing says class like hubcaps ... oh Austin, I miss you!  I ordered a big as yo' face bean & cheese burrito with tomatillo sauce ... it was love at first bite.

This sauce recipe is excellent.  I meant to try a recipe from the Tex-Mex Cookbook that I picked up while I was home, but it called for Anaheim chilies.  What are the chances that I'm going to easily find Anaheim chiles in Montreal?  The Tex-Mex section at the local grocery stores is sadly non-existent, I'm excited when I see canned pinto beans, and the Val-Mont is the only place near me that carries fresh jalapenos.  Then I realized, I had a recipe I could make using the canned ingredients I had on hand.  Granted, fresh would be better, but a girl's gotta make do with what she can get.  (And now I'm out of tomatillos and will be needing to make a special trip to one of the Latin specialty grocery stores!)

This recipe is great with cheese enchiladas served with a side of Mexican rice.  Follow the recipe here to make the enchiladas, substituting the tomatillo sauce for the chili gravy.  I also substituted Monterrey Jack for Cheddar.  It would also be excellent with chicken enchiladas ... I was just too lazy to buy chicken, cook, and shred it.  It also makes a good chip dip and could be used in burritos ... you get the idea, right?  It's versatile.

I left out the cilantro, because I didn't feel like going to the store.  If you have a Lupe's Tortilla nearby, just go there and order the cheese enchiladas with tomatillo sauce, they're better.  If you live somewhere where you have to explain what queso is, here's the recipe to tide you over until you can get your fix!

Tomatillo Sauce (from Homesick Texan) (adapted from Stephan Pyles and Diana Kennedy)

Ingredients

1 - 2 cans tomatillos, drained with 1/4 - 1/2 cup of liquid reserved and added when you mix everything together (originally I had a giant can and only needed one.  If you're using the 400mL cans, use two.)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 serrano chiles, stems removed, diced (I used pickled ... it turned out okay)
1/4 cup of diced onion
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons of lime juice (or to taste)
A small pinch of sugar
Salt to taste


1. Blend all of the ingredients together.  If you have an immersion blender, do this in a stove-top pan.
2. Heat the salsa mixture and cook on the stove for about 5 minutes.

Easy, right?  It can be served hot or cold.