As promised…
I set a goal, and I kept it. Last night I made two salsas for today’s Father’s Day Cookout Extravaganza. Ok, I’m the only one who calls it that.
For the first I made the mango, jicama, onion, cilantro that I mentioned in Salsa Dance. I think it came out well.
For the second, I just riffed. Here goes:
1 vidalia onion
1 large poblano
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
fresh cilantro, finely minced
the juice of a lime or two
2 or 3 cerrano chilis (I had never used these before. These little guys pack a punch.)
Several small tomatoes (not necessary, but I like tomatoey salsas)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, smashed, minced
Salt to taste
Chop it up. Mix it up. Chill it up. I’ll know for sure tomorrow, but preliminary taste tests are promising. As for the choice of bell pepper, I had two things in mind: One; green, orange, and red make for a very pretty salsa. Two; I think that red peppers are sweeter. Following that logic, orange will be sweeter than yellow. I wanted a nice blend of sweet and spicy. Poblanos are great because they have the flavor of a green bell, but with just a little bit of heat. Very nice.
In the spirit of cookouts and appropriate things to put on a tortilla chip, I also made some guac:
2 avocados, mashed
the juice of two limes
5 cloves of garlic, smashed, minced
about a third of a vidalia onion, finely minced
1 tomato, finely chopped
fresh cilantro, finely minced
3 cerrano peppers, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix it up. Chill it up. Initially the lime seemed a little overpowering, but once I had added the garlic, salt, and cilantro, it made more sense in the grand flavor scheme. It’s still a very lime intensive guac, but it seems to make sense. I’m thinking about calling it Margarita Guacamole.
I tried a new beer today, as well. It’s called Land Shark. It’s labeled as an “Island Style Lager.” I don’t know what “Island Style” is, but I like it a lot. It’s got the lightness of Corona, but with a little more depth to the flavor. “More robust” might be a good way to describe it.
On a side note: I had some cilantro on my hand when I took a sip of the beer. There’s something very nice about that smell/flavor combination. It seems right.
