Fresh Homemade Salsa

Homemade Fresh Salsa

What an awesome weekend so far. We have been enjoying the last few weeks of summer and the last couple of weeks of the summer slow down at work. My job should be revving up within the next couple of weeks and E will be changing to a new job in a couple of weeks. I think after these two things happen it will nose to the grind until late October when we finally take our honeymoon…YAY!!

We took off early from work on Friday afternoon and headed up to the Lost Creek Wilderness, part of beautiful Colorado that I had yet to explore. The Lost Creek Wilderness Area protects nearly 120,000 acres including the Tarryall, Platte River, and Kenosha mountain ranges in central Colorado. This wilderness area is loaded with hiking, backpacking, and fishing. Also in our experience is one of the least utilized areas in Colorado, which means few weekend crowds—just one more reason to move the Lost Creek Wilderness to the top of our exploring list.

Upon closer views, it is clear that the Lost Creek Wilderness, and specifically Bison Peak has its own character, one filled with the most bizarre rock formations one could ever hope to see. I thought I was walking into scene from Jurassic Park, I half expected a big Brachiosaurus to poke it’s head around the ginormous rock formations. I hope you enjoy a few of the pictures we took…Once again the pictures just do not do this beautifully unique place justice.

Now onto the food! With our garden in full producing mood, I had a ton of tomatoes to use. Too small to make sauce with, but the perfect size to put in the Cuisinart and make salsa. I have already had the salsa man take a tester bite, his response, “that might be the best thing you have ever made.” Point for the wifey! See the recipe and the instructions below and enjoy!

Garden Fresh Tomatoes

Fresh Homemade Salsa

*10-12 Small to medium sized Tomatoes (adjust quantity based on size, see above picture for sizing)

2 Cans Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies (I used one hot and one original)

¾ Onion, chopped

4 Cloves of garlic, minced

2 Jalapenos, quartered and sliced keep all membranes and seeds!

½ tsp Sugar

½ tsp Salt (Kosher)

½ tsp Cumin

½ cup Cilantro, chopped

Lime Juice from one Lime

*This made enough for two 3 cup sized Tupperware (one to eat and one to freeze!)

Molding Vine Ripened Tomatoes into “Canned” Tomatoes

**I think this step is a necessary evil. This will transform the fresh tomatoes into ones that would come in the can which are best used for this type of restaurant style salsa.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place all tomatoes in for 1 minute. Remove from boiling water and place immediately into a bowl of iced water.

Remove all tomato skins, cut out top of tomato and squeeze (yes you read it right, just like is sounds) each tomatoes individually to remove excess juices and tomato seeds.

Fresh Homemade Salsa

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a food processor (if you don’t have one, you can also use a blender). Pulse about 20 times. This gives the salsa a perfect consistency and is still enough to mix all ingredients.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour before serving. Serve with Anything!

E’s Rating

10 out 5 (off the charts he says!)

e&e