Test Kitchen #12: El Dia de Las Tres Salsas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Mexican and Spanish recipes are some of my personal favorites and I have tried many varieties over the years. In keeping with the goal of test kitchen, I found it difficult to come up with a Mexican themed recipe that I had never tried before. Then I remembered the Salsa Lovers Cook Book that Dad had brought me back from his trip to see my sister in Arizona. I'm a big fan of Salsa Verde and have never worked with tomatillos before, so this seemed like a test kitchen worthy project.

I had also seen ads for the new International Farmer's Market in Bridegport and thought this week might be a good time for a field trip. Farmer's markets are great because they have lower prices in comparison to their grocery chain brothers. The produce is always really fresh because it's from local farms and they often feature items great for ethnic cooking that are harder to find in the bigger stores.

So after some research in the Salsa book, we choose three recipes and made our grocery list. Tomatillos, tomatoes, jalapenos, fresh cilantro, fresh parsley, red pepper, yellow pepper, canned corn, lime juice, scallions and a few other items only cost us about $15 at the farmer’s market. (Oh, and tortillas chips for taste testing!) Sadly, one-stop shopping is not always a possibility with these smaller markets so we had to stop at the IGA for canned green chiles, and wine vinegar.

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

1 can (15 oz.) Black Beans, drained
1 small tomato, diced
1 tablespoon of oil
1 cup of whole kernel canned corn, drained
¼ teaspoon ground Cumin
½ cup fresh Cilantro, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons of lime juice

Combine all ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate until chilled.
Serve with chips or as a topping for chicken or pork.

Bright Salsa
4 Tomatoes, diced
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and diced
½ green bell pepper, chopped
½ red bell pepper, chopped
½ yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh Parsley, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Serve warm or chilled.

Tomatillo Salsa (Salsa Verde)
½ pound tomatillos
¼ cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon of oil (not olive)
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced

In a food processor, pulse tomatillos to produce small pieces. Heat oil in a small sauté pan. Add tomatillos to pan. Pulse onion, garlic and jalapenos in processor until diced. Add to pan. Sauté for about 3 minutes or until tomatillos are soft.

In the kitchen we made each recipe to the letter, but then added a few things here and there to suit our taste. (See the book link above for original recipes.) Both Mom and Matt obliged with taste testing when they got home from work. Mom and Dad’s clear favorite was the Bright Salsa, where Matt and I preferred the Black Bean. Matt just requested the cilantro to be toned down a little next time. I never realized how strong fresh cilantro can be. I love the aroma and flavor but I think some of it got stuck in Matt’s sinuses and made him a little sneezy.

Unfortunately the Salsa Verde was everyone's least favorite. Perhaps I should have done some more research about how to properly cook tomatillos, but it seemed kind of bland. Plus, unlike the other recipes, the book gave no suggestions about what to do with it afterward. Serve it warm? Chill it? We just weren’t sure. I think I was hoping for the creamier green sauce poured over Enchilads Suizas that I’ve had at Mexican restaurants. Maybe if I reheat it with some sour cream mixed it, I could create a sauce. In any case, that’s what test kitchen is for; learning something new everything week.

(This week I also learned not to turn my back on Dad when he’s pulsing the tomatoes in the food processor. That was a whole lotta orangey red puree in the bowl! Good thing we had extra tomatoes. So Dad, how many dishes did you sneak that stuff into, anyway?)