Salsa Sunday at North Haven Gardens: The winners!

Salsa Sunday at North Haven Gardens was a hit!

I had the pleasure of tasting and evaluating more than 20 delicious entries in the North Haven Gardens salsa contest yesterday, along with fellow judges Eddie G. of Dallas Vegan, Jeffrey Kowitz of Taco Joint and the lovely Miranda Martinez, actress and Bliss Raw Cafe representative.  What a spicy day!

The vegetable garden

Before we got down to the serious business at hand, North Haven's own Nikki Crain gave us judges a tour of the gorgeous grounds.  My favorite stop was a peek inside the veggie garden, just about to explode with fresh tomatoes, peppers, herbs and flowers.

Me and Nikki

Here's a shot of me and Nikki on a sweet foot bridge over a patch of colorful Swiss Chard.  North Haven Gardens is overflowing with happy, thriving plants.  Perhaps they can tell me when to expect my own little harvest?

The contenders

After the tour, it was time to taste.  We set to sampling the salsas in question, taking turns around the table to dip and discuss our reactions.  Entries ranged from familiar, Tex-Mex restaurant-style chip dips to Italian-style salsas to downright head-scratchers (Crab meat?  In a salsa?).  But as it turned out, some of the judges' faves were in this unexpected category.  A Pina Colada Salsa, for instance, featuring pineapple, coconut chips and a surprising kick of spice, was quite popular with our selective crowd.

Eddie, judging away

My picks tended toward those salsas with a blended texture (as opposed to pico-style), concentrated tomato flavor (often found in canned tomatoes rather than fresh) and a good kick.  Kowitz, known for his own kick-butt cooking, had more specific criteria, and his knowledge of peppers and cooking styles gave us all some interesting insight.  As the contest progressed, however, it became more and more difficult to converse, what with all the running noses and water breaks!

The winners' circle

Finally, our points were tallied and Nikki announced the winners:  John Romero took 1st Place honors with his Berta's Best Salsa, a traditional tomato salsa with a moderate heat level and lots of fresh cilantro.  2nd and 3rd Place both went to Carol Castillo, a salsa-whiz who entered five different recipes altogether.  Her Pineapple-Mango and Jalepeno Salsas were both a little different and a lot delicious.  All the winning recipes will be up on the North Haven Gardens website by the end of the week.

Whether to stock your own salsa garden or just wander and wonder at all the amazing growing things, I highly recommend North Haven Gardens for anyone with a thumb (green or otherwise).  There's also a great gift shop and reading area and lots of events and education.  Happy gardening!

C&S

Salsa Sunday: Be There or Be Square!

This Sunday June 14th is Salsa Sunday at North Haven Gardens!

Join me, Eddie G., and the awesome folks from Bliss Raw Cafe and Taco Joint as we judge this spicy showdown.  Enter your favorite recipe to win, or come on down to cheer on the contenders.  Winners will be announced at 1:30 p.m., and samples will be available for taste-testing.  Sweet!  ...Um, I mean Hot!

North Haven Gardens

7700 Northhaven Rd, Dallas

214-363-5316

www.nhg.com

FoodiePrincess' Pretty Dang Good Salsa

I've been making my own salsa for years, and the more experiementing I've done, the more I've realized that there really is no "world's best salsa." My husband thinks the salsa at Tin Star is the best. I like the warm salsa at Cantina Laredo. Some people swear by the salsa at Matt's Rancho Martinez. But while this is true, I do have a recipe I like best.

I made this Pretty Dang Good Salsa last weekend, and it was a big hit with our guests (Classy&Sassy and her husband among them). The bottom line is: if it involves tomatoes, onions, jalepenos, cilantro and lime juice it's all good. The rest is just gravy, or in the case of my recipe, the rest is just ancho chilis, cumin and corriander.

2 Tbs. olive oil
12 Roma tomatoes, halved
2 Yellow onions, cut into eighths
2 Jalapeños, seeded and quartered
1 Poblano pepper, seeded and cut into strips
4 Garlic cloves
2 Tsp. oregano
2 Tsp. + 1 tsp salt
2 Tsp. fresh ground black pepper
3 Canned ancho chilis in adobo, chopped
¼ Cup of lime juice (or the juice of two limes)
½ Cup chopped cilantro
½ Tsp. sugar
1 Tbs. cumin
1/2 Tsp. Corriander

Preheat broiler in oven to 500°.

In a glass baking dish, combine olive oil, tomatoes, onions, jalepenos, poblano pepper, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until all the veggies are covered in olive oil and spices. Place the dish under the broiler for approximately 30-40 minutes, checking every 10 minutes to stir veggies. The onions will begin to burn a little at the edges, but this is okay—it will just be more flavor in the salsa. You do want to make sure that the tomatoes have started to get a little blackened as well.

Pull the veggies out of the oven and let them cool a little bit. In a food processor or a blender, add the cooked veggies, 1 tsp. salt, the ancho chilis, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, coriander and sugar. Blend until your desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth. You can serve warm or cool. Enjoy!

... but then I'd have to kill you

Warning: what you are about to read is a closely-guarded family secret. So closely-guarded a secret, in fact, that I am the only member of my family who knows it. I am, truth be told, the originator, cultivator, propagator and, now, dispeller (is that a word?) of the Myth of My Salsa.

I've been offered money, items in trade and, in one notable incident, 24-hour access to a hot tub, but up until now, I've kept my recipe a secret. I've never even let anyone watch me make the salsa, much less record the ingredients and procedure on paper, making it possible to photocopy, scan or transfer to microfiche what I consider to be my most valuable culinary commodity.

But now, in the interest of self-promotion (if you're reading this blog, it worked!), I've decided it's time to divulge my secret. This is the best, the very best, salsa you will ever make. What makes it so great? Well...

1. It's easy. Not quite as easy as buying a jar of Pace, but fairly easy.

2. Speaking of easy, the ingredients can be easily halved or multiplied.

3. The heat level is adjustable.

4. The flavor is amazing, addictive and pleasantly complex. Complex, even though it's easy to make. Well, pretty easy. See #1 above.

The Best Homemade Salsa

2 cans stewed tomatoes (14.5 ounces each)

make sure and use stewed, not just diced or crushed...stewed tomatoes contain other veggies and seasonings

1 bunch cilantro (1 cup of packed leaves)

1 medium onion

Walla-Walla or Vidalia sweet onions work best, but a regular yellow onion will do

1 jalapeño

olive oil

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Quarter the onion and half the jalapeño. Place them in a small baking dish, rub them lightly with the oil and sprinkle them with a little salt. Roast for 25 minutes or until soft and caramelized on the edges.

Place both cans of tomatoes, cilantro and the roasted onion in a food processor or powerful blender. Blend until well incorporated. At this point, put in half the jalapeño and blend again. How hot is it? Just right? Stop here. Would you like it hotter? Add the other half. If you're a total weenie, you could have seeded the pepper before you roasted it. If you like pain as a flavor, you could have roasted two or even three peppers and then chucked 'em all in. I usually use one whole pepper, seeds included. After all ingredients are incorporated, salt it to taste. Be generous; salsa loves salt. Placed in a tightly sealed jar, this will last 7-10 days in the fridge.

Much like another Secret gaining popularity these days, if you truly believe in the greatness of this salsa, you'll be rewarded in kind.