The theme for last month’s Healthy Home Cooking Club at the Rourke Library in Shallotte was homemade salsas. Avery Ashley, Family and Consumer Science Agent with the NC Cooperative Extension here in Brunswick County was the instructor. He was assisted by Extension Master Food Volunteers Jane Kulesza from Oak Island and Margarete O’Leary from Supply.
Avery shared two recipes for making salsa that were quick, easy, and delicious. He considers both of these recipes just a “canvas” to get you started with ingredients and proportions. All can be modified based on likes and dislikes and what you have available in your kitchen.
The first recipe demonstrated was a simple Pico de Gallo. This is a chunky, fresh salsa made by dicing and combining tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos, with cilantro and lime juice added to give a little zing and fresh herb flavor. Pico de Gallo is very versatile, it can be used as a topping on tacos or burritos, a dip for chips, a garnish for meat or fish or added to salads for crunch and flavor.
Ashley suggested a tip that helps make this salsa less watery. Simply sprinkle the chopped tomatoes with salt and allow them to drain for a while in a colander. This step is totally optional.
A fresh jalapeno was used for the Pico de Gallo. When using these fresh peppers, you have an important decision to make: should you remove the seeds or not? The seeds and the white interior membranes carry the majority of the capsaicin. This is the compound that gives peppers their signature heat and spicy flavor. The more of these you leave in the spicier it will be.
The second recipe demonstrated was “Hancel Verde”. This is a family recipe Ashley got from a friend named Hancel who grew up in Mexico. The sauce is named in her honor. As far as salsas go, this one is on the other end of the spectrum from Pico de Gallo. Instead of being chunky, it is very fluid. And instead of being red, it is green. What makes it green is the use of tomatillos instead of regular red tomatoes.
Tomatillos are a small fruit that comes enclosed in a papery husk. They are not tomatoes. They are more closely related to gooseberries. But are frequently used somewhat like tomatoes in Latin American cuisine.
No one in Hancel’s family had actually bothered to write this recipe out before, so when Ashley asked her to share it, she was adamant that the amounts were rough suggestions, not exact. This salsa is as easy as it gets, basically, all the ingredients are thrown into a blender or food processor and processed until it liquifies, with a few small additional steps.
The first of those is the microwave step. The tomatillos and peppers were microwaved for a few minutes in a little bit of water for a couple minutes, just to soften them up. They could also be blanched in boiling water for a minute or two to get the same effect. Once that’s done, everything but the avocado goes into the blender to be liquified. The avocado is added at the very end and not completely blended, so there are avocado chunks in the final product. Here’s Hancel’s salsa…remember to just use it as a “starter” recipe.
Hancel’s Verde Sauce
2 jalapenos
3 tomatillos
⅓-½ bunch of cilantro
2-3 garlic cloves
1/3 to ½ onion
1 Tablespoon of lime juice
1 avocado
Salt and pepper
1) Put the jalapenos and tomatillos in a bowl with some water and microwave for 4 minutes until they are soft. Remember to first remove the seeds from the jalapenos for a less spicy version.
2) Add the softened and drained jalapenos and tomatillos to a blender or food processor along with a pinch of salt, a little pepper, the garlic cloves, onion, cilantro and lime juice and blend well into a liquid.
3) Add the avocado and lightly pulse the blender just to break it up into chunks.
4) Taste and adjust salt, pepper and lime juice to suit.
Next month’s Healthy Home Cooking Club will meet on May 26 from 3-4 p.m. at the Rourke Library in Shallotte. The topic will be Hurricane Kit: what’s in your pantry? The discussion will be emergency preparedness and food and meals you can prepare from what’s in your pantry. The Healthy Home Cooking Club meets the last Tuesday of each month; reservations can be made through the Rourke Library.
Extension Master Food Volunteer Jane Kulesza (far right) shares samples of salsa to Healthy Home Cooking Club participantes (l-r) Helen Laurie from Ocean Isle Beach, Catherine Warren, Ocean Isle Beach and Theresa Smith from Shallotte
Syracuse is a Family and Consumer Science team member and can be reached at NC Cooperative Extension, Brunswick County Center 910-253-2610 or by email at clsyracu@ncsu.edu
