CILANTRO! GEEZ!!!!

[420]

After finishing some reading and watching a movie, I decide to chop up The 420's World Famous Homemade Salsa (many thanks and apologies to The 420's Uncle for co-opting the recipe and dubbing it his very own!) to bring to a Super Bowl party. I jump up and go to the store, just a few minutes before it closes. Now, The 420 has made this salsa about a dozen times, and every time neglects to write down the recipe, preferring to go to the store and remember the ingredients as he goes. So, I get to the store and round up the necessary ingredients (most of which will remain unnamed for secrecy's sake). Every time I make this salsa I worry that I'm forgetting something I need, and only once has that been the case. I look around and around the produce section, not wanting to miss a thing. Gotta be extra careful, because by the time I get home, the store will be closed and this salsa MUST marinate in its own juices overnight in order to achieve prime deliciosity.

So I chop and chop and chop (no Cuisinart in this place!) while I watch the next disc of The Wire (Season 1). I toss it all together, cover it up, and toss it in the fridge. I decide I should get a little more work done, because Lord knows I won't tomorrow. I finish up some things, and am zoning out to Thursday's episode of The Office (it's a good one!) when it suddenly hits me:


NO F-CKING CILANTRO!!!!!!!!! How the HELL can I forget the cilantro!?!?!?!?!? It MAKES the salsa. I love cilantro with a love so intense it makes my wife jealous...well, it would if I had one.

But I digress. Now I am sitting here at 11am with a terrible salsa marinating in the fridge. 'Twill be so bland! Now, I know what you're thinking. "420, you dolt, just get your ass to the store and get yourself some dang cilantro, chop it up, and throw it in there!" Not so fast, mon frere! Salsa making is a delicate process, don't you know. An art, if you will. The tiniest thing can throw it all off. The amalgamation of flavors that dance so delicately in your mouth, simultaneously singeing and cooling your taste buds, is not to be trifled with.

Will the cilantro have ample time to mix with the other ingredients? Will the other ingredients form a bond that the cilantro cannot penetrate, leaving the salsa a bland and muddy brew?



Stay tuned.


P.S. What Super Bowl munchies are you guys working on for the game?

[Mississippi Neck]

No cilantro in the salsa? Criminal.

No onions either?

[Husker4ever]

Cilantro is quite a weed. I grow some every year in the garden.

I'm whipping up some chili/cream cheese dip to go along with the salsa and chips.

[420]

Note: Shortly after I posted the original post, I remembered that I ALSO forgot to drizzle in a bit of olive oil.


Ok, I chopped it up and threw it in...along with some olive oil. Already so much better!! I remember looking at it when I threw it all together and thinking, "Man, the colors are so bland. What's wrong with this picture?" I chalked it up to the tomatoes not being in season or something. But when I tossed that cilantro in there I realized that's what it was. So pretty! haha. I took a little spoonful, so yummy.

[Mississippi Neck]

Good deal. Hey, you put onions in yours?

[Mikey]

Good homemade salsa rocks.

If you want something a little different, try this:

Diced tomatoes
Minced garlic
Chopped fresh basil
A little EVOO
A little lemon juice
A few drops of a good balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste

If you want to make it perfrect, skin and seed the tomatoes first.

Serve on toasted sourdough rounds.
You can call it bruschetta and thank me later.

[Husker4ever]

Good homemade salsa rocks.

If you want something a little different, try this:

Diced tomatoes
Minced garlic
Chopped fresh basil
A little EVOO
A little lemon juice
A few drops of a good balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste

If you want to make it perfrect, skin and seed the tomatoes first.

Serve on toasted sourdough rounds.
You can call it bruschetta and thank me later.

^^^^ writing this one down.

Here's a fav of mine that's easy as heck:

2 cans chopped black olives
8 to 12 ounces of shredded chedder (colby and jack work)
half cup chopped green onions
blend with enough mayo to make it all stick together

dollop onto sliced pumpernickel or rye (small, thin-sliced deli style)

broil until melted and toasty in the oven

[XXXL]

Si si puede senor!

[Ken]

diced tomatoes
diced sweet onion
chopped green onions
minced garlic
minced jalapeno
minced serrano
shot of vinegar
shot of lime juice
chopped cilantro
small amount of whole, canned tomatoes... pureed
salt to taste

[Mister Bushice]

It's just too damn bad we don't have a cooking forum here.

[Husker4ever]

It's just too damn bad we don't have a cooking forum here.

second it.

[Mikey]

So, somebody move it already.

[KC Scott]

Made these for our SB party - first time ever for Hot wings - and first time I've ever owned a deep fryer

Buy the 10lb. bag of frozen tyson wings - around $14 at Sams Club

Thaw wings out completely
Use canola oil in the Fryer
Wipe excess moisture off the wings
Deep fry the wings around 8 minutes

For the sauce - Melt a stick of butter
Pour ketchup into the melted butter till sauce starts to thicken
Pour Hot sauce (I use Louisiana Brand) to taste (about a 1/4 cup

when the wings come out of the fryer, put on paper towels to soak excess grease.

Dump them in a bowl then cover them with the sauce.
Toss them around so all are covered.

They're ready to eat - but since I made mine two hours before kickoff, I stuck 'em in the oven to keep them warm (around 200)

When we took 'em out, the sauce had sealed into the wings - Not slimy at all and they were still crunchy.

Everyone said they rocked.

Well worth the effort if your into wings

[Husker4ever]

Made these for our SB party - first time ever for Hot wings - and first time I've ever owned a deep fryer

Buy the 10lb. bag of frozen tyson wings - around $14 at Sams Club

Thaw wings out completely
Use canola oil in the Fryer
Wipe excess moisture off the wings
Deep fry the wings around 8 minutes

For the sauce - Melt a stick of butter
Pour ketchup into the melted butter till sauce starts to thicken
Pour Hot sauce (I use Louisiana Brand) to taste (about a 1/4 cup

when the wings come out of the fryer, put on paper towels to soak excess grease.

Dump them in a bowl then cover them with the sauce.
Toss them around so all are covered.

They're ready to eat - but since I made mine two hours before kickoff, I stuck 'em in the oven to keep them warm (around 200)

When we took 'em out, the sauce had sealed into the wings - Not slimy at all and they were still crunchy.

Everyone said they rocked.

Well worth the effort if your into wings

Nice. The sports bar I frequent reserves a table for my crew on 35 cent wing night.

[420]

Good deal. Hey, you put onions in yours?

Oh yeah...


Ok, it's really freaking simple, but it's also extremely tasty. People rave about it. The worst part is you can never make enough. I made a huge bowl, and it will be gone within an hour of breaking it out. Here is what I do for a football game for 4-6 people.

After the tomatoes, the rest is up to you. Experiment a bit, find it to your liking.

-8-10 roma tomatoes, chopped to your desired size (this is key...ROMAS. all other tomatoes are too soft and mushy)

-About half of a good sized red onion, diced

-2-3 cloves of garlic, minced finely

-4-6 jalapenos (note: I usually cut out the white membrane from HALF of the jalapenos. But sometimes jalapenos are weak, in which case you should leave the membrane in all of them. Other times, they are really spicy, and depending on your tastes, you may want to de-membrane all of them. It can be hit and miss. I usually take a little bite of one beforehand. If not, it can be disastrous.

-2 serrano chiles (same thing as above)

-A good sized bunch of cilantro, minced to death. As with the others, experiment, find how much you like. I like a lot.

-Lime juice. Crucial - not lemon

-Salt to taste. I think the salt is pretty crucial, too. It seems to bring everything together.

-Olive oil to taste

-Sometimes I sprinkle a little pepper, just for kicks

I thiiiiiink that is it.

I still feel like I'm missing something, hmmm. I think that's it, though.


Oh oh oh oh. I did forget one thing. And this is IIIIIMPORTANT. Let that thing marinate in the fridge for a number of hours! I wasn't kidding about that in my post. If you don't have the patience, you'll still enjoy it, but it's NOTHING like it is after a few hours sitting in its own juices. I like to do it overnight...but I think 4-6 hours should suffice.

If you have the stuff for tonight, get started asap. Even if you can't get 4-6 hours, make sure of at least one hour. It won't be the same, but it'll be an important hour.

And, if you have the means, make some homemade tortilla chips!

[Mississippi Neck]

Gotta have more onions, but I think your recipe is a good start. Will try.

[Rich Fader]

Just wanted to say--if you're as fussy about how you put the cilantro in your salsa as m420 is...you're as queer as Paul Lynde after three martinis.

[Shoalzie]

Just curious, you've been 420 for a few months...do you really refer to yourself as that outside of the realm of this message board? Or do you tell people to call you The Truth?

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Or do you tell people to call you The Truth?

Thy name is Tobias Von Slandersberg, and I was offered a full ride scholarship to UCLA to play football.

Sin,

[patsy stone]

Good homemade salsa rocks.

If you want something a little different, try this:

Diced tomatoes
Minced garlic
Chopped fresh basil
A little EVOO
A little lemon juice
A few drops of a good balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste

If you want to make it perfrect, skin and seed the tomatoes first.

Serve on toasted sourdough rounds.
You can call it bruschetta and thank me later.

Sounds delectable. I'm going to try this. I always try to make bruschetta but it never comes out as perfect as I want it.

[Mikey]

Good luck with it. You may need to experiment a little with the amounts, but it's pretty easy to adjust to your own taste.

For best results, get a large pot of water boiling and dunk the tomatoes 1 or 2 at a time (more will cool the water too much) for 15 seconds. This will let you peel them very easily. When you cut them up remove the pulp and seeds. You don't need to get all of it, but you don't want your mixture too soupy either. Last time I made it I used a variety of heirloom tomatoes and it had a mixture of red, yellow and green. It was quite delicious.

Also, like m2 says for the salsa, it tastes good right away but it's better if you let it sit for an hour or so for the flavors (especially the garlic) to permeate.

[Jerkovich]

four diced roma tomatoes, seeded
2 diced tomatillos
1/2 cup diced onion
4 chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 minced garlic
2 minced jalapeno
1 tbs vinegar
1 tbs of lime juice
1/4 cup "El Pato" brand tomato sauce
salt to taste



This is what makes this so freaken good! The El Pato builds the fire!

[warren]

Or do you tell people to call you The Truth?

Thy name is Tobias Von Slandersberg, and I was offered a full ride scholarship to UCLA to play football.

Sin,

Freaking spot on dude! I knew that's what he looked like.

[the_ouskull]

I always kinda imagined that he'd have some kind of desperate reach towards "cool" life, though... like a tribal armband tattoo or something.

the_ouskull

[Mikey]

four diced roma tomatoes, seeded
2 diced tomatillos
1/2 cup diced onion
4 chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 minced garlic
2 minced jalapeno
1 tbs vinegar
1 tbs of lime juice
1/4 cup "El Pato" brand tomato sauce
salt to taste



This is what makes this so freaken good! The El Pato builds the fire!

Uhhh....that's a tomatillo.

It's not hot and it's not red. What does it have to do with tomato sauce or "building the fire"?

[Ken]

Jerkovich is enough idiot for one board... just read a bit before posting next time, Mikey.

[Mikey]

yeah good idea, huh