Roasted, Raw and Fermented: Heirloom Salsa
Ah, the bounty of a Texas summer!
Heirloom Salsa
This homemade salsa combines the dark smokiness of roasted heirloom tomatoes, garlic, sweet onions and peppers with the fresh taste of raw tomatoes, cilantro and lime.
As good as this is, it is even better if allowed to ferment into a pro-biotic riot of Southwest flavor..
For 1 pint
1 large heirloom tomato, quartered
1 medium Texas 1015 onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
1-2 jalapeño peppers
1 mild red New Mexico pepper
1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
1 chile chipotle (Dorado or Morita), soaked, toasted and chopped
1 small lime
2 tablespoons whey
fresh cilantro
Roast 3/4 of the tomatoes, 1/2 the onions and all of the garlic and peppers (except the chipotle) on a comal in a 500 degree oven until slightly blackened. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, steep 1 dried chipotle in hot water until soft and pliable.
Split the re-hydrated chipotle open and discard the stem and seeds. Toast the chipotle with cumin seeds until browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Eat within a day or two, or add 2 tablespoons of whey and allow to stand on the counter for 24 hours before transferring to the refrigerator for up to a few weeks.
This post is part of Food Renegade’s excellent Fight Back Fridays
Dink said,
August 7, 2009 at 7:31 pm
What a fabulous picture. Looks wonderful
Ren said,
August 7, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Tastes pretty good too :-)
Thanks!
Kimberly Duffy said,
August 7, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Perfect timing. My husband is in love with Trader Joe’s chipotle salsa and I wanted to make a fermented version with a bumper crop of tomatoes. Thanks!
Ren said,
August 8, 2009 at 12:03 am
You are most welcome, Kimberly!
kate said,
August 8, 2009 at 10:25 am
Wow… gorgeous picture!
Looks delicious!
Ren said,
August 8, 2009 at 11:54 am
Thanks a lot, Kate!
sustainableeats said,
August 9, 2009 at 12:12 am
This looks amazing. Limes aren’t grown around here anywhere but I may make an exception for this – or do you think I can substitute sherry vinegar? Also, are Texas 1015 onions a sweet onion? Maybe I can sub Walla Wallas or something.
Finally, and you probably don’t know the answer to this, but once I’ve fermented it do you think I can water bath can it? Or maybe I should just stick to the salsa recipes I already have for canning since I don’t have a pressure canner. I’m sure we’ll have no problems polishing this off along with Wardeh’s spelt tortillas!
Ren said,
August 9, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I’ve never tried using sherry vinegar, but you could certainly test it with a portion of your salsa.
1015′s are a sweet onion. Walla Walla or Vidalia are similar, but you can use regular Spanish onions as well.
I would recommend against canning a lacto-fermented product, as the process would kill off all the beneficial bacteria.
Wardeh’s tortillas sound great- I have them on my list of things to try.
Thanks, Annette!
zerrin said,
August 9, 2009 at 7:49 am
The picture is definitely so amazing! Its inside sounds so appealing for me, I love different recipes of salsa and I can eat this one even at breakfast spreading on a piece of bread.YUM!
Ren said,
August 9, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Thank you, Zerrin!
louis said,
August 9, 2009 at 8:53 am
This sounds really good. I have never experimented with fermentation at home.
I was wondering though, why do you call this a raw salsa if you roasted half of the ingredients? Raw is defined as food that hasn’t been heated.
Ren said,
August 9, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Thanks, Louis!
Awkwardly worded, I agree :-)
Andrew said,
August 9, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Looks very tasty! I could go for that and a big bag of nachos right now.
For a cheap camera that is some great photography. The jar of salsa perched on the door chain looks like it could drop at any second. Weren’t you concerned about losing that jar of goodness?
Ren said,
August 9, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks, Andrew!
The jar seemed pretty stable, but as you can see, I didn’t fill it all the way up just in case :)
Quesadillas « Edible Aria said,
August 11, 2009 at 1:15 pm
[...] (or griddle) until the cheese is bubbling and serve with plenty of heirloom salsa.. Quesadillas with Heirloom [...]
Twist It, Babe! « Edible Aria said,
August 11, 2009 at 8:45 pm
[...] Heirloom Salsa. Roasted heirloom tomatoes, garlic, sweet onions and peppers, raw tomatoes, cilantro and lime. All [...]
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS said,
August 13, 2009 at 10:29 am
I’m going to be making this today… my marketing yesterday was successful and I found almost everything locally. Will have to do some tweaking, but I’m sure this is going to be a big hit!
Ren said,
August 13, 2009 at 10:42 am
Awesome- can’t wait to hear how it turns out! Don’t forget that it gets hotter, not milder over time ;-)
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS said,
August 13, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Hi, Ren! Okay, got everything roasted – it is cooling to room temp. At what point did you chop everything into smaller pieces and with what? :) I’m kind of just chopping with a knife and fork in the bowl that will take it to the fridge.
Ren said,
August 13, 2009 at 5:24 pm
You’re doing fine! Its a little easier to chop the roasted vegetables when they’re cold, but room temp is ok. Just don’t let it all sit around at room temp more than an hour or so before chilling & fermenting, or you’ll lose color & shorten the amount of time it will keep.
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS said,
August 13, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Thanks – didn’t go over an hour, but I decided to lacto-ferment it so just chopped what I could, added the whey and stuffed it in a jar. I doubled the recipe and ended up with about 5 cups – quart sized jar and a half pint. Can’t wait to eat it! Thanks!
tiffanystable said,
August 13, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Beautiful pictures! I especially love the one in the jar with the faded wood background.
Food looks fabulous also.
Ren said,
August 13, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Thank you very much!
Poblano Corn Fritters « Edible Aria said,
August 16, 2009 at 8:11 pm
[...] fritters on a plate and dress with black beans, heirloom salsa and crèma Mexicana with adobo spices. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { [...]
Lacto-Fermented Pickles and Salsa ~ Soaked Spelt/Kamut Tortillas ~ Sue Gregg’s Blender Pancakes (Tuesday Twister 8/18/09) said,
August 18, 2009 at 8:03 am
[...] kinds of lacto-fermented salsa. First recipe: Heirloom Salsa from Ren @ Edible Aria. Yumm! Second recipe: Salsa in Nourishing Traditions. The cast-iron pan of [...]
Andrea said,
September 19, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Hey! I’ve made this recipe a couple of times and am trying to figure out a good way to make it last. I know you recommend against canning due to the lacto-fermentation, but are there any alterations to the recipe that you know of that would make it “can-able”?
Thanks, and thanks for an awesome recipe!
-Andrea
Ren said,
September 19, 2009 at 1:50 pm
You can can it in the usual manner if you leave out the whey. Once re-opened, it should be used within 3 days
Andrea said,
September 19, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Awesome! I assume just boil-canning? And add two tablespoons lime juice? (Very inexperienced canner here).
Ren said,
September 19, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Use the same recipe but eliminate the whey.
Ladle the just-finished salsa into hot (sterile) jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rim, center the lid and screw the band down to fingertip-tight.
Place the jars in canner, making sure that they are completely submerged. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the jars rest in place 5 minutes.
Allow jars to cool for 24 hours, carefully check the seals then transfer to storage for up to 1 year.
Here’s a good source for more information http://www.canningacrossamerica.com/
Good luck!
Amanda said,
January 5, 2011 at 10:06 pm
i dont know if you will see this or be able to answer but it is winter now and i didnt get to make any salsa this summer. is there any salsa i can make now with stuff that is in season. i can get onions, cilantro, citrus its the tomatoes and peppers that are not avail. locally. do you think i could use canned tomatoes? thank you so much.
Ren said,
January 6, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Well, I might make something like this..
diced red onions (or sliced green onions) diced fresh pineapple, with a little of its own juice diced red, yellow or orange bell peppers chopped cilantro a little sea salt & cracked pepper a pinch or two of chipotle powder
What do you think?
Intro – day 11 | myGAPSmusings said,
June 30, 2011 at 9:02 pm
[...] pickles (both homemade) with Bubbie’s pickles. I’m hoping to do a roasted tomato salsa (this recipe) when I get some local tomatoes. Hopefully this weekend! Doesn’t that picture look [...]