I did however remember that I promised pictures of my homemade salsas and guacamoles (courtesy of the great Rick Bayless). If I could choose one food to eat for the rest of my life it would be chips and salsa. It always satisfies and is packed with a ton of nutrients, flavor and satisfying calories to keep me content for a while. If I could add some guacamole to it, all the better.
This was my first attempt at homemade salsas, but I am a seasoned pro at guac. My brother happens to be a chef and he specializes in Latin American cuisines. For my wedding rehearsal dinner we did a Mexican Fiesta at my parents house and my brother contributed his homemade guacamole and fresh squeezed margaritas. It was fantastic. Everytime he came home after that I made sure to pay close attention to how he made his guacamole- because it was my hands down favorite- and I was able to find a Bobby Flay recipe that looked pretty close. A lot of Food Network viewing and trial and error later, I have the recipe down to a science. My guacamole is pretty darn fantastic, if I do say so myself.
Only problem is, I always forget to take a picture of it to share! Yesterday, when I finally remembered to take a picture of my guacamole I had already covered it with plastic wrap for transporting to the Super Bowl Party. So, it's the best you are going to get. Ignore the plastic wrap and pay attention to the beautiful colors and all the little ingredients you can't see in there: roasted garlic, cilantro, lime, salt, jalapeno, and red onion. It's so good I want to bathe in it... well, minus the fact that the jalapeno would start to make my skin burn, but you get the idea.
For the salsas I was quite suprised by how easy they were to make. All last week on Rick Bayless's PBS show, Mexico: One Plate at a Time, he was making homemade guacamole and salsa, and even did a guamole bar. The salsa looked so easy to make and the ingredients sounded so tasty and luxurious that I decided to make that with the guacamole. I love being inspired by the things I see and the idea of how a combination of ingredients can excite my creativity and taste buds to create my own. Granted, I didn't alter from the recipes at all since I am new to making salsa (and the recipes were just that great to begin with), but why mess with something that's great to begin with. The flavors were amazing and complex and I can't wait to use the salsas for more than chips later in the week. I'm thinking marinades for meat or toppings for breakfast scrambles! Yum!
The only time consuming part of making the salsas was roasting the garlic and tomatillos and jalapenos. But even that was easy as can be- you literally roast them in a pan on the stovetop! Don't the raw ingredients by themselves look fantastic? I couldn't believe how amazing they looked before I started to put everything together.
The first salsa, for which you can see most of the ingredients above, is a Orange-Tomatillo salsa. The sweetness of the orange balances out the heat of the onion and chipotle peppers and the tangy-ness of the roasted tomatillos rounds the flavor out. If you are looking for a good way to clear a head cold or drain your sinuses without burning your mouth completely, this is it. The heat is bareable and really addicting. The spice lingers nicely in your mouth but the flavors still sing through, which makes for an amazing salsa. I will be making this one a lot in the future!
The second salsa is a Fire-Roasted Tomato salsa. There is a deep flavor of lime in it and the roasted tomatoes and savory underlay of roasted garlic is really enticing. The roasted jalapeno adds a kick, but not so much that you can't eat it. To me, the lime and cilantro are the star of this salsa, breaking through all of the complex flavors to bring it to another dimension of flavor. So good.
Here is the only problem. I really want to go bury myself in a bag of chips and salsa now.
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