The boxes are packed, loaded on to a u-haul and have been deposited to our home. The countdown begins 29 days left in Edinburg, Texas. The excitement is almost unbearable. I now find myself sleeping on one of those air mattresses. My kitchen scaled down to 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 glasses and only the necessary utensils. Of course each plate, glass and bowl is of a different shade for blog purposes (smile).
I find my empty space quite uplifting to tell you the truth. Less to clean, dust, wash. An abundance of counter space has made its way into my kitchen after packing the entire collection of small appliances. With all these items gone one would think my dining table would suffer, wrong. Daily meals continue to appear at the table, cookies are spooned onto cookie sheets and masa finds itself taking shape in my hands and salsa is made. Salsa is the one item I know will always, no matter where I live will be brought to the table. Salsa holds a permanent place at the table. It is a way of life, a part of our table, a part of our everyday.
Does it sound funny to hold salsa is such high regard? It might, but if you’re here, if you have visited me before you know food holds a loving bond in my life. I blame it on my mom. Every evening as she set the table for dinner the last component to be placed on the table was salsa. Center stage in her molecajete. Now when I visit my sisters I find they do the same, everyone places the salsa in the center of the table.
It’s communal, it’s family, and it’s delicious.
Before we get to the recipe I just have to share. I was featured on NBC Latino!! I’m still grinning from ear to ear from the feature. Stop by if you would like to check it out! NBC Latino
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 16 1/4 ounce total arbol chiles, stemmed
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 4 medium 8 ounces tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half
- Salt
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Measure the oil into a large 10 inch skillet and set over medium heat.
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Roll the arbol chiles between your fingers to loosen the seeds, then break them in half and shake out as many seeds as will come out easily.
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Lay the chiles in the hot oil. Turn constantly until they’re aromatic and have changed color slightly, about 30 seconds.
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With a slotted spoon, scoop the chiles into a blender jar, leaving behind as much oil as possible.
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With a paper towel, wipe out the oil from the skillet (no need to wash). Set the skillet over medium heat and lay in the garlic and tomatillos (cut side down).
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When the tomatillos are well browned, 3 or 4 minutes turn everything over and brown the other side. Scoop into the blender jar and add ½ cup water.
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Blend until smooth. Pour into a salsa dish and cool.
Crave more Salsa? Of course you do…
I’m sharing this bowl of salsa with IHCC.
Hi— just wanted to say that you might want to rewrite the ingredients to say “1/4 ounce of chiles de arbol (around 16 chiles). I read it as 16 1/4 oz and was so confused as to why you’d use that quantity of chiles… you really meant 16 of them, weighing a total of 1/4 oz. Just a suggestion
I love having salsa in the house and I miss making my own — I’ve got tons of chilis de arbol as well. This looks wonderful and sounds delicious!
I’ve never tried tomatillos before — that looks scrumptious 😀
So simply yet so flavorful. We love Rick Bayless.
Good luck with your move.
LL
my apartment is spartan, to tell you the truth–you’re right about the bonus of having less to clean! keep on truckin’, vianney!
Glad you are enjoying to “space” 🙂 This salsa looks and sounds incredible, and your photos are so pretty here 🙂
A Huge congrats on the feature!!!
Happy Sunday, hugs
Hi Vianney,
Congrats on the feature! Salsa to us Mexicans is most definitely held in such high regard, deservingly so. If you ask me a good meal is not complete if you don’t have a great salsa. I’m loving this recipe. We always had salsa de chile de arbol.
To tell you the truth, I have no idea who Ricky Bayless is, but I would love to make his salsa! Those flavors… amazing!
Congratulations on getting featured on NBC!!
A fantastic salsa! Photos are as good as edible!
You know salsa is almost always present on our table too… It really brightens any meal.
Congrats on ur feature!!! Awesome!
I stopped here by accident. So happy I did. Congratulations on your NBC Latino feature. Your photos look great.
I will try the salsa and maybe also try some other recipes.
Awesome feature! And thank you for sharing your story–I loved reading about the place salsa has in your family.
Your photos are gorgeous.
Salsas are a must at our table for almost every meal! Your salsa looks DELICIOUS! I have a weakness for chile de arbol. Love the first photo of the chilies in your molcajete. 🙂
So proud of you and happy to see you featured on NBC Latino. 🙂
WOOHOOO! Congratulations for your feature! Your pictures are stunning Vianney! 🙂
Vianney – congratulations for your feature at NBC Latino! I checked it out and what awesome well-deserved recognition!!! Love the picture of you my friend! Now to the salsa – gotta have it and gotta have a lot of it! Love a tasty tomatillo salsa and this recipe looks perfect. Your pictures are ALL gorgeous BTW! Have a great weekend!
Such gorgeous photos–the salsa looks so delicious.
Congrats on your feature too. 😉
that sweet spot in Texas will never be the same – someone has got a big hole to fill when you move and worse, where you land they better clear the way… good luck
and so great on the feature, I’m smiling too… oh, good looking salsa
Ah Drick, thank you so much mi amigo!! Your the best!
Nice write up over at NBC! Congrats 🙂 I almost made this salsa, too… sounds and looks great!
Absolutely gorgeous
Those tomatillos are gorgeous. Anything from Rick Bayless is something I would try!
NBC Latino – how cool is that?! Congrats, Vianney, and well-deserved. I love Rick Bayless recipes – this sounds wonderful~
Congratulations on your feature!
And the salsa looks wonderful, I need to get me a molecajete… ?
I’m the kind of salsa fiend who can and will be happy just sitting with a jar of it and spooning it into my mouth. This one sounds super delicious!
I’d have to reference my cookbooks, but I’m pretty sure I’ve made this salsa before and it was WONderful. Beautiful photos by the way. Mygosh! Congrats on the NBC feature! Totally awesome.
Your salsa looks wonderful! I have never tried making salsa before! It is on my list! Congratulations for being featured on NBC Latino! Cool!
That’s funny! Salsa was always the last at our table too and presented so sweetly in my mother’s molecajete. 🙂 Today, I do a lot of things the way my Mom did and find it brings great memories to our table.
I don’t know how you’re doing it with half your stuff packed away. I’ve been there…… over 14 times to be exact. We moved a lot. Good luck on your move! And just a short stop here to say thank you for being so supportive. 🙂 Hope to see you soon.
What a great salasa! I bet it is delicious.
Cheers,
Rosa
There is something liberating, isn’t it? CONGRATS!!! That is super awesome!!! So are these chilis.
I love to experiment with salsa and this is completely new to me. Would love to try this! I also try to always have some salsa in the fridge, we love Mexican food and need salsa on everything!
Congrats on your NBC feature! That is really cool. I always enjoy coming here and reading all your stories. Your salsa roja de chile arbol looks fantastic…almost creamy in a way. Gorgeous pictures!
P.S. Had to laugh when you mentioned keeping out plates and bowls in different colors…good thinking:)
Thanks. It’s funny because when I was setting aside the dishes, everyone knew why. Mommy has to keep blogging.
Mmmm…this sounds wonderful. I don’t think it’s strange at all. We have salsa available at all meals, as well…it’s a staple! Congrats on your NBC Latino feature – awesome!