* Exported from MasterCook *

Viet-Acadian Salsa

Recipe By :Tom Solomon
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 16 Oz Cans whole peeled tomatoes
6 ounces tomato paste
20 Cloves garlic
6 cloves elephant garlic, smoked and roasted
2 Jalapeno peppers -- chopped
1 chipotle pepper -- crumbled
2 Ribs celery
2 medium yellow onions
1/4 cup nuoc mam
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds -- roasted
1 tablespoon paprika
2 dried tabasco peppers -- crumbled
1 tablespoon whole cumin seed -- roasted
1 teaspoon oregano -- crushed

Here's a salsa recipe I've been playing around with for about a month or
so. Originally, I wanted to "wrap" a salsa around a core of nuoc cham,
with a hint of a Cajun hot sauce thrown in for good measure. The end
result was a bit of a hybrid, but it seems to have worked out fairly well.
Anyway, enjoy--it's a hot one!

Peel (if necessary) and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Place in a saucepan.
Add coarsely chopped onion, celery, and jalapenos. Peel and finely dice
the regular garlic. Smoke the elephant garlic cloves in a water or off-set smoker for one hour, then bake for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour in the oven at 325 degrees. Set aside.

Roast and grind the cumin and mustard seed and add it along with the nuoc mam, vinegar, worcestershire, paprika, smoked and baked elephant garlic, and dried tabasco peppers. Add remaing spices, bring to a gentle boil, reduce to a moderate simmer, and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until desired thickness is achieved. Remove from heat and stir occassionally until salsa cools (stops steaming).

This should keep for between 1 and 2 weeks at 40 degrees F. The recipe
makes between 1.5 and 2 quarts of salsa.

Tap left, step forward, rock back onto the right foot, step back left to close. Then tap right, step back right, rock forward left and close right.

Add magic, tight black pants and a rose in Robert's mouth to taste.

Yield: Magic and Romance for Two.

Have you thought about making tomato sauce?

If so...

blanch and skin the tomatoes (you'll need a goodly number). Put the skinned tomatoes into a stock pot.

In a food processor or blender:
--as many cloves of garlic as you want (I roast them first, which, if you don't have a roaster, can be easily done by making a foil packet, throwing the peeled cloves into it, covering with olive oil and then, after closing the packet, throw into the oven at 325 for fifteen minutes or thereabouts. MMMMMM roasted garlic!)
--fresh basil
--fresh oregano
--fresh thyme
--black pepper
--onion
--some olive oil
mix this into a paste using the food processor

Back to the sauce...
mash the tomatoes once they've cooked a bit. You'll need to strain out the seeds and I've noticed this is easier to do after they've been on the stove a while. Stir in the paste, add chopped onions and peppers (red, green and orange) to taste.

Simply keep it on a simmer until it cooks down to the consistency of your choice. (Note: this takes a while, depending upon how watery your tomatoes are. The last time I did this, it took the better part of an entire day.) Put in those Glad storage containers and throw into the freezer.