- Location
- Milwaukee, WI USA
- Name
- Luke
At this time of year (in this part of the northern hemisphere), I often hear people complaining about having too many tomatoes turning ripe at the same time in their gardens. I don't even have a garden this year, but everyone's overflow is coming my way. No worries..... I LOVE tomatoes.....more than cameras, even. Last night a made a salad of tomatoes and bell peppers in Italian dressing. Yum, yum. Sometimes, I'll eat them just like an apple. Just bite right into a whole one, add a little salt and pepper and bite again.
But sometimes, you gotta seek out ways of using up more of them in a way that can buy a little time or a way that makes them easier to share with others. This afternoon, I looked at the growing pile and thought "Salsa!" I read a few recipes online about making Salsa. I found a recipe for Salsa Quemada (quemada means burnt apparently..... I should be able to handle that ) here....... Salsa Quemada (Roasted Tomato Salsa)
It felt foreign to me to put tomatoes on a grill (I like them chilled usually..... or room temperature. I DO NOT like hot tomatoes....I know....I'm weird) So 5 smallish to medium sized tomatoes to one jalapeno is the ratio I try tonight. I have no garlic cloves in the house so I will add some bottled stuff later. Also, you can "roast" the veggies indoors in a dry pan over medium heat. Open up the windows.....apparently this a smoky operation. I did it on a gas grill, but these would be REALLY good on a charcoal or wood grill.
View attachment 98243IMGP3946 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
Rotate them to brown them evenly on all sides. The skins will darken and shrink up, but try to keep intact as best you can. And save those skins.....there's lots of flavor in there (and lycopene.......the stuff that makes tomatoes awesome for you)
View attachment 98244IMGP3947 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
After they were getting pretty charred and mushy, I brought them in the house and carefully removed the tomato top core bit and the jalapeno stem (I should have taken out the jalapeno seeds too.....that's where the heat is. I'm fine with it, but my wife may think it's a bit too hot.....we'll see). I like the way it looks a bit like a grisly murder scene.
View attachment 98245IMGP3949 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
Diced up one small yellow onion. Any onion will do, but I like a sweet Vidalia or the simple yellow onion best. Next choice would be a white onion. Red onions do not enter my house.
View attachment 98246IMGP3950 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
I put the roasted toms and pepper in the blender with the diced raw onion. I added some roasted garlic (from a bottle) and about a teaspoon of salt. My blender only has an on/off switch....none of those fancy settings. So I pulsed it a few times....I wanted to keep some chunks, but my finger slipped on the 5th pulse and I really blended it for a few seconds. I caught it before it was total soup. And I could always add some fresh diced tomatoes for texture (there's always more), but it's pretty tasty as it is. Have a taste......
View attachment 98247IMGP3951 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
for the gear heads, I used a Pentax K-30 with Tamron 17-50 f2.8. The onions were RAW, the files are JPEG.....cooked in camera.
But sometimes, you gotta seek out ways of using up more of them in a way that can buy a little time or a way that makes them easier to share with others. This afternoon, I looked at the growing pile and thought "Salsa!" I read a few recipes online about making Salsa. I found a recipe for Salsa Quemada (quemada means burnt apparently..... I should be able to handle that ) here....... Salsa Quemada (Roasted Tomato Salsa)
It felt foreign to me to put tomatoes on a grill (I like them chilled usually..... or room temperature. I DO NOT like hot tomatoes....I know....I'm weird) So 5 smallish to medium sized tomatoes to one jalapeno is the ratio I try tonight. I have no garlic cloves in the house so I will add some bottled stuff later. Also, you can "roast" the veggies indoors in a dry pan over medium heat. Open up the windows.....apparently this a smoky operation. I did it on a gas grill, but these would be REALLY good on a charcoal or wood grill.
View attachment 98243IMGP3946 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
Rotate them to brown them evenly on all sides. The skins will darken and shrink up, but try to keep intact as best you can. And save those skins.....there's lots of flavor in there (and lycopene.......the stuff that makes tomatoes awesome for you)
View attachment 98244IMGP3947 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
After they were getting pretty charred and mushy, I brought them in the house and carefully removed the tomato top core bit and the jalapeno stem (I should have taken out the jalapeno seeds too.....that's where the heat is. I'm fine with it, but my wife may think it's a bit too hot.....we'll see). I like the way it looks a bit like a grisly murder scene.
View attachment 98245IMGP3949 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
Diced up one small yellow onion. Any onion will do, but I like a sweet Vidalia or the simple yellow onion best. Next choice would be a white onion. Red onions do not enter my house.
View attachment 98246IMGP3950 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
I put the roasted toms and pepper in the blender with the diced raw onion. I added some roasted garlic (from a bottle) and about a teaspoon of salt. My blender only has an on/off switch....none of those fancy settings. So I pulsed it a few times....I wanted to keep some chunks, but my finger slipped on the 5th pulse and I really blended it for a few seconds. I caught it before it was total soup. And I could always add some fresh diced tomatoes for texture (there's always more), but it's pretty tasty as it is. Have a taste......
View attachment 98247IMGP3951 by Luke Lavin, on Flickr
for the gear heads, I used a Pentax K-30 with Tamron 17-50 f2.8. The onions were RAW, the files are JPEG.....cooked in camera.