Fire Roasted Salsa

Grilled, Broiled or Fire Roasted Salsa

I can honestly say that this Fire Roasted Salsa is amazing and it is, quite possibly, the best salsa I’ve ever tried. It starts with fresh Hot House Tomatoes, Yellow Onions, Green Bell, Anaheim and Jalapeno Peppers, cilantro, lime and a few other key ingredients. Although you can find recipes, similar to this one, all over the web, I seriously considered keeping this one all to my self. But I get too excited when I discover the secrets to authentic recipes. It makes me want to share it with everyone. So that’s what I’m going to do today.

Fire Roasted Salsa Preperation

To get the best results, and be sure that your Fire Roasted Salsa tastes amazing, there’s only one thing you need to do before you take the vegetables to the grill. Cut your onions in half. It isn’t going to matter if you peel them before or after they roast but it is important that those onion layers get exposed to the grill. Salsa gets a lot of great flavor from onions and they have memory, so adding that smoked flavor to the rings will insure that your salsa tastes amazing when you blend them, together, with the other ingredients.

Fire Roasted Salsa Grilling Technique

Whether you choose to grill, broil or roast your vegetables over an open pit, to make this Fire Roasted Salsa, the timing and flipping is simple. I average 25 to 30 minutes of roasting time, over medium heat(350 Fahrenheit), and I rotate and flip everything about every 5 minutes. Look for some good color on the under side and flip. It’s that easy. I tend to check the peppers first because they burn quicker than the tomatoes and onions. The onions I worry about the least. The tomatoes just need to be pulled off the grill before they pop and loose their juice to the grill. You should pay attention to where the hot spots are and rotate everything accordingly. Then remove them from the heat and let them rest for a half an hour or so, until they are cool enough to touch and handle with your hands. Remove the stems, peel the onions and add the other ingredients.

Fire Roasted Salsa Formula

I have a basic formula that you might find useful when you’re making Fire Roasted Salsa. For every large Tomato, I add 1 medium sized Onion, 1 Bell Pepper, 1 Anaheim Pepper, 1 Jalapeno and a few cloves of Garlic. It’s pointless making salsa on that small of a scale and that’s why I double that amount in the ingredients below. If you want it spicier, add more peppers, different kinds or use less tomato. It’s really not that difficult to trick up. But that should give you a better understanding of how to approach your own homemade salsa in the future.

How to Spice Up Fire Roasted Salsa

If the Peppers aren’t providing enough heat and flavor for your tastes, there are a few other ingredients you can add to your Fire Roasted Salsa and I’ve included them in this recipe. Cumin, Smoked Paprika and Mexican Oregano are definitely among my favorites. You can even add some Cayenne if you’re feeling froggy. Just be sure that you stay true to your tastes and be considerate of the pallets and less tolerant individuals, like children you may be serving, if they can’t handle spice.

Fire Roasted Salsa Ingredients:

2 Hot House Tomatoes, large
2 Onions,
1 Bell Pepper
1 Anaheim Pepper
1 Jalapeno
5 Garlic Cloves
1 lime, squeezed
1 bunch Cilantro
1 tbsp Oregano
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp Chicken Bouilion, Caldo con Sabor de Pollo(Knorr)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Corn Tortilla Chips

White or Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips!

When I go to any Mexican or Tex Mex Restaurant, I expect Corn Tortilla Chips and salsa. I want my chips hot and salty, like they just came out of the fryer. Then I eat at least an entire bowl for myself before the help even has a chance to bring me my food. It’s kind of funny. Aren’t the Corn Tortilla Chips and Salsa food? No, that’s the food before you get the food. The food before the food! Though it usually fills me up, its still just Chips and Salsa. But, don’t you crave this at home?

First things first. If you don’t already have a Deep Fryer, go get one. They’re only $30 bucks and they really go a long way. Now, when you’re deciding what kind of tortilla you want to use, it’s really simple, because there’s only a few choices. Sure you could get all exotic and go for the Blue corn, but most likely, all you’re going to find at your local grocer are the basic yellow and white corn tortilla’s. So, all of you got to do is choose your favorite. I personally like a lighter corn taste, so I go with the white corn tortilla’s for that reason, and that reason alone. This video will show you how easy it is. Fry the tortilla slices at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes and salt heavily. Then sit down and enjoy your fresh Corn Tortilla Chips with my Fresh Salsa recipe.

Corn Tortilla Chips Ingredients:

1 Bag of Yellow or White Corn Tortilla’s
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Slice the Fresh Tortilla’s into fours and fry for 2 minutes at 375 degrees F and then salt the Corn Tortilla Chips to taste.

3 Cheese Chili Con Queso

Chili Con Queso is the BEST!

No matter how you slice it, Chili Con Queso is still just Chili ‘n Cheese. I could be wrong but I think Chili’s is actually responsible for it’s fame. Not responsible for the recipe itself, I mean, just for getting it more widely known and popular. I would always order their Bottomless Chips and Salsa with Queso, and fill up on that before I got my Mushroom Jack Fajita’s (No longer on the menu). Ah yeah… Those were the Days! Anyway, I would say my recipe is very similar to theirs and really easy to put together, thanks to canned products.

Easy Chili Con Queso

Now, if you are a regular follower of Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen, I know what you’re thinking; canned products, right? I know, I know. I always preach about using fresh food, and I usually do, but this is just one of those things that works just the way it is because it’s just a chip dip. But it isn’t just any Chip Dip, it’s Chili Con Queso, and that means we need to use a good Chili, and it doesn’t get much better than Hormel if you’re forced to use a can. It’s just too bad I don’t get paid to plug all of these Company products I’m always raving about in my recipes. Maybe someday…. but while we’re talking about cans, we might as well talk Nacho Cheese. I usually buy El Mexicano Nacho Cheese Sauce, because it’s 1/3 the price of Rico’s, and, it tastes better. So it’s win win all around the board. Cream Cheese, Nacho Cheese and Pepper Jack Cheese are the 3 Cheeses I use to make this Chili Con Queso Chip Dip.

Chili Con Queso Ingredients:

1/2 Diced Onion
1 Diced Green Chili
1 Diced Jalapeno, Yellow or Chipotle Pepper (optional, you decide)
1 chopped Garlic Clove
2 Cans of Chili no Beans (Hormel)
1 pkg Cream Cheese
1 can Nacho Cheese (El Mexicano)
1/2 tsp Cumin

Topping
1/2 cup Pepper Jack Cheese or Cheddar
1 Chopped Tomato
Freshly Chopped Cilantro

Follow the instructions in the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this amazing 3 Cheese Chili Con Queso.