Chevy’s Fresh Salsa
“You can’t be serious. How is blogging more important than folding the laundry that’s been in the dryer for 5 days? Or scrubbing off the ‘artwork’ Sophie did on her play table? Or (gasp) actually vacuuming the upstairs for once?”
And on. And on. I’ve done reasonably well juggling both, but lately (with said ankle needing attention), the chores have been piling uncomfortably high. Why am I telling you this? Because this will be the last post for about a week so I can get my living quarters under control.
It’s a good one, though. Just in time for all of your Mexican parties tomorrow. (Do any of you actually celebrate Cinco de Mayo?) This salsa knocks the pants off of most I’ve tried, and I think it tastes almost exactly like Chevy’s. It has a distinct smoky flavor that comes from grilling the tomatoes and peppers, and also from the liquid smoke. I love liquid smoke.
Chevy's Fresh Salsa
Ingredients:
6 medium tomatoes
6-8 jalapenos (use more if small, fewer if large)
1/4 med Spanish onion (or yellow)
2 cloves garlic
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 T white vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp liquid mesquite smokeDirections:
Preheat BBQ (or stovetop grill pan like I used) on high. Remove stems from tomatoes, then rub some oil over each. Leave stems on jalapenos and rub oil on them, too.
Place tomatoes on grill when it's hot. After about 10 minutes, add all jalapenos. In about 10 minutes, turn the tomatoes and peppers. When almost all of the surface of the peppers are black, remove them from the grill. The tomatoes will turn partially black, but when the skin begins to come off they are done. Remove from grill and allow veggies to cool.
Remove skin from tomatoes and place in a food processor. Pinch the stem end from each pepper, remove any skin that has burned, and place into food processor with tomatoes.
Add remaining ingredients and puree on high for 5-10 seconds. Chill for several hours or overnight before serving. Makes about 2 cups.
Nat's Notes:
1. I found this a hair on the smoky side. I'd start with a half teaspoon of liquid smoke and add more from there. I think 1 tsp would be perfect.
2. I scraped most of the seeds from the jalapenos and it was still quite spicy.from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur
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Sarah (Team Chilton) — May 5, 2009 @ 3:50 am
My house is by far worse than yours and I don’t have the excuse of a sprained ankle. You’re doing just fine. I love how you talk to yourself too. I do that all the time…then I realize JD is home from work, and I am a little embarrassed.
I love getting to sample your creations. This was so great when you brought it to the park a few weeks ago. Perfect spicy-ness in my opinion, and though I am no expert on Chevy’s, tasted like it was from a restaurant to me!
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ElegantSnobbery — May 5, 2009 @ 4:20 am
haha, I don’t know how bad Chez Perry looks, but Chez Hopkins is just atrocious… but art comes first, blogging comes second and cleaning… well that can always wait until tomorrow. :)
I’m definitely going to try this one. There isn’t a single Chevys in Texas (that I’m aware of) and I miss that salsa! I also have a bottle of that mesquite liquid smoke because Will thought a bottle of smoke seemed funny… and I had no clue what to use it for. Wooo hooo!
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Natalie — May 5, 2009 @ 4:57 am
Sar, you haven’t been over in a while. Plus I try to keep the downstairs mildly presentable in case anyone comes by (I let everything go to pot Sunday, and our new extra-tall friends dropped by suddenly. Oh, and we were all mismatched and homeless looking.) Anyway, the upstairs is AWFUL. Clutter makes me cranky.
Marisa, the first time I bought liquid smoke, I expected Harry Potter-esque vapors to come out of the bottle when I opened it. Such a disappointment. Let me know if you think it tastes like Chevy’s. It’s been a while since I’ve been there. (Even though there’s one less than a mile from here…)
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Kathryn — May 5, 2009 @ 8:45 pm
Jon LOVES Chevy’s salsa, I will have to try this one.
Did you get a haircut? Your profile pic is so cute!
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Natalie — May 5, 2009 @ 9:27 pm
No, that pic was from last year in March when I chopped off all my hair and donated it. I was fresh out of Jessie’s hands… which is why it looks so good. I just wish it would last longer. Sigh. :)
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DancingMooney ♥ — May 6, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
Can I hire you as my personal chef?
You rock woman!
♥
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Stephanie — May 6, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
No way! You got the recipe to my favorite salsa. You’re the best! I hope your ankle heels quickly.
P.S. I made your penne pasto pasta the other night again. David thinks it should be served at a high quality restaurant. I love it too. I used chicken this time. It turned out good.
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Cassia — May 6, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
Oh, I definitely have the same naptime mental battle. Only add in, “What are you thinking? You need to take a nap, too!” :)
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digi — July 12, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
I love this salsa! Very tasty, and simple to make. I found it a bit on the spicy side, I used 5 jalapenos but it's still delicious
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Peter — September 4, 2009 @ 1:59 am
I downloaded this same recipe from the now obsolete recipesource.com copycat recipe site and noticed that you call for 2 T salt – it should be 2 t instead.
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Natalie — September 4, 2009 @ 2:22 am
Peter, thank you! I'm surprised no one said anything sooner because it's one of the most popular recipes on the site! I made the changes to this post and the print-friendly page. (I can't imagine putting 2 T of salt in there… I hope whoever has an incorrect copy doesn't either. Yikes!)
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Lisa Weeks — September 15, 2009 @ 5:58 pm
Wow…thank you! This recipe was definitely worthy of my homegrown tomatoes and jalapenos. Delicious!
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Natalie — September 15, 2009 @ 9:40 pm
Your welcome, Lisa! I'm glad you found something homegrown-worthy from my site. Funny, I feel the same way about (the few) things that I grow. I feel like it should be made into something special :)
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