salsa three ways.

still on a quest to hold onto summer for as long as humanly possible even though the morning air is scented with fall. to this end, i bought a bunch of heirloom tomatoes and roasted them up to make salsa three ways over the weekend. one of them nearly killed me, so that one is in the fridge and needs to be approached with extreme caution. don't worry, i've modified the recipe to make it a wee less scary. two of the recipes are adapted from doña martha's kitchen, my new favorite secret source for authentic mexican recipes. my recipe for tomatillo salsa can be found here. i like the fact that these are no-oil, as well.

since i'm not a big chip person and we never go through an entire gigantic bag of tortilla chips, i like to buy los perricos tostada shells. you can find them in your standard grocery store. they're much more inexpensive than a bag of chips and taste great (it's probably the coconut oil!). it's also one of the only chips my better half and i can agree upon (he likes thick, crunchy; i like thin, crispy.) you could also simply make your own (basically fat-free) version by toasting fresh (or frozen) corn tortillas in the oven at about 250° for 10 minutes or so, turning occasionally. recipes after the jump. enjoy!

before we begin, a cook's hint: as someone who has experienced firsthand the wrath of chiles on my hand (i held my hand in water and in milk for two hours at a party once), i learned my lesson and how. i now use medical-grade, powder-free latex gloves when handling chiles.

salsa casera
though this is called "liquid fire," this isn't the death salsa. it actually came out quite approachable, but maybe it's because i used thai chiles.

6-10 thai bird chiles or chiles de arbol, stems removed
1/4 large white onion
12 tomatillos
3 large heirloom tomatoes
1 large clove garlic, smashed
about 2 cups filtered water
1/2 tbsp. sea salt
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

preheat broiler. broil tomatoes on top rack of oven for approximately six minutes, turning occasionally, until blackened. add chiles, onion, garlic and salt to pan and cover with water. simmer approximately 10 minutes until softened, but not falling apart. place mixture in food processor or blender. note: since mixture is warm, liquid can spurt out of the blender or processor. remove filler-cap on the cover before blending and use caution. remove skins from tomatoes and discard. add tomatoes to the processor and purée until well-combined. add cilantro and process briefly, a few quick pulses. serve warm or at room temperature.

makes about 1-1/2 cups.

salsa con jalapeños y serranos
this is the death salsa. i don't know if it was the fact that some of the chiles were homegrown or what. all i know is that i took one bite (and i'm someone that wants my taste buds to actually ignite) and that was it. to this end, i've modified the recipe to reduce the number of chiles used and increase the tomatoes. jeez, my stomach is still mad at me.

3 fresh jalapeños, stems removed
3 fresh serrano, stem removed
6 large heirloom tomatoes
3 large cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 tbsp. sea salt

preheat broiler. broil tomatoes and chiles on top rack of oven for approximately six minutes, turning occasionally, until blackened. remove skins from tomatoes and discard. add all ingredients to molcajete and grind until just combined. note: if you don't have a molcajete, use a traditional mortar and pestle or simply a large ceramic bowl and a wooden spoon to press ingredients together.

makes about 1-1/2 cups.