Red Restaurant Salsa and the good stuff: Salsa Verde

I love me some salsa. It is known. So I attempted to make my own...

Restaurant Style Salsa by Ree Drummond 

Ingredients
Two 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, such as Rotel
One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (or more to taste!)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 whole lime, juiced
Combine the diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, salt, sugar and lime juice in a blender or food processor. (This is a very large batch. I recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.)
Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate the salsa for at least an hour before serving.

This salsa turned out very nicely texture wise, but I think that next time I make it, I will be using 2 Serrano peppers and roasting them first. Or I suppose I could use the Jalapenos still and keep the seeds in. Texture and look, this was a win, I just need to work on the addictiveness factor. It has a little be of a sweetness to it, which is ok, but not widely appealing.

Next up, I have a recipe I got from my coworker and friend Paul. 

Salsa Verde
Ingredients:

8 medium tomatillos (about 1 1/2 pounds total weight), husked and rinsed

1 Serrano chile

1 Jalapeno chile

1/2 white onion, halved again

2 garlic cloves

1/2 bay leaf

1 teaspoon ground Cumin

Pinch of dried oregano

Pinch of dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Preparation:

Put the tomatillos, chile, onion, and garlic in a medium pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are soft and the tomatillos turn light brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Carefully transfer the boiled vegetables, along with the cooking water, to a blender. Puree for a few seconds to blend; be sure to hold down the lid with a kitchen towel to avoid spilling. Add the 1/2 bay leaf, oregano, thyme, salt, cumin, and broth. Continue to puree until smooth. You should have about 1 quart of salsa verde.

This turned out way more watery than I like my salsa. I ended up adding an extra half an onion, some more garlic, and a few more tomatillos. I think that I would only add 1 cup of the water the veggies are boiled in next time. To thicken it up a bit, I simmered it with the addition of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and that thickened it enough to be pleasing to myself and Husband.

All in all, no recipe for the win in this experiment. Gotta keep looking.

Until the next condiment round up....