salsa

sorry i didn't hold up to my promise, summer got crazy and my brain is starting to comprehend these things.  and i just spent forever creating a new blog and it just froze up on me!  so this isn't as detailed as what i had before, but i'll try...

salsa, the fresca style

what you will need:

5 medium tomatoes

1 small yellow or white onion

0-3 serrano peppers (i like to use these because it adds heat without a major flavor, but if you have a favorite pepper, feel free to use it)

handful of cilantro (the pre-bunched amount they sell at the store should be perfect)

2 cloves of garlic (or 1 tbsp of the jarred chopped garlic in water)

2-3 limes

there are two ways to prepare this salsa, chunky fesca style or a blended smooth salsa.  to blend it, you'll want to use a blender or food processor, a standard submersion blender won't have the power to break up the chunks.  when chopping everything, you'll want to use a chef's knife (like the one in my photos).

handling the peppers: buy a packet of vinyl gloves at the store (i've bought them from target and albertson's and i'm sure any other grocery store would have them).  cut the stem part of the pepper off and then slice the pepper in half long ways.  you can use your gloved thumb nail or spoon tip to remove the white interior and seeds of the pepper.  if blending the salsa, this is all you need to do to the pepper.  if preparing it fresca style, slice the pepper thinly long ways (julienne), then cut those slices into small pieces (this is a mince chop).  run the knife over the pile of peppers with a rocking motion to break it down a bit more than the mincing.

if blending the salsa and the entire amount doesn't fit in the blender, blend a mixture of the items together in stages and mix the entire amount in a bowl once complete.  you will want to blend the tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and cilantro in the blender.  chop the items down to smaller sizes to blend (mainly just the tomatoes and onion).  remove majority of stems from cilantro.  reserve the lime juice until the end, where you will blend the juice in gradually until you reach the taste you desire.

to prepare fresca style:

tomatoes - the easiest way that i have found to dice tomatoes is to slice the tomato as if you are making a sandwich, then dice the slices down one or two at a time.  do not overload your knife, tomatoes like to run away when you put too many on the board, so it ends up taking more time to cut down the massive pile as it does to pace yourself and cut smaller portions.

onions - i have pictures that show me cutting down an onion in the way that i have discovered works best for me.  i have never been good at the method you see on cooking shows, so i played around with it until i found what worked for me.  you start by cutting the top and bottom off and removing the outer skin.  place the onion on the cutting board with a flat side down and cut the side off so the middle remain like in the photos to the left.  set those pieces aside and cut the middle piece in half like the photo to the right.  those middle bits then get cut into 4 pieces so you can lay it down side by side, like on the left and slice it down into the small pieces for the salsa.  

cut down both middle pieces like this and then move on to the outside pieces.  slice the side pieces one way, then slice them down the other way to create the small pieces for the salsa.   

cilantro - remove majority of the stem (either trim the stems off while bunched, or remove all the leaves from the stems).  pile the cilantro on the cutting board and mince down the cilantro.  keep the tip edge of the knife on the board and rock your knife back and forth to cut the pile to pieces.  you can chop down as small or not as you like, this is a "as you like" aspect of the salsa.

garlic - if you are working with fresh garlic, one you remove the tips and skin, place the clove on the cutting board and place your knife over it, holding firmly in place with one hand.  with your other hand, palm down, fingers up, smack the knife, starting only from a few inches away.

 if you are uncomfortable with this method, you can use the bottom of a glass tumbler to reach the same result.  once the garlic is smashed, run over the garlic with your knife in a rocking motion like you did with the cilantro.

 once everything is chopped up, place in a bowl and stir until everything is evenly mixed, dress with the lime juice and gradually add pepper until desired taste is reached.

this will prepare enough for a party setting, or enough for someone who loves salsa on everything.  you can cut this recipe in half if you and save the half onion for another recipe and up the tomato to 3.

roasted carrots

if you don't like cooked carrots, let me change your mind...

i cook these for adventure weekends and every single time i make these (and i am not kidding on this, literally, every time), i get at least one leader begging me for how i made them.  i don't like cooked vegetables (love them raw though), and i will eat these, and if you know me in the real world and have ever experienced my foodiness in person, then you know, this is serious.

what you need:
carrots
garlic powder
salt (i use kosher, the flake type)
coarse black pepper
oil (i use the 75/25 of canola/olive)

the pictures i am about to show you is about 20 lbs of carrots, so my dusting of spices is going to be much more than yours, but it is the same concept.

i was taught this "diamond" cut for carrots last year and i just recently really understood how to actually do it. but as long as you chunk the carrots into nice bite sized pieces, any which way is fine, but i am going to try to describe the way we do it.  it is pretty much creating a pencil point as you chop down the carrot.
you cut the small end of the carrot at an angle.  on the cutting board, place the carrot straight across.  imagine the top of the cutting board as north, your knife should cut the carrot as if was a line from NW to SE (or a 45 degree angle)
turn the carrot towards you so the flat oval you just created with that slice is facing up.  slice the carrot at the same angle, where the closest side of the oval will be sliced in the middle, like this ( \  )
when you turn the carrot towards you again, the oval is now going to be pointed, you want the arrow you've created to be pointing NE.  now that the oval doesn't exist and it is now a semi-oval, you pretty much have to imagine the full oval there and keep cutting like described above.
i know, it is complicated, it took me a long time to generally get it down.  but it is really easy once you actually get the flow of it and understand how to do it.

ok, the actual process...
p.s.  i don't peel the carrots.
chunk them, throw them in a bowl, but not too full you cannot stir them well (2-3 inches under rim depending on how many carrots you have).  pour a generous amount of oil on the carrots (excess just sits at bottom of bowl, and then ends up greasing the pan for you).  they should look glossy once you stir them.
dust the top with garlic powder like i have on the left there.  again, that bowl has about 20 lbs of carrots in it, is 2 feet wide and 5 inches deep, so that is my generous dusting to that large serving.  a good way to gage it is enough is if, once it is stirred and the powder has been absorbed into the oil, you can still smell garlic if you get close to the carrots (if you smell it without being near the bowl, it may be too much). with the salt, you want to do the same (right) get a good coat on the top, then stir.  with the coarse black pepper you want to watch it, if you add too much, it will be really spicy and if you are trying to get kids to eat these, then that won't do it.  you basically want the carrots to look freckled once you are done.

this is how they should look to head into the oven

pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

use a pan with an edge so the oil doesn't run over the sides.

no need for oil as it won't stick.  may want to line the pan with foil to make for easy clean up.

roast in oven for about an hour or until the core of the carrots starts to turn yellow and the edges turn brown and dark brown.