Manuels Holiday Salsa Recipes

HOLIDAY SALSA

Steps:

• Pulse cranberries and sugar in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Stir together with onions, cilantro and jalapeno. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight., To serve, place cream cheese on a serving plate. Drain salsa; spoon over cream cheese. Serve with crackers or chips.

MANUEL'S HOLIDAY SALSA

Steps:

• 1. I use a 2-quart container to mix this. Put everything into this container as it is processed. I use a food processor rather than chopping everything by hand. Process each vegetable to your desired size.
• 2. Process cilantro, garlic, and onion by pulsing, to desired size. Add to container.
• 3. Split peppers and remove stems, seeds and membranes. Wear gloves when handling the hot ones. Process all the peppers together with pulses. Don't turn this to a paste. Remove to the container.
• 4. Drain tomatoes and reserve juice. Pulse if you want a smooth salsa; or leave the chunks whole if you want it chunky. Add to the container. Mix all the ingredients together. Add some of the reserved tomato liquid if you want the salsa thinner. You can also add some sea salt if you think it needs it.
• 5. At this point, taste with a chip. If too sweet, add some vinegar - start with 2 tablespoons - and mix again. If too sour, add some sweetener - start with 1-2 tablespoons - then mix and taste again.
• 6. Once it tastes just right to you, you can make a smaller VERY HOT batch like this: Remove 1-2 cups to a separate bowl. Add in some finely chopped habañera peppers. Warn your friends which is the hot dish.

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN HOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Remove stems and seeds from the guajillo chile, pasilla chile, and the New Mexico chile pods.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Toast the chile pods in the skillet until lightly brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the chile pods to a small bowl and pour the warm water over them. Allow chiles to soak about 40 minutes.
• Remove the guajillo and New Mexico chiles from the water. Use a spoon to scrape the pulp from the skin. Discard the skin. Place the pulp of the guajillo chile and the New Mexico chiles in a food processor with the pasilla chile and the water in which the peppers soaked. Puree in the food processor until all ingredients are combined. Add the garlic, cumin, salt, brown sugar, salt, and vinegar. Puree the mixture until smooth.