Homemade Salsa Favorites

by Recipes + Remedies

The base of a good salsa besides the chiles is, el tomate!

Homemade salsa is one of the easiest ways to pack some flavor and a little bit (or a lot!) of heat into your food. 

This spring we partnered up with Daily Acts and Left Coast Wholesale to distribute over 200  garden kits which included Geopot Fabric Pots, organic soil, seeds and a variety of plant starts including medicinal herbs, tomatoes, tomatillos, and chiles.

It’s time for the tomato harvest and our community has some of their favorite homemade salsa recipes to share with us:

TOMATO SALSA IN A MOLCAJETE:

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 Tomatoes, Roasted 
  • 1 Garlic Clove, Roasted
  • 1/4 onion, Roasted 
  • 4-6 Serrano Chiles, Roasted (depending on the spice you like)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Roast the tomatoes, garlic, onion and chilies on a dry sauté pan or comal (a griddle made from sandstone) on medium high heat until charred.
  2. In the molcajete, grind the onion down until juices start to release, then grind the garlic, tomatoes, and chilies to the consistency you desire. 
  3. Season with salt, If needed, give a few more grinds to combine all the ingredients. Serve the salsa right in the Molcajete and enjoy!

FELIPA’S SALSA RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS

  • 10 Tomatoes, Roasted until charred
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, Roasted until charred
  • 1/4 Onion, Roasted until charred
  • 10 Serrano Chiles, Roasted until charred

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Place the roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, chili peppers in a blender with  ¼-½  cup of water and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
  2. Add salt to taste, garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

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De-La-Gente Fire Cider

by with No Comment Recipes + Remedies

The People’s Fire Cider: Your Kitchen Your Power!

This recipe truly represents the power of the people to take health into their own hands. It’s powerfully anti-viral ingredients which include garlic, onion, ginger, and apple cider vinegar are easy to source in these times of thinly stocked grocery store shelves and have been used in our kitchens for thousands of years to fight infection. Ask your grandma….she knows all about this. And check out the inspiring people’s victory in which the medicine could not be trademarked www.freefirecider.com

Every fall we make this medicine in the community garden before flu season….but it is the perfect remedy for our current crisis and your kitchen. While there is no set recipe for Fire Cider, there are a few generally agreed upon ingredients: garlic, onion, ginger, hot peppers, horseradish, apple cider vinegar, and raw honey. You can adjust ingredients based on palate and desired effect. For example, do you need help raising core body temperature, so your body can better fight viral incursion? Add more ginger and cayenne. Extra thick congestion? Horseradish goes a long way here. Or a tendency towards secondary bacterial infection of the lungs or sinuses after a cold? Heavy on the garlic and turmeric.

Ingredients (based on a quart-sized jar)

  • 10 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 1 small-medium onion, chopped into 1/2-1 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup grated horseradish root
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh ginger (dried ginger is significantly hotter than fresh; use 1-2 tsps if fresh is unavailable)
  • 1-2 tablespoon(s) grated turmeric (or 1-3 teaspoon(s) dried)
  • Zest and juice of 1-2 lemon(s)
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chile, slivered and seeds removed
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Local, raw honey

Directions

Pack all ingredients in the quart jar, and cover with vinegar. All vegetable/herb material should be submerged. Cap with a plastic mason jar lid, or use wax/parchment paper between the metal lid and the jar. (The vinegar will corrode an unprotected metal lid.) Shake well.

Store in a cool, dry place (no need to refrigerate) for 4 weeks, shaking frequently (daily is best!). Strain, squeezing the macerating vegetables/herbs in a cheesecloth to get the best extraction. Whisk in 1/2 cup raw honey, taste, and add more honey by the tablespoon until you reach your desired sweet/tart/hot ratio.

Other possible additions:

  • Rosemary
  • Thyme
  • Sage
  • Peppercorns
  • Hyssop
  • Fennel seed
  • Star anise

Uses

Take 1-2 tablespoons every few hours when illness threatens…this stuff will get you sweating and secreting so your body can do its best to fight infection. Get into a hot bath, wrap up, and let yourself rest!

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