Cooked Tomato Salsa

This is the second part of my mini-series on using fresh tomatoes before they go bad. I was reading one of my favorite food blogs, La Fuji Mama, and one of her recent posts was what she calls "Tomato Salsa #95". Depending on the ripeness and type of the tomatoes, the strength of the onion, and the other additions you include, the amount of seasonings will be quite flexible. You'll see that with the recipe below: I started with La Fuji Mama's recipe as a base, then altered it to create a salsa that was spicy enough for my liking.

Cinnamon and cloves were quite a surprise to me when I read the ingredient list, as well as the lack of any type of hot peppers, jalapeno or otherwise. My directions reflect my test of a close match to the original recipe, then additions for spicing it up a little.

See the comments below about seasoning with the green and regular Tabasco sauces.

Ingredients (makes 2-3 cups)

• drizzle of olive oil
• 3 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• green pepper Tabasco sauce
• regular (red) Tabasco sauce

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add tomatoes and onion. Cook until tomatoes begin to change color and liquid bubbles, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Quickly drain tomato mixture in mesh strainer, then pour into food processor bowl. There will be some juices left.
4. Add lime juice, vinegar, salt, oregano, cinnamon, and cloves. 
5. Process using the Pulse button, very quickly, just long enough to chop tomatoes into smaller pieces. (This should take no more than 3 seconds.)
6. Put entire mixture in Tupperware or other container, and place in fridge for at least one hour.
7. Once salsa is cold, season using green and red Tabasco sauces. (I did 15-20 drops of green Tabasco, and around 10 drops regular Tabasco sauce.)

Comments

I found it necessary to drain the liquid from the tomatoes before processing them, and was glad I did. The final salsa was still watery but draining improved the consistency a lot.

Judging spiciness was difficult to when the salsa was still hot; all I could taste was the warm tomato flavor. After refrigerating it, it was a million times easier to see what flavors were needed. Green Tabasco sauce is a bit milder than the red, but still has a nice bite to it, so we seasoned with that first. The regular (red) Tabasco sauce was added at the end for that "bite" for which it is known.

I was also pleased that the cinnamon and cloves were successful in the final product. I could taste them but they also helped the spiciness of the Tabasco to stand out more.

Garlic Hummus

Hummus is a Middle Eastern dip, made with chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), tahini, and often the addition of a flavor. Tahini is like peanut butter, but made out of sesame seeds rather than peanuts, and is often found right next to peanut butter in the grocery store. While a little on the pricey side, it does a perfect job in this recipe of keeping the hummus a proper consistency. This recipe is based on one found at About.com, where you can also find hummus recipes that don't require tahini.

Thanks to my mother, who bought me my food processor! In this recipe, there really is no replacement for a good food processor, which works the ingredients together to produce a light, fluffy texture.


Ingredients

• 2 cans of chickpeas / garbanzo beans - 19 oz. each
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup liquid drained from chickpeas
  
• 4-8 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed with a knife (depending on how hot/spicy you want the hummus)
  
• 3 Tbsp tahini (sesame butter)
• 8-10 Tbsp lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. If too thick, add a little olive oil, lemon juice, or chickpea liquid to smooth it out.
3. Add salt and pepper to your liking.

Comments
Being Italian, I find great joy in a very garlicky things, so I used 8 very large cloves of garlic in my hummus. It is very hot, so if you are not a lover of strong garlic flavor, start with 3-4 cloves. You can also omit the garlic completely, which will make a nice plain hummus. The consistency was perfect and we put it in a dish with a garnish of flat leaf parsley.

Some suggestions for dipping implements: crackers (such as Wheat Thins), pita pockets cut into small pieces (or made into chips), or vegetables such as carrots and celery.