3 salsas
So I bought a pineapple and a couple magoes with plans to experiment with possible salsas to make for the Cooking with Catladies dinner this coming weekend. I put it off for a bit, and then the fruit was perfectly ripe and making it clear that it would not wait for the 15th.
So here were my experimental salsas:
Pineapple/Grape Salsa
This one is designed to be light a fresh and perky, and it succeeded admirably.
Cut 2/3rds of a pineapple into 1cm dice. Slice seedless red grapes in half until the quantities of pinapple and grapes are equal.Peel ginger and cut several paper thin slices against the grain. Then stack those slices and cut them into strips. Add to the fruit.
Slice the flesh off of 1 jalepeno pepper, and cut that into thin strips. Add to fruit.
Mix everything together and put into a jar.
Make a syrup of 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup rice vinegar. Reduce by 1/3 or until bored, whichever comes first.
Pour in enough to make the salsa wet, but not drippy - maybe halfway up a tightly-packed jar. Close the lid, and let sit overnight.
Pineapple Habanero
This one was meant to be just a bit too strong for my tastes, just in case someone particularly macho came by. Therefore, I didn’t make a lot of it. But also, it annoys me when very spicy food is only spicy, so I was trying to get a bit of layering to the flavor. The end result is delicious, but not hot enough at all.
Finely mince 1/3 of a pineappleCut the flesh off of
13 habanero peppers, and slice it as finely as possible.In a mortar and pestle, crush together 2 clove heads, 6 allspice berries, and some nutmeg.
Stir all together.
Make a syrup of: the juice of 2 limes, 1 tsp buckwheat honey, 2 tsp brown sugar, and 1/4 cup white balsamic. Boil until it thickens a bit, and then pour sparingly over the salsa.
Let sit overnight. (Hoping this one might last a week)
Mango and Green Pepper SalsaOddly, this one ended up being the hottest of the lot, but that’ll depend on the next jalepeno I buy. I like the crisp texture of the green pepper here.
Dice a ripe mango as best you can, but it’s better for the mango to be ripe and sweet than to have a perfect diceCut the flesh off the seeds of the bell pepper in about 5 passes, and then cut those strips into narrow strips (so you end up with pieces about 2mm x 4cm) - this will make the width of the bite about the same, the pieces still large enough to be crunchy, and yet it will still fold into everything smoothly as salsa should.
Thinly slice 1/2 of a jalepeno all the way through. Then mince those slices and add them, including seeds.
Add the zest of 1 lime.
Stir all together, and pack it into a jar.
Pour white vinegar into the tightly-packed jar until it comes about halfway up the fruit. Let sit overnight.
Now to see if they can be replicated. *grin*