salsa

Last month's Gourmet had a salsa recipe that got me inspired to start learning more about cooking Mexican food, and I also went to the library and checked out a Dianna Kennedy book. One thing I learned is that the translation of "frijoles refritos" is closer to "well-fried beans" than "refried beans". They are only fried once, but the "re" on the fritos is for emphasis. The Diana Kennedy recipe is the bomb. This is the only time I've ever cooked with epazote, and I can't believe how good it is in beans! The recipes I've read all emphasize that epazote goes better with black beans, so I'll try it that way, but it was dynamite with pintos, too. I didn't get a picture of the mashed and fried beans, but the whole ones were also good.

It was really fun going to La Superior and picking out fresh and dried chilies that I had never cooked with before. The prices at La Superior make me trip out on the fact that people think Safeway is cheap. Everything is like half as much!

The salsa recipe is not linked online, but I think I can sum it up. Count out about 40 dried chilies de arbol and de-stem them. Peel a clove of garlic. Roast the chilies and the garlic close in a medium-hot cast iron skillet for about 2 minutes-until they start to get black spots. Take those out and put them in a blender and throw about a pound of tomatillos in the iron skillet.

Keep turning the tomatillos with tongs until they soften and get charred in spots. Take out the small ones as they get soft. The big ones can be in there as long as 20 minutes.
Blend it up and...
Delicious and pretty orange salsa.
Over the weekend, I also created this kitten out of angel tears and fluffy clouds.