Recipe: SALSA!

I had to put an exclamation mark after SALSA! because it's soooooo dang good. Seriously. It's another gem I've plucked it out of the Food Nanny recipe book. I should probably slow down sharing her recipes before she sues me or something, but SUE ME I just had to share this one! I've been really impressed with her Mexican food secion...Probably because she gets a lot of recipes from a Mexican lady-friend of the family. :D She's also travelled around the world looking for the best foreign recipes...that's why her Italian food section is divine, also. :D

SALSA!
16 Roma tomatoes, or tomatoes of your choice
2 jalapeno chiles
2 serrano chiles
1 small white onion
8 whole garlic cloves
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt (I used table salt)
1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to low broil (450). Place the whole tomatoes and chiles on a cookie sheet and place under broiler. Broil for 6 minutes on each side, or until tomatoes and peppers are blackened. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the pan. Reset the oven to bake at 450 degrees.
2. Slice the onion 1/2 inch thick and lay out hte slices on another sheet pan. Peel the garlic and add the whole cloves to the pan. Roast 15 to 20 minutes, turning often, until the onion and garlic are soft and browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, snip cilantro leaves, discarding the stems, to fill one cup loosely with leaves. Chop the leaves and set aside.
4. Prepare the tomatoes over the sheet pan to reserve the juice. Lift off the tomato skin and cut out the small core, discard. Set pan with tomatoes aside.
5. Cut the serranos down the middle and scrape out the seeds with a pointed spoon. Discard the seeds and cut the serranos in half crosswise. Cut hte jalapenos into thirds, leaving the seeds intact. Put the chiles into the blender or food processor with a metal blade. Add the onions and garlic. Pulse just to mince the vegetables. Transfer them to a medium bowl.
6. Put the tomatoes and any juice in the food processor or blender and pulse until crushed (not pureed). Add the tomatoes to the chile-onion mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until well-blended. Add the cilantro, salt, and vinegar and mix well.
7. Store left-overs in fridge. To freeze, fill quart-size resealable freezer bags with the desired amount. Freeze up to 5 months. To thaw, let stand at room temperature 30 to 40 minutes.

This makes a lot so you can freeze it, since you've made the effort, or half it. :D Either way you won't regret the little bit of time it takes! :D