Salsa Sunday: Not Tia Lily's chile verde, but a good one

My mom and all my tias made excellent chile verde. But my Tia Lily's was considered the best.

Asked if she would share her recipe, she said, "No! But I will tell you this: You have to work at it. Work those chiles."

I never quite figured out what she meant by that, but I make a fair chile verde, and I'm about to tell you how mine goes. And yes, it requires one to work the chiles.

First, a digression: Chile verde and salsa verde (last week's SALSA SUNDAY installation) are different in that salsa verde is just that, a sauce to be added or spooned onto a main course or dipped into with tortillas or tortilla chips. Chile verde is more of a garnish.

To make it, start with a half dozen anaheim chiles. These are relatively mild chiles. Others can be used, such as pasillas, but I prefer anaheims. Roast the chiles over an open flame on the stove or a grill or under a broiler flame, turning them so the skin blackens on all parts. Remove from flame and place them in a plastic bag and tie it shut, letting them steam for 20 minutes in the sink. Finely chop 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1-2 scallions including greens.

Chiles should be cool enough to handle. Peel off their skin and pull out seeds and spines. Cut off the stems and tips and cut the chiles into long thin strips. Add in the other chopped ingredients and stir together.

Chile verde can be served with steak (carne asada), included in machaca or with carne seca. It also can be used with eggs and anything else that needs a nice savory pick-me-up.

Chile verde will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days. If so, it should be allowed to come to room temperature before serving.

(Photo credit: www.recipemashups.wordpress.com)

Get ready for Salsa Sunday

A new "feature" of this blog, starting Sunday, will be salsa recipes, one a week. We'll call it Salsa Sunday.

Included will be recipes from a standard salsa cruda to the best replication I can come up with of my Tia Lily's fabulous chile verde. I'll borrow recipes and components of recipes, and when I do, the source and/or originator will be credited.

In all instances, fresh ingredients will be at the core of the recipes. That means for me adhering to my religion -- going to the Fillmore Farmers Market Saturday mornings. At the core of the fresh ingredients will be chiles, with the notation that there will be some recipes that call for dried chiles.

For this Sunday's recipe, I will buy a lime, cilantro, ripe red tomatoes, scallions, garlic, jalapeños and a milder chile like an anaheim. On hand, I will have salt, black peppercorns and vinegar.

¿Listo? Entonces, te veo en Domingo.

(Photo credit: www.mexicofoodandmore.com)

What to do with (ripe) green tomatoes

The Fillmore Farmers' Market provided a special treat this morning -- striped green tomatoes. They are ripe, not "green." They looked like an opportunity for something new and different in the way of a salsa verde.

Here's what I'll try: dice green tomatoes, dice red tomatoes, dice one chile, mix all together, squeeze on some lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Using them as the salsa or garnish for fish tacos ought to provide a nice twist.

Not your mom's grilled cheese sandwiches

Grilled cheese is as simple and straightforward a sandwich as there is. So why fiddle with it? You can make it better. Here are a few ways:

* Before grilling the sandwich, crisp cook one or two strips of bacon in the pan. Drain off all but a teaspoon or so of the bacon drippings and grill the sandwich. When done, crumble the bacon over the sandwich. (I did this Thursday evening to much acclaim.)

* Throw a couple strips of roasted green chile over the cheese before grilling.

* Mix a little Roquefort or other bleu cheese in with the jack or whatever other cheese you use. Oh, and use a white cheese. Even if you use cheddar, make it a white cheddar.

* Make a "Mexican" grilled cheese, otherwise known as a quesadilla. That's cheese between two tortillas. Corn or flour? Either will work. This is especially good with the chile strips. If they are unavailable, use pepper-jack cheese.

Four ways to improve on that classic of mom's kitchen.