Mildly Wild Salsa, The Best Homemade Salsa

I recently made what is now my favorite homemade salsa and I’ll most likely make it this way from now on.  I couldn’t think of a fun, clever name to call it and asked my mom for ideas.  So I credit her with what is now called Mildly Wild Salsa.  It’s got a great, spicy kick to it, but is not-too-hot to enjoy.  That is one thing I don’t like about some hot salsas—they are just too much to actually eat and like.  I don’t like chunky salsa, mostly because I strongly dislike onions, especially in any recognizable form. ;)  This has the perfect hit of flavor you need from onions (though I used shallot), but the real flavor punch is from the jalapeno and cilantro.  Can’t forget about the garlic and fresh lime juice either. 

There are a couple of Mexican restaurants where I love the salsa, I always say I could almost drink it.  I also like to say I love the smell of April Fresh Downy so much that I could drink it, too, but that’s a totally different story (and no, I haven’t and won’t drink Downy). ;)  Sometimes when we’ve tried making it at home, it has seemed a bit acidy.  We’ve tried putting a little sugar in it and that helps a bit, but this time when I made it, it was just too hot, even when I removed most of the seeds and ribs from the inside of the jalapeno.  We have also found over time that we like using canned tomatoes rather than fresh ones.  Many like a fresh, chunky salsa with lots of cut up veggies, but that brings up the whole raw chunks of onions that I can’t handle again.  After making this as I most often do and deciding it was much too spicy, I decided to add a can of tomato sauce—and it is so good!  It added just the right amount of sweetness that helps cut the acid and made it so it was perfectly spicy but definitely not too spicy.  Try it!

Mildly Wild Salsa, The Best Homemade Salsa, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 jalapeno, ribs and most of the seeds removed (but leave some!) and cut into 4 pieces

1 shallot (or about 1/4 cup onion), roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8-1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)

juice of half a lime (or more to taste)

14 ounce can of diced or whole tomatoes (not drained)

8 ounce can of tomato sauce

In the bowl of a food processor put the cut up jalapeno, the shallot, garlic and cilantro.  Pulse a few times.  Add the sugar, cumin, salt and lime juice.  Pulse until all is finely chopped.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.  Pulse again.  Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce and pulse until  tomatoes are well chopped and almost smooth.  Serve with chips.

Perfect for snacking, lunch, dinner, snacking…….heck, it would work great for huevo rancheros for breakfast, too, or any other type of Mexican breakfast!

Corn Flakes Chivda (Savory Snack Mix)—Secret Recipe Club

Corn Flakes Chivda

It’s October Secret Recipe Club time!

Betcha when Trisha from My Hobbie Lobbie sees the little thumbnail with this photo and title, she’ll know instantly it’s a recipe from her blog! ;)  I had the pleasure of having Trisha’s blog this month.  Trisha’s lives in India and while she has a wide array of things to choose from on her blog, including many American recipes/foods, I wanted to pick something new-to-me and native to India, or at least foreign to America to make. 

After much scouring of her blog, I was torn—Trisha seems to like Nigella Lawson recipes, who is a great chef from London who has had a show on the Food Network and who I’ve always liked.  After seeing a few of her recipes at My Hobbie Lobbie, I decided to try one of her cookies Trisha has posted.

Well, those cookies, Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies that I made after seeing Trisha’s post for them were made here and I LOVE them.  I couldn’t find, after looking on Nigella's website, any negative comments about these.  In fact, all of them that I read were in great praise of how wonderful the cookies are.  I will be posting about them soon!

But before I found and made those cookies, I was preparing to make the Corn Flakes Chivda (Savory Snack Mix) that Trisha posted.  She said it is her husband’s favorite snack.  I like that it seemed different with a mix of spicy, savory and sweet and I love snack mixes. 

I like that at the bottom of the recipe Trisha posted she said, “Please note, snacks like this should be tweaked to your liking.  Feel free to play around with the dry fruits and nuts added as well as the spice, sugar and salt levels.  After you make this once, you’ll have a better idea of what you’d like to do the next time.”

Ahhh, an invitation to do whatever I want with a recipe! ;)  But I actually was intrigued by her recipe and tried to stay true to it as much as I could.  I actually tried to find chana dal (dalia), which are a roasted, split garbanzo beans, more available in India and I couldn’t find them and the price through Amazon was just too much, especially if I didn’t know if we’d even like them.  So instead of using those in this recipe, I used sunflower seeds.  I also couldn’t find curry leaves and was a little confused about the green chilies she has in the recipe.  Are they fresh ones, dried ones and what kind?  So instead of that, I used some ground red pepper.

I prepped all the ingredients, including getting some raw cashews and raw peanuts for this snack mix. 

All set.  This snack mix is made in a large skillet with a few of the ingredients added at a time.  The nuts needed roasting (though you can use nuts that are already roasted and then just not roast them in the pan as long) and the mustard seeds needed to toast and pop.  It was a really fun thing to watch.

Ready for some spices and the corn flakes.

  After a short time with the rest of the ingredients, a little sugar for some sweetness was added.  I must say, the way I made it, it is just a little spicy for me, but not so much so that I couldn’t keep snacking on it.  I really like it.  One of my boys, Taylor, kept snacking on it, too.  I plan to make it again and tone down the spice just a little and I think it will make a great snack time and again.

Corn Flakes Chivda, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Trisha at My Hobbie Lobbie

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 tablespoons canola oil

pinch of ground red pepper (or to taste)

pinch of curry powder (or to taste)

1/4 cup raw peanuts

1/3 to 1/2 cup raw cashews

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons raisins (about 20 raisins)

salt, to taste

1 teaspoon tumeric powder

3/4 teaspoon chili powder (or to taste)

2 cups corn flakes cereal

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the mustard seeds and stir them around a bit.  Don’t let it get too hot, but when you start hearing them pop, lower the heat to about medium-low.  Add the pinch of ground red pepper and the pinch of curry powder.  Add the peanuts and cashews and let them roast in the pan, stirring it often so they don’t burn.  When they are beginning to brown (3-5 minutes), add the sunflower seeds and stir it around some more until they are toasty as well.  Then add the raisins and stir the mixture in the skillet for about 30 seconds. 

Next add the salt, tumeric, and chili powder and stir well to coat everything.  Add the corn flakes and carefully stir well to coat them with the spice mix.  Remove the skillet from the heat.  Let it cool slightly (just a couple minutes), then sprinkle the sugar over it and toss it gently until everything is thoroughly mixed.  Let it cool completely and store in an air tight container, if you didn’t eat it all in one sitting and there is some left. ;)

Thanks, Trisha, for the fun snack recipe and I’m glad I got to bake from your blog this month!