I recently joined a Facebook group called Bayless’ Best Ever and the members have been posting some wonderful, homemade AUTHENTIC dishes for us to drool over. Chef Rick posted a contest using his recipe for salsa (Chef Bayless Rustic Roasted Tomato Salsa) and we were supposed to make it (or a variant of it), add it to our dish and post about it.
Chef Rick Bayless Roasted Tomato Salsa
- 2 fresh jalapeño chiles (or 4 serranos or 2 habaneros or practically any fresh chile)
- 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
- One15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
- 1/3 cup (loosely packed) roughly chopped cilantro
- A teaspoon or so fresh lime juice or cider vinegar (optional)
- Salt
Set a small skillet over medium heat. Lay the chiles and garlic in the skillet and dry roast until soft and blotchy in spots, about 10 minutes for the chiles, about 15 minutes for the garlic.
While the chiles and garlic are roasting, scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and pour into a medium bowl.
Pull the stems off the roasted chiles and peel the papery skin off the garlic. Scoop them into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. Add the tomatoes, with their juice, re-cover and pulse a few more times, until the mixture is as coarse or smooth as you want your salsa to be.
Pour the tomato mixture into the bowl with the onion. Add the cilantro and stir thoroughly. Thin with a little water if necessary to give the salsa an easily spoonable consistency. Taste and season with lime juice or vinegar, if using, and salt, usually about ½ teaspoon. If not using within an hour or two, cover and refrigerate.
Roast the peppers on a hot griddle, blistering the skin for easy removal.
Roughly grind the chilis in a molcajete (volcanic rock mortar & pestle) OR give it a rough chop in your food processor. Add the fire roasted tomatoes and the other ingredients in the recipe, especially the fresh cilantro. I love the smell of fresh cilantro (I know, I know, some of you out there hate it!). I tried to make this simple and used canned diced fire-roasted tomatoes. The recipe calls for lime juice or cider vinegar, I used both! Loved the flavor!
Here’s the finished product! SO easy!
Coincidentally, I had made some machaca from scratch a few days ago and filled my chimichanga with the delicious meat. This recipe was recently updated to reflect the batch I made at Christmas that came out fantastic!
MACHACA RECIPE:
2 to 3 lbs Beef Brisket (trimmed of most fat)
Sprinkle roast generously with Garlic Salt (about 1 tsp), finely ground black pepper (about 1 tsp) and 1/2 tsp salt
1 large or 2 small bay leaves
Cut the roast into big chunks (about 3 ” square). Place the roast in a crock pot and cook on high for about 5 to 6 hours (or on low overnight for 8 hours). Remove meat from the juicy broth that has been made and move to a plate or tray to cool off. When it is cool, shred it with 2 forks and set aside. Remove any visible fat chunks that remain from the brisket. You can reserve the liquids and add later if necessary to add some flavor.
MACHACA ingredients:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or olive oil if you prefer)
1/2 medium white onion, diced
1/2 California (Anaheim) chili pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped (approx 1/2 pound)
1/4 teaspoon salt
ground pepper (to taste)
1 can Hunts tomato sauce
In large saute’ pan, put oil, onions, Anaheim chili and bell pepper. Cook on medium heat until softened. Add minced garlic, tomatoes and add salt and pepper. Add shredded beef and tomato sauce. If necessary, add more water or some of the juices from cooking the meat.
Reduce heat to a low simmer and let cook until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add more salt or pepper if needed. This is even better the next day which allows the flavors of the veggies to meld with the meat.
I used the machaca meat to make a chimichanga, which is essentially a deep-fried burrito. This one was too big, I normally make them smaller than this.
Warm your tortilla on a griddle, fill with machaca and fry in hot vegetable oil. Make sure the oil is hot enough to quickly fry it or your chimichanga will be greasy. When I was first learning, I would seal it with a toothpick to keep the filling from coming out. Now, I just start the frying on the flap side of the burrito and spoon hot oil over it and it will stay closed when you flip it over. Don’t walk away from the skillet during this part. It is easy to scorch them and you just need a golden crust as shown in the photo.
Top your chimichanga with Rustic Tomato Salsa, finely chopped lettuce, thinly sliced radishes, guacamole and sour cream.
Enjoy!