Today’s recipe is a fairly unique salsa (some might even argue it’s a salad) that’s actually a companion to the damned delicious Santa Maria Smoked Tri-Tip that I posted last week.
As candidly noted a week ago, I’ve never been to Santa Maria, California to sample their most admired and authentic tri-tip cooked over those glowing red oak coals, and (by multiple reports) served alongside this interesting salsa and a heaping pile of pinquito beans.
We have, on the other hand, grilled and smoked a hefty number of tri-tips over the years, and the Santa Maria version I posted last week is by far and away one of our favorites.
Growing up and currently living in Texas, and living/traveling up and down the Rockies chain for the past 30 years, we’ve also enjoyed a (shamefully perhaps) astounding number of great salsas, from stunningly fresh table salsas made minutes before serving to uptown and gourmet salsas made from ingredients you’d never imagine could be “salsified”.
That said, neither my lovely wife or I could recall a salsa we’ve enjoyed in which celery played a central role, until making up several batches of this Santa Maria Salsa, starting more or less from Raichlen’s recipe (see last week’s post for more) and tweaking here and there to suit our palates.
Bottom line, the celery plays very well, and while the original recipe apparently added garlic salt, we think minced fresh garlic is much better, and I’ve added a bit more jalapeño heat to align more with the Texas and Southwestern salsa we’re addicted to.
This one needs to be enjoyed fresh and comes together in minutes (with decent knife skills), give it a spin and please share your customizations in the comments below.
3 medium tomatoes, chopped fine (save the juices)
2-3 medium celery ribs, chopped fine
3-4 green onions, white and green parts, chopped fine
1-2 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, chopped fine
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1-2 fresh garlic cloves, minced (optional, see note)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp vinegar of choice
1-2 tsp hot sauce of choice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well; adjust vinegar and hot sauce amounts to taste.
Best served within 4 hours of being made.
Enjoy.
[…] over on the Older Bolder Life I’ve posted a nifty recipe for a somewhat unusual Santa Maria Salsa, in part as a companion to the damned delicious Santa Maria Smoked Tri-Tip recipe posted last […]