Older Bolder Life

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Recipe: Salsas

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Sunday 15 July: Libby’s Creamy Avocado

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Here’s another nifty, avocado-based, dip slash topping slash table salsa slash magic sauce from our compadre Chef Libby down in Austin – Libby’s Creamy Avocado (or Avocado Crema as she likes to prepare it).

Avocados, packed with healthy fats and little soluble carbohydrate baggage, and most importantly, bursting with incredible flavor, end up on the menu around our camp just about every day, even more so during these blistering days of high summer.

Libby serves this not only as a dip (and not just for chips, think for a cold, crispy crudite plate too) but a topping on a spicy grilled chicken breast she often preps for her catering gigs; we’ve just had it on a tropically-spiced, sautéed (grilled would be awesome too) mahi fillet here at home in the past week too.

For those looking to up the game a bit, try sourcing (or making) some genuine crema to sub in for the sour cream…

2 firm-ripe avocados, flesh only
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream (maybe a touch more…) OR genuine crema
2 tbsp good, extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp good apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, rough chopped
2 tbsp fennel fronds, chopped fine, optional more for serving
Good salt to taste
Juice from one big lime quarter

Optional – add 1/2 to 1 stemmed and seeded serrano

Into your trusty food processor goes the avocado flesh, sour cream, EVOO, apple cider vinegar, first two tbsp cilantro, and first two tbsp fennel fronds.

Process until smooth; if not thick enough to suit you, add a bit of sour cream, if too thick, add a bit of EVOO or vinegar.

Season to taste with salt; pour into your serving bowl, sprinkle with the additional cilantro and fennel, spritz with the lime juice, and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Sunday 24 June: Quick Jalapeno Tomato Table Salsa No. 3

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With summer’s fresh produce season in full swing across most of the country now, it’s high time to fold some of those sent-straight-from-heaven tomatoes into some great table salsas.

This Quick Jalapeno Tomato Table Salsa No. 3 is another one we reach for fairly routinely; it’s quick to come together, offers several layers of great pepper flavor (using fresh and dried peppers), can be spiced up or down pending your desires, and offers a nice burst of citrus tartness too.

This is another one of those very versatile salsas that are great spooned over fresh grilled chicken or pork hot off the grill, and can make your breakfast eggs / omelette / frittata a whole new experience.

2 medium to large, vine-ripened tomatoes, stem scar removed
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded if desired (and/or)
1-2 medium serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded if desired
1-2 chile de arbol dried peppers, stemmed, then crushed
1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice (start with one)
1-2 tbsp EVOO (start with one)
1/2 tbsp good salt

2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves w tender stems
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped (fine) red onion

Blanch the tomatoes and prepped garlic cloves in a medium pot of boiling water for 2 minutes; then rinse in cool water, peel and remove tougher tomato cores.

Into your trusty blender go the tomatoes, garlic, both/either fresh peppers, the crush dried pepper, lime juice, EVOO, and salt. Blend to desired consistency, we like it with some texture. Taste for seasoning and adjust the lime, EVOO, and salt.

Pour into your serving bowl and gently stir in the cilantro and chopped red onion, maybe even a minced fresh pepper if you’re looking for a bit more spice.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Sunday 10 June 2018: Tomatillo Avocado Salsa

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Here’s a great tomatillo and avocado-based salsa that we stir up at least a couple of times a month during the long, hot Texas spring/summer/half of fall season. Avocados are always good, and the tart, almost citrusy burst from the tomatillos complements the rest of the ingredients very, very well.

I first posted this over on ChiWulff.com (fly fishing site) as we traveled up to Livingston (Montana) for our son’s wedding in June of 2016…

…(we) are on the road this week, back home in Montana for Jake’s wedding this weekend. On the way up, we stopped for the night in Cheyenne (great town) and asked our motel clerk for her favorite local dining spots; she steered us to a little hole in the wall Mexican food place (El Charrito).

The service was stellar, the food was very good, but the highlight was a bowl of a rich, smooth and creamy, green salsa. Just tart enough with wave of herbal cilantro and the classic back of the tongue heat of serrano peppers, it was astoundingly delicious and prompted a minor scuffle (I lost) for the last dip-able chip in the bowl.

After a bit of needling, a barrage of compliments and very near shameless begging, the matron of the place dictated the following recipe out and I scribbled it on a spare napkin hastily pulled from the stack…

We’ve tweaked it around the edges a bit since then (more serranos for one thing), but this one’s very close to the recipe we wrote on the napkin that night.

2 pounds tomatillos (roughly 30), husked, rinsed, rough chopped
2 firm, medium avocados, pitted, peeled, rough chopped
2 bunches fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (about a cup and a half)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, may need more
3-4 serrano chiles, stemmed, leave the seeds
3-4 green onions, trimmed, rough chopped
1/2 to 1 tbsp good salt

Wash and prep the vegetables.

Into a large blender or food processor go the tomatillos, then rough chop with a couple of short pulses. Now add the remainder of the ingredients and puree until it reaches your desired consistency. Cover and chill if not using immediately.

This makes roughly 4 cups, enough for a dinner with friends; it’s easy to cut in half or make more pending the crowd. If holding a bit that’s leftover, drop one of the avocado pits into the airtight container and squeeze a bit more lime juice over the top.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Sunday 3 June: Quick Columbian Guacamole

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Another one of our family favorites, this Quick Columbian Guacamole became a fixture in our rotation after seeing a similar version in the Wall Street Journal of all places over a decade ago.

Tweaking around the edges to suit our family palate, we’ve finally settled more or less on this recipe, though we sub different peppers all the time pending what happens to be fresh and handy (jalapeno, fresno, even a poblano now and then).

Now that summer is in full bloom, we find this smooth guacamole version is a perfect pairing with just about any sizzling protein off the grill, and often we’re smearing a big spoonful across a pork chop or ribeye and the accompanying cherry tomatoes too.

With the amount of lime juice in the recipe (fresh is best as always), we can even hold this one for 24 hours (spritz a bit more lime juice on before storing in an airtight container), though there are rarely any leftovers.

2 large avocados, pitted, peeled, rough chopped
1/2 (or more) cup chopped cilantro
1/2 (or more) cup sweet onion, chopped
2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
Juice of 2 large limes (may need more)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Using your trusty food processor or blender, combine the avocado, cilantro, onion, chiles, and lime juice until creamy. Add the water 1/4 cup at a time, pulsing until smooth. Taste and adjust for lime, cilantro, and whatever pepper you’re using.

Scoop into your serving bowl, spritz with a lime quarter and sprinkle with a bit of good kosher salt. Cover and throw in the fridge if your not using this immediately…

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Sunday 27 May: South Fork Salsa No. 2

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This being a holiday weekend and all, and with great fresh produce beginning to come in now, here’s a truly delectable, quick, and easy table salsa to whip up for your shindig tomorrow.

My wife and I are part of the generation (and geography) that came of age watching Pace Picante Sauce ads on the TV (“get a rope”), seeing salsa offerings multiply like a prairie wildfire at the local grocery during the past decade, and learning to savor local salsa treasures at every hole in the wall taco stand and Tex Mex joint we’ve wandered into over the years.

We still eat a lot of salsa around our camp, and while up until a few years ago during the past thirty years (give or take a few) there’s always been a partially-consumed jar of commercially-prepared salsa in our fridge, now we stir one of our favorites up every week or so (they never really last that long…).

We’ve come to call this one – a perennial favorite – our South Fork Salsa No. 2 given its utility a few years back getting us out of a little scrape with a campground operator on the South Fork of the Snake (Idaho) during a family fly fishing, river run, and camping trip.

There are probably a billion (really) versions of commercially-prepared salsa out there, and yet, we’ve never tasted one that could come close to any number that we cobble together at home (with relative ease, too).

During the winter when decent tomatoes are hard to come by, a 28-ounce can of good tomatoes will suffice here (drain most of the liquid), though vine-ripened, garden-fresh (or farmers’ market) tomatoes make this very nearly a religious experience. The spices, lime juice, and those tender inner celery stalks (and leaves!) really make this one sing.

Salsas are really all about using what produce is fresh, vibrant, and handy – but try this one as written before venturing too far afield…

1 lb fresh roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems
2-4 serrano peppers, stemmed, roughly chopped, seeds in for more heat
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 medium sweet onion, roughly chopped
2-3 of the small, tender inner stalks of a celery bunch, with leaves, trimmed
2-4 tbsp chile powder (use the good stuff)
1 tsp ground cumin, more to taste
1 tsp kosher salt, more to taste
Juice from 1/2 lime, more to taste

Toss everything into your trusty food processor (large blender in a pinch) and process to your desired consistency, my lovely wife likes it better with some texture.

Taste for salt, chile powder, cumin and lime; adjust to suit.

Serve it up chilled or room temperature; will keep (sealed tightly) in the fridge for up 2-3 weeks, but it’ll never last that long.

Enjoy.