Drum Roll Please . . . Salsa . . .

I am not sure where my hubby got this recipe but, he is just like me and tweaks it each time.  He knows it by heart and he seasons to taste.   We have made three batches this year already.  Our tomatoes are really doing well.  We have used roma tomatoes in the past because they are supposed to have more meat in them.  This year we planted celebrity tomatoes and they are really doing well.   The celebrities have a lot of meat and a great flavor.
This is the hubbys baby, he does all the work on this, all I do is work the blender for him and zest the limes.  Here we go, now remember, this recipe has been tweaked and please feel free to add your own taste to yours.  We always add our own zip.

Twenty or so tomatoes
3-5 peppers varying varieties (a few for heat, a few for flavor)
1 medium onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
2 limes zested and then juiced

Boil your tomatoes, when the skin pops they are done, remove them from the water and let them set.
Boil your peppers until they are soft, let them set.  Press and saute your garlic until fragrant.  Chop onion and saute until translucent.  Chop your cilantro.
Once your tomatoes have cooled and you can handle them easily peel the skin from them.  We put ours in a strainer over another bowl.  This way you get the meat and not so much juice.  Once the tomatoes are peeled my hubby like to mash the tomatoes with his hands to get a little more juice out of them.  You do not want your salsa to be too runny.  Chop your peppers.  Now depending on how hot you want your salsa you can leave all of your seeds with the peppers or you can seed a couple of your peppers.  The seeds are where the heat is in your peppers.  The hubbs left a few too many seeds for my taste this time but it is still good.   We used some hot peppers and some mild peppers.  I zest the limes into the cilantro and then they are ready to juice.
We use a blender, like you are making a smoothie.  I put a couple scoops of the tomato mush, some of the: garlic, onion, cilantro, peppers and then the hubbs juices half of one lime.  Then I blend this together, once it is blended I pour it into our eight cup mixing bowl.  We repeat this until all of our ingredients have been blended together.   This gives you a beautiful reddish brown mixture.  The hubbs then proceeds to add his seasonings to finish this up.

1 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp Mexican oregano

He may also add more lime juice if needed.  Keep in mind he juiced two limes during the blending process.
This is really a good recipe and in my opinion could rival any authentic salsa from any restaurant.  I am biased of course.  The hubbs has said that at least one of the boys must learn to make this recipe so that it can be passed down to the next generation of our clan.
Enjoy!

Mad Scientist and Fried Rice. . .

I had a craving for fried rice last night, so I decided to whip some up.  You know what that means, right?   I am like a mad scientist in my kitchen, at times.   I will create a recipe for something in two shakes of a rats tail.  This is how it went:
11/2 cups of Basamati rice
edamame (small bag frozen)
two eggs beaten
3 cloves of garlic pressed
soy sauce
olive oil
11/2 tbsp red curry paste
a little powdered ginger

I have never used Basamati rice before but it worked great in this recipe.   You soak the rice for thirty minutes then rinse and drain.  I cooked mine in a rice cooker.  On the stove, I used a stir fry skillet, heat 2tbsp olive oil and the pressed garlic until aromatic.  Add the red curry paste, if you want it a little more spicy add a little more curry.   Gently scramble your eggs in another skillet and set aside.   Cook your edamame on the stove and set aside.  Add your cooked rice to your stir fry skillet with the garlic and curry paste and mix well.  I add a little soy sauce and then the edamame and gently stir.  Make a hole in the center of the skillet and add the egg, let it get warmed back up and then gently incorporate it into the mixture.   This seems like it would take a long time but, it actually did not take that long.   It was a huge hit with the hubbs and I loved it.  It is not as bad for you as take out or restaurant style stir fry because you do not use as much oil.