Category Archives: Salsa

Cilantro Sauce

Salsa, Sauce, tacos

Sometimes you have to try and kick yourself when something so easy is so flippin’ good. Last week during the Green Bay Packers game, we had nacho night. We thought we would celebrate game day, as we hoped for a victory, which was not the case, with a nice plate of ‘build your own nachos’. I know how my family rolls when it comes to nachos. The kids are typically a bit of meat and cheese, while my daughter might be just cheese and chips. My wife will load hers with cheese, chips, a bit of meat, avocado, maybe some lettuce and tomato. Me on the other hand? Well, I like to jazz mine up, and load them up with things like beans, onions, cilantro, and some chilies. As I normally just use chopped up sprigs of cilantro, I decided to go another route, and make a cilantro sauce to heavily drizzle throughout the nachos, and whoa, was this stuff ever amazing!

Cilantro Sauce Recipe

Super simple ingredients yields a sauce so awesome that you will be blown away.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, cleaned
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic (add more or less for garlic intensity)
  • 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
  • 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 3/4 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of water

Add everything to a food process and blend until you have a smooth sauce. Pour into a glass container, and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. When you are ready to use, give a gentle shake, and spoon onto whatever you desire.

How to make cilantro sauce

I’ve been using this sauce on everything from eggs at breakfast, to salads, and even drizzling on sandwiches.

This cilantro sauce is bright, and intense in flavor. You get that awesome punch of garlic cilantro flavor in every bite. I hope you enjoy!

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Cilantro Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Sauce
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, cleaned
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic (add more or less for garlic intensity)
  • ½ tsp salt, to taste
  • 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
  • ¾ cup of olive oil
  • ¼ cup of water
Instructions
  1. Add everything to a food process and blend until you have a smooth sauce. Pour into a glass container, and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. When you are ready to use, give a gentle shake, and spoon onto whatever you desire.
  2. I've been using this sauce on everything from eggs at breakfast, to salads, and even drizzling on sandwiches.
  3. This cilantro sauce is bright, and intense in flavor. You get that awesome punch of garlic cilantro flavor in every bite. I hope you enjoy!

 

Jalapeño Hot Sauce

Appetizers, Events, Game Day, Mexican, Salsa, Sauce

Over the past fifteen years or so, I have become a really big fan of spicy food. I typically eat spicier than many folks around me. I love spicy Thai, Mexican, and Chinese food to say the least and I typically steer towards ordering a spicier dish if I am going out to eat. There is something about the heat, when done right, that enhances the flavor of the dish. This salsa could be one of the best I’ve created in the last few years. Sure, I’ve made a variety of Mexican-style salsas such as a Thai salsa, a Thai dipping sauce, even a habanero hot sauce and serrano hot sauce. I have no clue as to why I have left out the idea of making a jalapeño hot sauce, so it was my turn to make something amazing, and wow, was this one ever awesome.

jalapeño Hot Sauce

As I have an abundance of jalapeño peppers growing in my garden, I figured I had to use them up, and hence the idea for this sauce. Trust me on this, you will be spooning it on everything. It’s really that good.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 5 whole jalapeño peppers, stems removed
  • 2 whole tomatillos, cut in half, husks discarded
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3/4 cup of water
  • 2 tbsp distilled vinegar
  • 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 lime, juiced
  • salt, to taste

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees.

Add the jalapeños and tomatillos to a baking sheet.  Place in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly roasted.

Using tongs, carefully place those into a blender or food processor. Add in the garlic, water, lime juice, sugar, and vinegar. Season with about 1/2 tsp salt to start.

Blend until the sauce is thinned out. You are not going for a thick sauce here. Add a bit more water to get it to the consistency of a ‘taco’ sauce.

Taste and season with any additional salt. Pour into a air tight container and let cool before covering. This can sit in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, if not longer.

The flavor of this jalapeño hot sauce is spectacular. It has just the right amount of heat, meaning, I was not sweating at first bite, nor did it kill my palette when serving it alongside breakfast, lunch, and dinner items.  This very well could be one of my favorite sauces that I’ve made thus, so I hope you enjoy.

 

Cinco de Mayo Recipes

Appetizers, Beans, Beef, Burgers, Cheese, Chicken, Ethnic, Events, Game Day, Grilling, Kids, Mexican, Onions, Pork, Rice, Salsa, Sandwiches, Sides, Snack, Soup, tacos

If you are looking for something to make to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, here are some wonderful, and easy recipes. Click for the recipe, or you can find my collection of Mexican recipes at http://www.simplecomfortfood.com/category/mexican/. ¡Viva, Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo Recipes

Cinco de Mayo Recipes Taco Cups Mexican Hot Dogs Torta Ahogado Panuchos Mexican Creamed Corn Roasted Red Salsa Mexican Fried Rice Albodingas Soup Mexican Refried Beans Huevos Rancheros Chicken Tamale Casserole Chicken Tortilla Soup Nacho Potato Skins Mexican Corn Salad

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Casserole, Chicken, Mexican, Salsa

The weather has been horrible in Wisconsin this past month, and all of us Wisconsinites are growing a bit tired of the cold, and rainy weather, well, at least I am. If you are like many of us, cold and dreary weather just screams comfort food, and we all know that is right up my alley. So recently I paid a visit to one of our local Mexican grocery stores in town known as El Rey. I’ll admit, I love El Rey. You can get some awesome food there, then grab a cart or basket and load up on great produce, among other things. Often times when I am there, I will pick up some of their homemade tamales. I’m a big fan of tamales, and have made them in the past, but it is a bit of work, patience, and time in making them, so I find it easier to support the local supermercado, and buy theirs.

Tamale Casserole Recipe

Believe it or not, but everyone in my family enjoys a good tamale, and that is rare, and when I brought them home, unfortunately no one had much interest in eating them. So I was stuck with a handful of tamales, and I was not going to let them go to waste, that was for certain. So I decided I would raid the refrigerator, use my leftovers, including that of some awesome cheesy potatoes, and come up with this excellent casserole.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

  • 6 chicken tamales, cooked, and chopped
  • 3/4 cup of salsa verde, plus more
  • 2 cups of cheesy potatoes, see recipe
  • 1 cup of tortilla chips, crushed
  • 1 cup of cooked chicken breast, cubed
  • 1 whole serrano chile, thinly sliced

Begin by adding the chopped tamales to the bottom of a medium sized casserole dish. Toss in the cubed chicken, pour over salsa verde,  then cover with the cheesy potatoes.  Top with the crushed tortilla chips.

Great Tamale Casserole

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil, and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover after 30 minutes, and cook an additional 5 minutes.

tamale-casserole-2

Remove, and serve. Add some sliced serrano chilies, and drizzle a bit more salsa verde over the top and you have yourself one awesome and comforting casserole.