Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetite.
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Tailgating season is here, and you’ve got plenty of choices for your game day spreads. We’ll never criticize your choices when it comes to wings or ribs or chili. If we’re really being honest, that’s true for every item on your folding table. What you like and how you like it is really all that matters.
That being said… if your answer to opening a bag of tortilla chips is to twist off the lid of a jar of salsa, we’re here to tell you that you’re missing out. The prospect of making a delicious homemade salsa might seem overwhelming, but after conferring with Chef Samantha Hill at Omni PGA Frisco and Chef Victor Davila at Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills in Tempe, Ariz., we can confidently tell you that it’s easier than you think.
To prove it, we’ve shared their advice below, along with a recipe for a pineapple-and-Caribe-pepper salsa that’s certain to inject some summer flavor into your early fall festivities.
‘Tis the season
“You’ll rarely need any spice,” says Chef Davila. “Cilantro and green onion will add enough depth in flavor. Keep the cumin away from it!” Using fresh-squeezed lime juice is key, but he implores home cooks to be careful about how aggressively they squeeze the fruit. Squeeze it too strong and you risk imparting bitter oils from the rind.
Chef Hill agrees that a heavy hand with the spices can sabotage an otherwise great salsa, but she does insist that home cooks not shy away from using salt. “You always want to make sure your salsa has a good amount of salt and acid to make the flavors pop,” she explains.
According to Chef Davila, under-seasoning is a common pitfall that many home cooks—and even some professionals—fall into. Don’t just measure the ingredients and assume that the salt level is on point. He says you really need to continue tasting as you build the salsa and develop its flavor. “There are so many variables since we are working with fresh ingredients,” he acknowledges. “Even if you think the point of salt is right, add a little more. Temperature plays a big part in how we perceive salinity.”
Spice is nice… but it isn’t a necessity
As Chef Hill observes, salsa comes with a few pre-conceived notions—the most prevalent being that any good salsa is going to have a fair amount of heat and spice. She pushes back on that idea. “I love a good kick, but if you can prioritize freshness and acidity, it doesn’t have to be spicy,” she says.
In other words, don’t be afraid to tone down the spice; keeping things bright and acidic will better spotlight the main ingredients.
Char for the course
Creating a salsa with maximum flavor requires one key step early in the process. You’ll want to roast the vegetables in a hot oven — or, if you have a stovetop with gas-powered burners (or a barbecue grill), you can use those surfaces to effectively char them. Chef Hill always chars the onions, tomatoes, and peppers, since she finds that homemade salsas are best made this way. She also urges home cooks to char the vegetables whole — this promotes optimum flavor development while also preserving the ingredients’ natural juices.
Chef Davila concurs, adding that a bit of patience is necessary if you’re utilizing the oven. “If you are roasting your veggies,” he says, “give them enough time for those natural sugars to caramelize and enough heat to create some char.”
Texture is everything
A salsa’s texture is very much dictated by personal preference. Because she often makes roasted salsas, Chef Hill prefers to use the food processor (rather than chopping ingredients by hand), but she only utilizes the pulse feature, as she says it gives her more control and avoids over-blending, which can turn a fresh salsa to watery mush.
By contrast, Chef Davila always aims to chop his ingredients by hand. “If I have the time, I’d do it by hand ten times out of ten, as I can control how coarse or fine I want my salsa to be,” he explains. “If you have good knife skills, the result will be eye pleasing.”
Fruits of your labor
A customer favorite at Chef Davila’s Glenrosa restaurant at Grass Clippings is his Caribe Pineapple Salsa (recipe below). If you’re open to creating your own fruit-based salsas like this one, Davila says that the fruit’s freshness is the most important factor to consider. “When I think of the basic elements of a salsa, the holy trinity is tomatoes, onions and chiles,” he says. “So, in order to keep the basic flavors of a salsa, I’d only substitute the fruity component, which, in this case, is the tomatoes.”
Pineapple, he explains, provides a somewhat similar texture to tomatoes, and it introduces a good mix of sweetness and acidity. That said, the chef acknowledges that plums or even gooseberries can work well and are fun to experiment with. “Just make sure that they are ripe, juicy, and sweet enough,” he advises.
Caribe Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients:
1.5 kg clean pineapple chunks
1 kg yellow Caribe pepper
300g white onion, quartered
250g yellow bell peppers
150g fresh lime juice (5 to 6 limes)
150g soy sauce
100g carrots, cut into small chunks
40g scallions, chopped
25g Habanero pepper, finely chopped
15g Kosher salt
15g cilantro, chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated
Preparation:
Grill or broil the peppers, pineapple, onion, and carrots until charred and tender.
Remove the skin off the bell peppers and Caribe chiles.
Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, muddle and chop all the ingredients together.
Taste and check for seasoning. Adjust, if necessary.
