Salsa Recipes updated 9-25-2014  added Nachos and Spanish rice recipes

Here's my recipes for a great 
Mexican salsa, quickie salsa, mango salsa, enchiladas, burritos, Colorado burrito, supernachos, 
taco bean dip, spanish rice, and non fat refried beans.
 
We moved to Mexico, just outside Guadalajara,  in 2001 to leave the JOB (actually my 
heating business of 24 years that took all of my time) and the rat race and to learn to live 
on less. The weather here is 75 to 85F  365 days a year, no fooling. We are not fat or wealthy.  
We gave up our toys, live in a very modest home,  and moved to a place where expenses are 
lower and have some to share with others not so fortunate  where we now 
live. You can see some of what we do at www.detailshere.com/helpingothers.htm   We DID 
successfully escape. It is not for everyone as we've had some very lean years that accompanied 
internet program crashes, but we are at great peace today, do what we want to each day instead 
of playing beat the clock and fighting traffic, and are very content with what Yahweh  provides 
us, including an increasing workload in bringing others to Him and taking care of more 
of those without. See www.detailshere.com/parachute.htm  and www.iisusbog.com (click English) and 
watch Irina's video introducing her newest book "Children of the Fallen - How history became myth" at 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY0jnC15f10  It's an eye opener to explain what is happening to us today.

We share the Jesus Parachute with all we meet. If you would like to see more 
of what constitutes our paycheck I share those programs at www.detailshere.com/dog.htm  
and send out a newsletter once or twice a month to keep you abreast of updates of those and 
new things that come along that are worthy. My wife's site at www.iisusbog.com (click on English) contains 
a ten you tube video series taking you through Revelation - start to finish. Very graphic, well worth your time.

Watch Irina's newest video The Nephalim Agenda, introducing her newest book "Children of the Fallen - How history 
became myth" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY0jnC15f10  It's an eye opener to explain what is happening 
to us today regarding chemtrail fallout poisoning, GMO foods causing DNA alterations, Monsanto being forced on 
agriculture, deadly viruses being released upon the earth, vaccines designed to alter/harm people; all part of planned 
genocide by the Nephalim who walk among us today and are trying to destroy God's seed so they might inherit the 
earth and not have to go through judgment. Fascinating stuff that is not fiction. The book is posted at www.iisusbog.com 
in Russian. Irina and I are working on an English version now.
Ber 
berry@detailshere.com 

Ber's favorite food - a simple burrito; I have these several times a week. 

Chile Colorado Burrito - better but a little more work

How to make great  Enchiladas   

How to make your own Colorado sauce, the red gravy

Here is a link with many , many salsa recipes to choose from.
http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/salsa/

Ber's main best salsa recipe

Ber's quickie salsa recipe

Here's an even quicker recipe

Ber's excellent tasting refried beans recipe - with NO pigfat

Great burrito caserole recipe  http://secretrecipes.co/burrito-supreme-casserole/ 

Ber's tostado or corn chip bean dip recipe.

A chef's Avocado - Mango salsa recipe

How to make Spanish rice - http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/quickmexicanrecipes/r/SpanishRice.htm 

Ber's main Salsa recipe:
I am a salsa fanatic. Whenever I go into a Mexican restaurant, the salsa is the big factor in whether or not I return. I now live 
in Mexico, and in all the restaurants we have eaten at here, only a couple had decent salsa. And it did not touch the salsa I make. And I can't take credit for it because I received the recipe from a Mexican restaurant back home; at least the original. 
It has changed considerably since then. And the chicken man down the street (he roasts and sells chicken asada each day)  added the final secret; roasting the chili de arbols (dried chilis) and roasting half the tomatoes. Although I didn't like the consistency of his salsa, really runny and watered down, it had excellent flavor because of this roasting of the chilis and tomatoes. So I will share with you my salsa recipe which I make for church potlucks and other special occasions. If I ever 
go broke on internet investments I can make salsa and take it to the restaurants here and sell it and probably make a living.  Meanwhile there are other places my time has to go. AND, my recipe is continually changing. The experimentation process never ends. I do live in a world where choice of chillis to play with seems endless. Just stay away from chillis called habañeros - you have no comprehension how hot those are. Bite into one and your lips will still be numb an hour later. Worse yet though is how you will pay for it in the morning in the bathroom. But grind some up and mix it with chopped pineapple and it is hard to resist. If you ever want to get even with some guests, serve it.

      Dried Chili de arbols

Jalapeño mild flavorful chili     Serano chili, hotter than a jalapeño; different flavor too

  Habañero chili - chop up and mix with chopped pineapple for a great salsa - HOT!

Ingredients for 2 qts of salsa:
Chili de arbols (dried red chilis) - fill a blender 1/3 full & then grind into small bits, even a powder - don't breathe it though unless you want to sneeze a lot. You can also buy chili de arbol powder to start with.
You can find these in the dried pepper section , usually in the Mexican cuisine section, of your grocery.  
1 tsp or less black pepper
pinch of cumin powder
1 tbsp of Paprika
1/8 tsp or less oregano (don't use too much or it will make the salsa bitter)
3-4 tablespoons real sea salt from the Redmond, Utah, salt mine 
( www.realsalt.com )much better taste and better for you than regular salt.
1 small clove, or 3-4 sections off a fresh garlic clove , use a hand garlic press so it is the juice and mashed pulp you are using
2 tablespoons of lemon juice or juice from a fresh squeezed lemon
A dozen big dark red tomatoes 
Several green tomatoes (6) Called  jitomate verde
- yes they are green when they are ripe, have 
a different taste and can be found in any good sized supermarket. 
1 medium to large white onion
small bundle of cilantro, 1/2" to 1" bunch at the stem end even though I only use the leaves

This is a Two step process
a. a cooked portion
b. a cold fresh portion of fresh chopped onion, tomatoes, jalapeno and serano peppers & cilantro

A. Cooked portion
I use a Magic Bullet blender and a Cusinart Food Processor
I start with a chile called Chile De Arbol. It comes dried, is a dark red chile pepper about 3-6  inches long, and is a
bout 1/4" to 5/8" wide. Use the whole chile.  I normally don't remove the vein or the seeds. In either case break the 
stem off and discard it and just use the red part of the chile; whole or seed stripped.  How many you use is a function 
of how hot you like your salsa. I use 1/4 of a VitaMix blender full of them before grinding. Then I grind them up into a 
fine powder. 

The secret is in roasting these dried chilis before grinding them up. I put them  in a metal cake pan and stick them on 
the barbecue and wait until they just start to turn color, very dark red or brown. Pay attention, you can burn them  easily. 
You don't want black charcoal chilis but turn them a dark red in the barby. I can buy baked chilis here (some places call 
them horneado which means baked, and some places call them dorados but that term really means fried in oil, which 
they aren't)  , but I doubt you can buy them already barbequed outside of Mexico. Turning them almost black is key to 
getting the right flavor out of them.  I have also ground these up into a powder before baking them and then put the 
powder in a skillet and kept stirring them to bake them over an oven burner.  Make sure your skillet is outside though 
because the smoke that comes off it this way is very pungent and will run you out of the house. At any rate for 2-3 
quarts of salsa you want a good three heaping teaspoons or more of this baked chili powder. These chilis are what 
gives your salsa it's awesome flavor. Okay so now you have the baked powdered chili powder.

In the magic bullet blender (or regular blender) put in three heaping teaspoons of the chili de arbol powder,  add 
three  tablespoons of sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper, pinch of cumin powder, 1/8 teaspoon of 
ground oregano leaves and a heaping tablespoon of paprika.  Also cut some tomatoes into quarters and put those in 
and fill the magic bullet three quarters up with water. Blend this all up into a soup and pour it into a sauce pan.
Add more tomatoes and water and grind that up and pour it into the sauce pan also. We are going to steep this mixture 
as a tea for 15 minutes at low heat at a low rolling boil until it is a thin liquid.

B. The uncooked fresh portion

a.1 small  clove of garlic, peeled and pressed so only the garlic juice and pulp itself is used.  Mix this up good  and 
put this in the magic bullet also. Strip the veins and seeds out of two jalapeno and two serano peppers, slice them and 
put them into the magic bullet. Select about 6-8 green tomatoes - jitomate verde, slice them up and put into the magic 
bullet.  The green tomatoes are not unripe red tomatoes but a green variety that is green when ripe. Add a cup of water 
to it and grind them all up into a liquid. This way you don't have chunks of something giving an unpleasant taste but the 
flavor of these items is well dispersed throughout the salsa. After blended pout this into a large bowl.

b. Next wash about a dozen or more ripe tomatoes, really ripe if you can find them, and grind them up in a Cuisinart food processor. Grind them into small pieces, not mush. Put these into a large bowl.  I then take the onion, cut it into quarters and add it to the Cuisinart along with the washed bundle of cilantro, about 1/2" worth at the stem end but don't use the stems, only the leaves. I use only the upper half of the bundle, the leaves, I don't use the stems.  Don't grind these up into mush, you want small pieces, not mush. Add these to the bowl also with the red tomatoes.  Your bowl should now contain the red tomatoes, the green tomatoes, the jalapeno and serano peppers, and the chopped up onion and cilantro. Mix this mixture up well with a large spoon and add t1 ounce of lemon juice or the juice from one fresh lemon.

Sometimes, I actually roast half of my tomatoes, also again in a pan on the barbecue and in the cuisinart I grind this half up into mush.

Then pour the chilipowder tea mixture after it has cooled over the chopped up tomatoes, onion, and cilantro, and mix thoroughly. I even use an electric mixer to make sure everything is well mixed. 

If the mixture is too thick for your taste or you have a big crowd to feed you can make it runnier by adding either tomato 
juice or just plain water.

This makes a good sauce for serving with regular tacos and burritos also, not just for use with chips.

Adding Guacamole
Guacamole is just mashed up avocados.
Since avocados contain so many good health benefits for you I will take some of the above salsa and add it to several  ripe avocados all mashed up. This makes a really really good salsa. But the avocados oxidize quickly so this is not a mixture you can keep in the refrigerator all week like you can the salsa above. You really need to mash up just enough avocado and mix the salsa with it so it gets used up at the meal you are serving it at, and then make more for the next time. The salsa + guacamole mixture has become the favorite here. 

Email me at  berry@detailshere.com  if you have any questions.

Ber's quickie 10 minute recipe
If you are in a hurry and still want a great salsa, try this one.
you will need: 
20 ripe Roma tomatoes
1 (or more) Serano chilis plus one jalapeno chili
1 teaspoon sea salt  www.realsalt.com 
Shaker of chili de arbol powder (you make the powder by grinding up the 
dried chili de arbols). Add to taste - be careful, chili de arbols are hot!
Container of Tone's Crushed Red Pepper available in the 
spice section at Costco
Small 12 oz. can or bottle of tomato juice

Take a dozen to 20 ripe Roma tomatoes, cut them in half and run them through your pasta maker with the small 1/8" hole sized disc in it. This gives the best consistency of the end product. Add just one good sized Serano green chili at the beginning.  Add a small amount of ground up chili de arbol powder. I take a couple handfuls of dried chili de arbols and put them in a vitamix blender and grind them up into a fine powder and put it into a  SpiceTime Soul Seasoning container because it has goodsized holes at the top to sprinkle out the chili powder as needed and then you don't have to do the grinding everytime you make salsa. Add a short teaspoon of salt, add a few shakes of the Tone's Crushed Red Pepper from Costco, add 12 ounces of tomato juice; stir good and serve.  It will take a couple batches to get the feel for how much of the chili de arbol powder and Crushed Red Pepper to use. I like my salsa hot, some people don't. You can season to taste. The serano chili (found in the fresh produce section) and chili de arbols (available in the dried pepper section of your super market) give it a flavor unsurpassed by using any other kind of chili's but go easy, because they can be "muy picante" VERY HOT! I can make a batch of this in less than ten minutes.

The Quicker than Ber's salsa recipe
Fresh Tomato Salsa
Be sure to start with proper hand washing for 20 seconds. After that, wash your ingredients under running water, including avocados and any other peeled ingredients.

Ingredients:
1½ pounds medium tomatoes
½ medium red onion
1 jalapeño pepper (these are fat green ones)
1 Serrano pepper  (these are about the same length as jalapeños but much slimmer and hotter)
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
½ cup chopped cilantro leaves

Directions:

1. Remove stems from tomatoes and dice finely.

2. Dice red onion finely.

3. Remove stems, ribs, and seeds from the Jalapeño and Serrano peppers, and dice finely.
The heat is in the white veins and the seeds. 

4. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Taste. If the chilies make the salsa too hot, add some more 
chopped tomato. If it’s not hot enough, carefully add a few more seeds from the chilies, or add some ground cumin.
I use a magic bullet blender with a little water to pulverize the peppers into a slush.  Then someone doesn't get a 
chunk and scream heat. If it is not hot enough add a little bit of chili de arbol powder. Mix well.

5. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Store for a few hours in the refrigerator to let the flavors combine.

Be careful about set-out time. Keep your dip refrigerated until you need to put it out, and don’t leave it out for more than two hours. If it’s hotter than 90 degrees out, put it back in the fridge after an hour.

Ber's Refried Bean recipe

Use 1 package (1kg) of peruano beans.  Mayocoba beans work too. 
Soak in water overnight. Discard the water (along with the flatulence).
Add fresh water and cut up a large apple into pieces along with a half a garlic clove in pieces also. 
Add cloves, salt and some chicken bullion powder.  After they are boiled nice and soft (don't 
discard the water but put it in a separate bowl or pot) take an electric  beater and mush them up. 
Add some of the water back in as you beat them up.  I leave some small chunky pieces in there too, 
along with the apple.  Add some oil to a skillet and then fry them a little in the skillet along with some 
chili de arbol dried pepper pieces and I also use a little chili de arbol pepper powder. See pics further 
up for what these dried chilis look like. Also chop up some fresh onion real fine and add it. Add the 
bean water back in as necessary to maintain the mushy consistency; not too wet, not too dry. Stir and 
turn often so you DO NOT scorch the beans or they will taste bad.  We use these on tacos and burritos. 
You can put what you don't use in the refrig and warm them up later too.

How to make great enchiladas
You'll need lean hamburger ( or slice up chicken breast meat)
a can of enchilada sauce, a can of refried beans and some flour tortillas, cheddar cheese and sliced black olives.
Sautee the hamburger or chicken meat with diced onions and garlic and the below.
Use the whole jalapeno if you like some heat, remove the seeds for a less picante taste, dice it up as well. 
Add some oregano, smoked sweet paprika powder, cummin powder, and salt and pepper. Stir well and sautee 
well until meat is cooked. 

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with enchilada sauce. In the flour tortilla put a layer of enchilada sauce, 
a layer of refried beans, the hamburger meat or diced chicken breast, some sliced black olives, and sprinkle 
on some shredded cheddar cheese. Roll it up and put into the baking dish. When the baking dish contains all 
of the rolled tortillas you want to make add another generous layer of enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle more grated 
cheddar cheese on top. Put in the oven at 375 degrees and bake for a half hour to forty minutes. 
Remove, let cool a bit and serve. Simple - delicious.

Great burrito caserole recipe  http://secretrecipes.co/burrito-supreme-casserole/ 

Ber's taco chip bean dip or tostado dip recipe

For this buy a can of refried pinto beans and a can of refried black beans.
If you can't find refried, regular works good too but you have to mash them up after you've warmed them up. 
Chop up half a pound of bacon and an equal amount of chorizo (sausage) and cook it. 
Get rid of the grease and then add the two cans of beans and stir it up good. Add some cummin 
powder and some chili de arbol powder. Add some water to get a consistency that isn't too stiff 
so the mix will stick to a chip or tostado. Don't get it too runny.

In a separate bowl put in chopped onion, chopped cilantro, and chopped tomatoes. You can also 
grate a jalapeno pepper and add to it but be careful with the heat. A little bit of jalapeno goes a long way.

Dip your chip or tostado into the bean dip, then add the onion-cilantro-tomato mix on top of that and enjoy.

Super Nachos
First watch this short video at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1iqlS5E2qU  so you get the jist of the whole process.
Ingredients:
1 lb. GROUND BEEF
1 ONION chopped
15oz can KIDNEY BEANS
16oz can LOW FAT REFRIED BEANS
CORN TORTILLA CHIPS (thick)
2 ROMA TOMATOES diced
½ cup JALAPENOS sliced and pickled
¼ cup BLACK OLIVES sliced
8-10oz CHEESE (shredded)
2-3 GREEN ONIONS chopped
¼ cup CILANTRO chopped
1 Tbsp BROWN SUGAR
1-2 Tbsp CUMIN
2-3 Tbsp CHILI POWDER
SALT and PEPPER to taste
serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole

In a large skillet on medium heat, add ground beef and begin browning meat. Add chopped onion and continue browning.
Add some salt, cumin, chili powder, and black pepper to begin seasoning as the ground beef browns.
Once the meat is browned, drain the excess grease.
Add the kidney and refried beans and stir into the ground beef.
Add ¼ can water. Stir ingredients until wellmixed.
Add brown sugar and more cumin and chili powder. Stir and simmer 5 minutes.
On a large baking sheet (pizza pan works great!), spread out corn tortilla chips–thicker, sturdier chips work best.
Spoon and sprinkle the ground beef mixture over the chips.
Top nachos with diced tomato, sliced jalapenos, black olives, and the chopped bottoms of the green onions.
Sprinkle the top with cheese.
Slide the baking sheet into the oven (pre-heated at 400 degrees F) and let cook approx. 15 minutes
or until the cheese is melted and the nachos heated through.
Remove from the oven and top with chopped green onion tops and cilantro.
Serve with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole and eat ‘em while they’re hot.
Enjoy!

A Chef's Avocado and Mango salsa recipe

Recipe by Executive Chef Michael Gallagher of Restaurant Associates

Combine avocado, tomatoes, mangos, cilantro, onion, olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, jalapeno, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Ingredients:
4 small fully ripened Mexican Hass avocados, peeled, seeded, and diced, about 2 cups

2 tablespoons lime juice
4 plum tomatoes, diced, about 2 cups

2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 small mangos, peeled, seeded, and chopped, about 2 cups

1 jalapeno chili pepper, finely chopped, about 1 1/2 tablespoons
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 minced garlic cloves, about 1 tablespoon
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Yield: serves 4

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ber's simple burrito; quick, delicious 
This is my favorite meal. I get this several times a week because it is quick, 
easy, and the wife makes a double batch so I can just warm it up the following day and she can keep working on her project. 

Take a skinless chicken breast cut in strips or steak strips or even just hamburger. 
Cook it in a wok pan like a stir fry. I like to season it with Montreal steak seasoning you get at Costco but you could use 
taco seasoning also.  Drain any grease off.
When the chicken or steak strips are almost done add strips of an orange belled pepper (like a green belled pepper only 
get the orange ones) along with some onion slices.
When those are almost done add some El Paso (or other brand)  refried beans to the pan.
I also add a little chili de arbol powder and if you feel brave sprinkle on (VERY sparingly) a very small amount of ghost 
pepper powder. Ghost peppers are extremely flavorful but probably the hottest pepper in existence.

I also sometimes add a partial can of enchilada sauce.

Stir it all up and put it on a 10" flour tortilla and you've got a quick delicious meal.

I add a quick salsa to it by taking a couple vine ripe tomatoes and chopping them up into small pieces, in a cuisinart, 
along with  some cilantro leaves and a couple slices of onion.
I take a partial serano chili (see pics of a serano further up the page) cut it into small pieces, add a small amount 
of water and grind it up in a Magic Bullet blender. Add just a little bit of sea salt and a pinch of chili de arbol powder 
if you have any and a couple spearmint leaves.  A ripe avocado mashed in with the chopped tomato also enhances it . 
 
This makes a very quick, very easy and very delicious salsa to go on your burrito.  You can also add some sour cream 
inside the burrito. I eat this burrito several times a week as the wife knows I love them and it saves her time from cooking 
so she can work on her computer project.

Make your own Colorado sauce
There is nothing like having a overfilled Burrito except when it has a nice Red Chili Burrito Gravy smothered over the top to 
add that extra zip. This recipe will walk you through how to make a Red Chili Burrito Gravy that also tastes great on tacos.

Red Chili Burrito Gravy

Ingredients

1/4 tsp Paprika

2 tsp minced chili peppers (either Serrano or jalapeno)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbs dried oregano

2 Tbs fresh cilantro finely chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

2 cups water

1/2 cup tomato sauce

3 Tbs flour

3 Tbs olive oil

To prepare:

Combine the minced chili peppers, cilantro, spices, garlic, onion, water, and tomato sauce in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat simmering for approximately 5 minutes. In a small bowl combine the olive oil and flour, and mix until smooth. Slowly whisk in the flour and olive oil mixture to the saucepan and return mixture to a boil stirring frequently until the sauce starts to thicken. Add salt to taste.

Warm your tortillas up one at a time over a medium hot burner for only a few seconds. Place the desired amount of your bean mixture onto the warm tortilla and roll it up. Cover with the Red Chili gravy, and for garnish you can use some green onions. Serve immediately.

Note: Once the gravy sauce is nice and thick you can top it on burritos, tacos, and enchiladas. If you prefer to use a different type of pepper try the following for an added kick: California Green Chile; Cayenne Peppers; Cherry Pepper; Fresno Peppers; and the Habanero Pepper.

Added Note: This recipe makes enough Red Chili gravy for approximately 10 burritos, but it can be doubled for larger parties.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:  Servings:  6-8
1/4 cup margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, peeled & finely chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder, to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 dash crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1  Melt margarine in a medium saucepan. Add onions, bell pepper, carrots, celery, garlic and rice. Cook and stir over medium heat until rice is lightly brown and vegetables are tender.

2 Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and red pepper. Mix well.

3  Bring to a boil. Cover saucepan, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed; stirring occasionally.

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