Thermomix Mexican Salsa

My apologies for the lack of posts recently I have been enjoying cooking other people's food especially ideas from the 4Blades podcast and when tired and hungry we always cook this Chicken and Brown Rice soup from Quirky Cooking, which is simply not possible to improve upon.

We have had a really busy couple of months between various theatrical events (participating and viewing) and a wonderful family holiday in Hervey Bay where we went whale watching.

So this week when faced with a glut of tomatoes (here is the gardener's photo from Instagram)

I wondered what I could make with them (I already have a couple of huge jars of passata in the fridge) - I asked on Facebook and people suggested butter chicken, relish, tomato paste, and (oh brilliant idea) salsa!

Of course I thought - off to the 4 Blades they did a Mexican themed podcast a few months ago here

I failed. Botheration - how can it be Mexican with no salsa?

I found some other recipes on the internet, read them, and decided to make my own so here it is:

Place in TM31:

4 cloves garlic

500g brown onions 

300g red onions 

Chop 4 seconds speed 5

Add:

700g quartered tomatoes

1 large red capsicum cut up

1 tablespoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon raw sugar

2 teaspoons seasalt

80 ml apple cider vinegar

Turbo 3 - 4 times 

Cook 30 minutes Veroma reverse speed 1

Do what you have to do to manage splattering - I used a splatter guard but 15 minutes in things looked like this:

So I added a towel over the counter at the back and the basket upside down on the TM31 lid

While it is cooking cut up another:

 700g tomatoes 

I don't think there is an easy way to do this. Make sure your knife is good and sharp and note this recipe does not include human fingers.

After 30 minutes add the chopped tomatoes and cook another 20 minutes Veroma reverse speed 1

Add:

the juice of a lime

Stir through with your spatula. Did you know that if you wipe the inside of a lemon or lime on your fingers it will remove the garlic or onion smell?

Pour into sterilised jars and store (I am keeping this in the fridge but I think that will depend on your climate)

I will probably add some fresh chopped sawtooth coriander when using as a dip 

Delicious Chilli Lime Hummus

Supposed to be going out now... this is what I made today - I didn't get progress pics but the multitudes are loving the result

Place in bowl
1 chilli deseeded and halved
1 large clove garlic
2 strips lime rind
Process at speed 8 for 5 seconds three times, scraping down sides in between

Add to bowl
can of chick peas (drained)
Juice of two limes
2 tblsp tahini
2 tblsp olive oil
large pinch of sea salt

Process at speed 4 for 2 minutes, scrape down sides and repeat until the desired texture is achieved
Taste and adjust seasoning if required

Great for parties and get togethers - serve with carrots, celery and rice crackers to keep your ProPoints low

Capsicum relish dip

This dip is so delicious and so easy

Back in 2002 I won reader recipe of the month for this in Super Food Ideas magazine but I don't think this recipe is on the archive at taste.com.au so its time to get it out there again.

If you find it send me a link!

Ingredients:

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup malt vinegar

2 tins capsicum (or two fresh)

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

I can't even be fagged chopping the ginger and garlic in the thermie for this one. I just stick a spoon in the jar.

Put it all in a saucepan and bring to the boil

Simmer for 45 minutes

It will look like this while it is cooking

When it is done the capsicum is all brown and unrecognisable. Take it off and allow to cool for about ten minutes then pour into a jar.

 It should have reduced to this much.

It will thicken as it cools.

Serve over Philly cheese. Low fat, full fat, whatever you like. Its like those expensive sweet chilli dips you buy and turn upside down, but much nicer and I think it has better flavour. It looks fantastic served in a rustic fashion in a bowl with the Philly all broken up but can also be an immaculate jewel in the centre of a plain white plate. Put it in the fridge - it keeps for weeks.

This is enough for four dipping adventures. 

No points calculation because only insane people try to track dip at the prep stage.