My Big Brother's Salsa

My big brother Brian is quite the cook. In addition to this salsa, he smokes a mean brisket and can probably cook just about anything my mom or I can. I would imagine his culinary abilities developed partly out of necessity. My mom was a single mom when we were growing up and if we wanted to eat dinner at a decent time any night of the week, my mom often counted on Brian to get supper started while she was on her way home. Plus, my brother really likes to eat. Really likes to eat. As a snack, he once ate 3/4 of a casserole my mom had prepared for at least 5 of us to eat for dinner. Yeah, I think those two things made him the cook he is today.

4 cans stewed tomatoes
4 medium sized jalapenos (you can use less if you like it mild)
1 small yellow or purple onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch fresh cilantro
Kosher salt (to taste)

Pull the stems off and heat the peppers in a skillet with just a touch of olive oil, rolling them around till they get just a little bubbly brown patch or two.



I put the peppers, garlic, onions, cilantro and one can of the tomatoes in a food processor or blender (mine isn't that big but if yours is, you can throw everything in there and blend away).











(This first batch looks a little orangey and not too appetizing but it's because it's only one can of tomatoes with all the other vegetables, so the color is off. It'll look better soon, I promise.)

Add the blended mix to a 2 quart saucepan. If your food processor is tiny like mine, continue to blend the tomatoes and add them to the sauce pan until you've done them all.



(See? Doesn't it look better?)

Heat over medium low. Be careful not to scorch it, it won't boil like spaghetti sauce, but you'll just see a few places where bubbles are coming up, that's when you know it's hot. We're not looking for it to cook here, just to be heated through.

Add kosher salt to taste (with kosher salt it's harder to over salt it).

Once it tastes right, take it off the heat and enjoy.

For the best snacking experience, heat it up in the microwave before you eat.