Title: Salsa W/ Chile Cascabels
Categories: Salsa Tex
Yield: 1 Servings

2	lg	Tomatoes
5		Cascabel pods
1		Clove garlic
		Salt and pepper to taste
		And anything else you think
		Might (need) to go in

Broil the tomatoes, tuning often, for about 10-15 minutes. The skin will blister and turn a little black. In the meantime, toast the pods on a HOT griddle or non-stick frying pan. If the pods are too wrinkled, cut then in half, trying to save as many of the seeds (off to the side). Toast the pods for a minute or two, turning often so they don't burn (you can apply a little pressure with a spatula to coax them along). If you used whole pods, cut them open, remove the seeds (or used the reserved seeds), and throw them onto the griddle, toasting them for just a minute.

Throw the chiles and seeds into a food processor and chop them up a bit. Peel the broiled tomatoes, leaving as many blackened bits as you like, and throw them into the food processor along with the remaining ingredients. Chop just a little, since the salsa is supposed to be on the chunky side.

This turned out to be one of my favorite cooked salsas recipes. The flavors of the broiled tomato and toasted cascabels go great together, a "rustic" kind of flavor, as Diana Kennedy puts it.

Note: Here's a stab at a great cooked salsa recipe for chile cascabels. I can't remember all the ingredients off the top of my head (there weren't many), but if you have Diana Kennedy's "The Cuisines of Mexico", it's in there.

John Jaeger Jaeger@Msrc.Sunysb.Edu From the Chile-Heads Recipe Collection URL: http://chile.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu:8000/www/recipe.html

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