saturday, wes and i catered our biggest event to date. and let me tell you, prepping and cooking for fifty people is no joke. i'm not sure my kitchen stove will ever be the same. 

we celebrated my uncle's seventieth birthday in fiesta style. complete with salsa bar, homemade mole sauce and of course a piñata. 

every party has been a wonderful learning experience. wes and i get more comfortable and confident as every custom menu is completed. and our self trained asses are learning a ton of tricks with every party in the books. 

one of the things that i learned over the weekend is that this salsa is a wonderful and versatile dish that is PERFECT for a party. because the only real instructions are chop, smash or grill, it is not super time consuming, but you can make a ton at one time. ideal for your next fiesta, or your upcoming labor day/end of summer parties. 

i also learned that wes and i are pretty darn good at this food thing and you should probably hire us for your next party. then i can just make this salsa for you. wink. wink. 

fire roasted tomato salsa
serves: 8 cups (this recipe yields a lot of salsa as it is meant for big parties. if you are making it at home, you could easily half or quarter the recipe with out issue)
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
total cook time: 40 minutes
ingredients: 2 lbs roma tomatoes, sliced thick. 2 yellow onions, sliced thick. 1 red onion, sliced thick. 5 garlic cloves, smashed. 1 large jalapeño. 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped. 1 tsp fresh oregano, roughly chopped. 1 tbs brown sugar. 1 tsp cumin. .25 c olive oil. 2 cups chicken stock. 1 tbs salt. .5 tsp pepper. your favorite chips for dipping.

start by heating your grill to a medium high heat. 

in a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, both types of onions and the jalapeño. drizzle everything with the olive oil and season with almost all the salt and pepper, the cumin and the brown sugar. toss everything well to coat. 

head out to your grill. working in batches so that you do not over crowd your grill, place the contents of your bowl onto the grill. place the onions and jalapeño on the hottest part of the grill with your tomatoes on the cooler areas. grill until everything has good grill marks and the onions are cooked. about 4 minutes a side for the tomatoes and about 8 minutes a side for onions and pepper.

when your fruits and veggies (tomatoes are fruits not vegetables) have been grilled, return them to the bowl and take them back to the kitchen. remove the stem and chop up your jalapeño and return it to the bowl. toss your grilled produce with the garlic, oregano and cilantro and add them to a large, heavy pot. 

place the pot on the stove and bring the burner to a medium high heat. start to sauté your ingredients until the contents of the pot begins to sizzle. stir in the remaining salt and pepper and chicken stock. 

bring the liquid to a boil, allow to simmer 5 minutes and remove the pot from the heat. allow the salsa to cool slightly.

when the salsa has cooled a bit, blend everything together with a hand emersion blender or in your blender.

serve at room temperature with your favorite chips or over a delicious enchilada or taco.

xo
a

fire roasted tomato salsa
serves: 8 cups (this recipe yields a lot of salsa as it is meant for big parties. if you are making it at home, you could easily half or quarter the recipe with out issue)
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
total cook time: 40 minutes
ingredients: 2 lbs roma tomatoes, sliced thick. 2 yellow onions, sliced thick. 1 red onion, sliced thick. 5 garlic cloves, smashed. 1 large jalapeño. 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped. 1 tsp fresh oregano, roughly chopped. 1 tbs brown sugar. 1 tsp cumin. .25 c olive oil. 2 cups chicken stock. 1 tbs salt. .5 tsp pepper. your favorite chips for dipping.
start by heating your grill to a medium high heat.
in a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, both types of onions and the jalapeño. drizzle everything with the olive oil and season with almost all the salt and pepper, the cumin and the brown sugar. toss everything well to coat.
head out to your grill. working in batches so that you do not over crowd your grill, place the contents of your bowl onto the grill. place the onions and jalapeño on the hottest part of the grill with your tomatoes on the cooler areas. grill until everything has good grill marks and the onions are cooked. about 4 minutes a side for the tomatoes and about 8 minutes a side for onions and pepper.
when your fruits and veggies (tomatoes are fruits not vegetables) have been grilled, return them to the bowl and take them back to the kitchen. remove the stem and chop up your jalapeño and return it to the bowl. toss your grilled produce with the garlic, oregano and cilantro and add them to a large, heavy pot.
place the pot on the stove and bring the burner to a medium high heat. start to sauté your ingredients until the contents of the pot begins to sizzle. stir in the remaining salt and pepper and chicken stock.
bring the liquid to a boil, allow to simmer 5 minutes and remove the pot from the heat. allow the salsa to cool slightly.
when the salsa has cooled a bit, blend everything together with a hand emersion blender or in your blender.
serve at room temperature with your favorite chips or over a delicious enchilada or taco. 

i was rereading some old blogposts last night before i drifted off to sleep and i happened upon a post from may of twenty-thirteen. and wow was i emo. 

the entire post was literally about me crying. 

it made me sad for the younger me. so uncertain of what the future would hold. so desperate to mold my life into the dream that was in my mind. 

three years later, many of my dreams are materializing. my day to day involves food, i married the love of my life, we have an adorable place to live, where we grow our own food and our close friends and family are scattered across the globe enabling us to see the world. life is pretty sweet right now. 

but even with all of that wonderfulness, the truth is everything is still uncertain. even the most steadfast things and people come and go. but instead of looking at the uncertainty with fear, i'm looking at uncertainty as an opportunity for adventure. 

on saturday wes and i catered our fifth party. and it was quite the adventure. we served dinner for twenty five in a barn ten miles from the mexican boarder and smack dab in the middle of nowhere.of course i have not a photo to show for it. 

but this tasty tomato salsa alternative was a hit at the salsa bar we served. it's great to eat with chips, served over tacos or as an enchilada sauce. 

salsa verde
serves: 6 cups
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
total time: 40 minutes 

1.5 lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed and chopped. 1 small yellow onion, diced. 1 tbs olive oil. 5 garlic cloves, smashed. 2 green onions, chopped. .5 c cilantro. .25 c fresh oregano, chopped. 1 tsp cumin. 2 cups water. 1 tsp salt. .5 tsp fresh ground pepper. 

in a large pot, combine the tomatillos, onion and olive oil. season well with salt and pepper and cook the tomatillos and onions over medium high heat until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally. 

add in the garlic and cook until it is fragrant. about 1 minute. 

stir in the green onions, oregano and cilantro, the rest of the salt and pepper and the cumin. when everything is well combined and the cumin is fragrant, pour in the water. about 1 minute.

bring the liquid to a boil. reduce it to a slow simmer and cover. simmer the salsa till the tomatillos are breaking down. about 20 minutes. 

remove from heat. allow to cool slightly and blend with a hand emersion blender or in your blender/food processor. serve cold or at room temp.

xoxo
a

salsa verde
serves: 6 cups
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
total time: 40 minutes 

1.5 lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed and chopped. 1 small yellow onion, diced. 1 tbs olive oil. 5 garlic cloves, smashed. 2 green onions, chopped. .5 c cilantro. .25 c fresh oregano, chopped. 1 tsp cumin. 2 cups water. 1 tsp salt. .5 tsp fresh ground pepper.
in a large pot, combine the tomatillos, onion and olive oil. season well with salt and pepper and cook the tomatillos and onions over medium high heat until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.
add in the garlic and cook until it is fragrant. about 1 minute.
stir in the green onions, oregano and cilantro, the rest of the salt and pepper and the cumin. when everything is well combined and the cumin is fragrant, pour in the water. about 1 minute.
bring the liquid to a boil. reduce it to a slow simmer and cover. simmer the salsa till the tomatillos are breaking down. about 20 minutes.
remove from heat. allow to cool slightly and blend with a hand emersion blender or in your blender/food processor. serve cold or at room temp.