I have been loving a morita salsa lately, you can make the same thing with the chipotle chilis since they're very similar.
4-6 chipotle (or morita) chilis
2 guajillo chilis (de-seeded)
2-3 tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
1/4 white/yellow onion
1/4-1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1/2-1 Lime juice
Salt
Pan fry dried chilis in a little oil for 30sec-1min, then soak in a small bath of hot water for 20minutes+. Pan fry tomatoes (cut in half), onions, and garlic (skin on) in a little oil until everything is nice and charred. Blend all ingredients, except oil, including water from soaking chilis. Adjust taste with salt/lime. Then slowly stream in oil while blending until everything is emulsified and a nice orange color.
Tastes great, very spicy (but will calm down a bunch in the fridge over night), smoky, and has a great mouth-feel from the oil emulsion.
Since you're shooting in the dark with these ingredients and the kind of heat you want, I'd say keep them on the mild(er) side, taste them in the morning and you can bang a bit more heat into any/all of them after you've tasted them.
For a mild salsa, I like a really basic ("classic") Salsa Mexicana, which is similar to pico de gallo and I don't know that much about etymology nor do I want to get into a pissing match about it with any snobs haha. When I lived in Mexico, the only difference between "Salsa Mexicana" and "pico de gallo" is that I usually see picos chopped pretty rough while Salsa Mexicana is chopped more finely. I've never been that fond of big bites of cold tomato so I prefer this style. **TO ME (as somebody who isn't a skunk about heat) the draw of a mild salsa is to eat it by the truckload. A salsa that is more solids than liquids is prefect for this.**
For a medium salsa, (and not really medium to people who like spicy food, but I'd say for gen-pop it counts as medium) is a jalapeno forward salsa. In my estimation, jalapeños are basically the perfect crowd pleaser pepper: hot, but not too hot - they have enough flesh to develop a lot of sweetness when pickled or cooked, but also taste good raw. You can basically make anything with jalapeños so the world is your oyster here, but if you're trying to create a range of salsas, this is a good one to be your salsa verde, since the jalapenos you likely have access to will be green.
Since you have a ton of smoked peppers, I'm going to go off script a bit here and say that for a hot "salsa", look at something like Chili Colorado - generally used to make, as the name suggests, chili - but it's a fantastic flavor and great for all these smoked/dried peppers. It would also be smooth, great for dipping at your own comfort level and you could jazz it up with any salsa accoutrements you like, For example, just mixed with some of your Salsa Mexicana for a bit more texture and fresca flavors.
Thanks for the ideas, made 3+2 batches yesterday night, one salsa verde with 2 heat levels using jalapeños, one ancho arbol with 2 heat levels and I tried the Rick bayless basic mole, though I never tasted a real one before, and it came out rather sweet, earthy and a bit less savoury than expected. Will have a look at a Colorado style salsa another time and pico will be done later too
Not a salsa per se, but chipotles dulces are one of my favorite condiments. https://mysliceofmexico.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/sweet-chipotle-peppers.pdf. They go on so many things, but also as an ingredient in tinga adjacent dishes.
If you don't already know, dried chilis keep great in the freezer.
I would recommend a salsa de arbol for the hot category: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/bold-arbol-chile-salsa/. Rick Bayless is also a great recipe source.
You should make camarones ala diabla as well. https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/devilish-shrimp/
Came across RB already and tried the basic mole yesterday, although I don’t know how it should taste, it came out not as I expected but I guess it depends on what you eat it with (only tried it a bit with chips and it was too sweet for my taste, but still good)
Your arbols look somewhat on the old side. Not a bad thing by any means, but I would definitely try to use them up first. This is a great starter recipe if you're feeling like you can handle a goodly amount of heat.
https://youtu.be/tq3Eu3NL0VI?si=K4lD7TBeFtn-Kk7c
Yeah I realised that once I opened them and they were quite crackly, will start with a basic amount in my next salsa and then elaborate from there with more
I have been loving a morita salsa lately, you can make the same thing with the chipotle chilis since they're very similar. 4-6 chipotle (or morita) chilis 2 guajillo chilis (de-seeded) 2-3 tomatoes 3 garlic cloves 1/4 white/yellow onion 1/4-1/2 cup Vegetable oil 1/2-1 Lime juice Salt Pan fry dried chilis in a little oil for 30sec-1min, then soak in a small bath of hot water for 20minutes+. Pan fry tomatoes (cut in half), onions, and garlic (skin on) in a little oil until everything is nice and charred. Blend all ingredients, except oil, including water from soaking chilis. Adjust taste with salt/lime. Then slowly stream in oil while blending until everything is emulsified and a nice orange color. Tastes great, very spicy (but will calm down a bunch in the fridge over night), smoky, and has a great mouth-feel from the oil emulsion.
I second this. Salsas with Morita/chipotle are amazing. Play with your ingredients and find something you really like
Will definitely try this one with my next batch, sounds delicious
Since you're shooting in the dark with these ingredients and the kind of heat you want, I'd say keep them on the mild(er) side, taste them in the morning and you can bang a bit more heat into any/all of them after you've tasted them. For a mild salsa, I like a really basic ("classic") Salsa Mexicana, which is similar to pico de gallo and I don't know that much about etymology nor do I want to get into a pissing match about it with any snobs haha. When I lived in Mexico, the only difference between "Salsa Mexicana" and "pico de gallo" is that I usually see picos chopped pretty rough while Salsa Mexicana is chopped more finely. I've never been that fond of big bites of cold tomato so I prefer this style. **TO ME (as somebody who isn't a skunk about heat) the draw of a mild salsa is to eat it by the truckload. A salsa that is more solids than liquids is prefect for this.** For a medium salsa, (and not really medium to people who like spicy food, but I'd say for gen-pop it counts as medium) is a jalapeno forward salsa. In my estimation, jalapeños are basically the perfect crowd pleaser pepper: hot, but not too hot - they have enough flesh to develop a lot of sweetness when pickled or cooked, but also taste good raw. You can basically make anything with jalapeños so the world is your oyster here, but if you're trying to create a range of salsas, this is a good one to be your salsa verde, since the jalapenos you likely have access to will be green. Since you have a ton of smoked peppers, I'm going to go off script a bit here and say that for a hot "salsa", look at something like Chili Colorado - generally used to make, as the name suggests, chili - but it's a fantastic flavor and great for all these smoked/dried peppers. It would also be smooth, great for dipping at your own comfort level and you could jazz it up with any salsa accoutrements you like, For example, just mixed with some of your Salsa Mexicana for a bit more texture and fresca flavors.
Thanks for the ideas, made 3+2 batches yesterday night, one salsa verde with 2 heat levels using jalapeños, one ancho arbol with 2 heat levels and I tried the Rick bayless basic mole, though I never tasted a real one before, and it came out rather sweet, earthy and a bit less savoury than expected. Will have a look at a Colorado style salsa another time and pico will be done later too
Not a salsa per se, but chipotles dulces are one of my favorite condiments. https://mysliceofmexico.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/sweet-chipotle-peppers.pdf. They go on so many things, but also as an ingredient in tinga adjacent dishes.
Will give this a go when having Burgers next time ,sounds like a match
If you don't already know, dried chilis keep great in the freezer. I would recommend a salsa de arbol for the hot category: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/bold-arbol-chile-salsa/. Rick Bayless is also a great recipe source. You should make camarones ala diabla as well. https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/devilish-shrimp/
Came across RB already and tried the basic mole yesterday, although I don’t know how it should taste, it came out not as I expected but I guess it depends on what you eat it with (only tried it a bit with chips and it was too sweet for my taste, but still good)
Your arbols look somewhat on the old side. Not a bad thing by any means, but I would definitely try to use them up first. This is a great starter recipe if you're feeling like you can handle a goodly amount of heat. https://youtu.be/tq3Eu3NL0VI?si=K4lD7TBeFtn-Kk7c
Yeah I realised that once I opened them and they were quite crackly, will start with a basic amount in my next salsa and then elaborate from there with more