So we tried a thing...
Amidst all the chaos of the past weekend, we found a little bit of time to try something out that we have been talking about for a while. I can still remember sitting at The Blue Tractor (now closed) in Traverse City, MI with @mrsbozz when we tried their smoked salsa. It was pretty amazing I will admit, but my wife went absolutely crazy for it. Unfortunately, we never made it back to the brewery and smokehouse before they shut down, and we kind of forgot about it.
Then, a year or two later, we were hanging out somewhere else and they happened to have a three salsa flight. We ordered our three salsa's with one of them being a smoked salsa, and we were once again reminded of just how amazing it was.
Of course, we soon forgot about it again, and moved on with our lives.
Finally, just a couple weeks ago, I saw a post on one of the Facebook grilling and smoking communities that I am part of. It was a guy who basically laid out his recipe for smoking vegetables to turn into salsa. So I took a screenshot of it and I proceeded to share it with my wife. She bought the stuff we needed when she was placing our weekly grocery order, and this past weekend, I gave it a go.
As you can see, she sliced up the roma tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, and jalapenos before placing them in smaller aluminum trays and drizzling some olive oil and seasoning on them. She also cut some holes in the bottom of the trays to help the air flow better around them. Meanwhile, I was in the backyard getting the Weber Kettle set up for the smoking process.
I didn't use a ton of charcoal because the veggies only needed to smoke for about an hour. I used some apple wood because it is relatively mild and I felt like it would compliment the vegetables better.
Just about an hour later, I pulled everything from the grill and we had our end product. As you can see, there is a nice light char on the onions and tomatoes.
We threw everything into the blender and also put in some fresh cilantro and some lime juice to brighten things up a bit. After a good thorough blending, we finally had the finished product. We eagerly pulled some tortilla chips out of the bag to give it a try.
Only to be completely disappointed. The smoke flavor was just too overpowering. That's the only flavor you really got out of it. I'm sure it was something I did wrong, but I am not quite sure what yet. I have been thinking about it and I don't honestly know where I might have went wrong.
It's possible I let it go too long, or maybe I let it get too hot. There is also the possibility I didn't let the coals get charred enough before I closed the lid. In the future I will likely wait a little longer before I put the vegetables on the grate.
It's too bad, because we were really looking forward to it, and before we blended it all up it was looking really good.
We ended up pouring most of it down the drain. The good news is the stuff to make it didn't cost that much, and pretty soon the farmers markets will be in full swing, so we will likely be able to get the veggies even cheaper to give it another go.
I really wish it had turned out differently, but it was a learning experience for me, and really just par for the course after how the rest of the weekend went!
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If you don't try, you never will fail.
Tried last weekend for the first time spare ribs on the BBQ. turned out to be okay.
I usually do baby backs. I have never tried spare ribs. I do love eating them though.
What a shame. So disappointing as well 🙂
I don't know, maybe try them for a shorter time and taste test them?
I read somewhere that you can smoke the tomatoes and one jalapeño and roast the rest?
I want to try it now ... I'll go with roasted/charred vegetables, though.
Yeah, this is how we learn, so I am not too worried about it. Thanks though. I have a few ideas I think I am going to try for next time.
Sometimes it is good to experiment 😀
Sometimes new recipes just need to be done a few times to make tweaks and adjustments to make them good. I feel like too much smoke could be an easy fix, maybe just less time on the BBQ? The veg could be roasted in the oven and then finished on the BBQ for a light smokiness?
I also wonder if it would be good to leave the tomatos raw, uncooked?
I saw someone say they smoke everything but the tomatoes and those they just roast, so who knows. All good ideas though.
Yeah. Might have to experiment with it to see what works best
Red bell peppers roast up beautifully, too, so give that a go. I've roasted peppers and then pureed them for a superb pasta sauce base.
Yes, that is a good idea. The charred route might be better than the smoked route for some of the veggies.
This is what I think. 1h is a lot of time, maybe next time you try smoke them for 20 minutes.
Good idea. I'll be doing a few things differently next time I think.
Nice idea just too bad there was too much smoke flavor to make it any good. You hate to waste a whole days effort cooking like that! Nice try though, you never know until you try!
For sure! I don't think this will be the last time we try!
Vegetables are not like meat, they can’t handle it. Too delicate. You need to cook them like roasting, then only smoke them for about ten to fifteen minutes. That should be the right outcome.
!pimp
I'll try that next time! Thanks!
Smoked salsa...? Never heard of such, but sounds good! 😋 When you & Mrs. Bozz perfect the recipe, I suggest making a big batch of it and seal it into decorative mason jars (pints & quarts) as Christmas gifts for family & friends. Or turn it into a side hustle $$$ for fun & profit!
That does sound like it would be a great gift! :)
Learning something new by trial and error means living with the occasional error. I tried DIY baked beans from scratch with dry beans as the starting point and royally screwed that up a while ago.
I've always wanted to try and make my own baked beans. We do refried beans from dry in the pressure cooker and they turn out so good!
You can reduce the smokiness by blending the same amount of fresh vegetables and mix it. Maybe could work. I should try this first.
Ah, that is a good point. Thanks for that!
Hi Bozz... my guess you should try to cover/close the recipient rather put some wholes in it. It will then 'cook' more in it's own juice. And i'm kinda shure you'll still get some smoked taste out of it, even like that. 🤷♀ 😏
Thanks for the tip!