How to make authentic Salsa Mexicana “Pico de Gallo” /Como hacer salsa “Pico de Gallo”

Perhaps most of you already know this delicious salsa, but hey! It is spring and grilling season is about to start, at least here in my area; and I find this a good reason to post it. “ Pico de Gallo Salsa” as it is known in all areas of México, is one of the simplest of Mexican Salsas and it can be ready in a matter of minutes to top your grilled chicken, steaks or fish. You know that most of the ingredients in a Mexican salsa are a combination of tomatoes and chopped peppers, fresh or cooked, and seasoned in many different ways. Some have lime juice, cilantro, avocado, red onion, scallions and even fruit. Your imagination is the limit and each region of the country has its special variations.

For us at home it gets a little twist when we eat baked chicken rotisserie style. I add finely chopped cabbage and radishes. We use it as a salad or to top our tacos.

If you have a special variation of this salsa please let me know, I would love to try it.

Ingredients for about 2 cups of salsa

1 Large ripe Tomato finely chopped

1/3 of a large onion finely chopped

2 serrano peppers or 1 jalapeño pepper

Juice of 1 lime

1/3 cup of cilantro finely chopper

salt to taste

You can prepare the ingredients ahead of time, making sure they are stored in the refrigerator in separated containers as shown in the picture.

Put the chopped tomato, onion, serrano pepper in a bowl. Add the cilantro , the lime juice and salt, mix gently until all the ingredients are coated with the lime juice. Cover and refrigerated for 30 minutes before serving.

This salsa will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, the consistency won’t be the same but you can still use it.

Enjoy!

How to make “Pork Pibil Style”/Cómo hacer Cochinita Pibil

Out of all the dishes in the Yucatan Peninsula, I think this is the dish that is best known throughout the whole country. Cooked with Achiote (Annato paste) and sour orange juice, the slow roasted pork meat was traditionally buried in a pit, hence the word “Pibil”, meaning “buried” in Mayan. It is really easy to make at home, you can do it in an oven bag, slow cooker, or even in your pressure cooker. I tried those 3 ways of cooking and had great results with all of them. It is ideal to serve with hand-made tortillas and habanero pepper sauce. You can also cook it ahead of time and just reheat it before serving. Leftovers freeze very well, too.

I still remember in my years living in Southern Mexico, going on Sunday morning to the local market where the Chochinita Pibil Taco Stand was surrounded by people waiting for their order. As soon as the cook saw a new customer joining the crowd, he will give them a taco to make their waiting time less painful. ;)

Ingredients for about 26 tacos

3 pounds of boneless pork loin or pork shoulder cut in pieces.

1 cup of Achiote Paste about 2 sticks as sold in Latin stores

1 large red onion, sliced.

3-4 bay leaves

1/2 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon marjoram

1 Tablespoon dried Mexican oregano

1 Tablespoon or ground pepper

1/2 cup oil or lard

2 cups of bitter orange juice (Goya bitter orange juice), or 1 cup orange juice mixed with 1 cup grapefruit juice.

2 large banana leaves.

1 turkey size oven bag

Salt to taste

Instructions:

Roast the banana leaf, if you bought it from the frozen section of the supermarket, wait until it is completely defrosted.

To roast the banana leaf, place it directly over a medium hot fire of you gas stove, it will start changing color and getting some shiny while in contact with the fire. Make sure not to burn the leaves, we just want them to be pliable.

Line your roasting pan with the oven bag and arrange the banana leaves overlapping as in the above picture. You can also use aluminum foil instead of the oven bag.

In your blender, mix the Achiote (annatto) seasoning with the pepper and bitter orange juice. Add salt.

Place the pork meat on the leaves. Pour the Achiote mixture over. And add the oil/lard to give it more flavor.

Cover with the sliced onion and herbs. Fold the ends of the banana leaves over the pork.

Close the oven bag and cut 3 or 4 slits according to packages instructions. If using aluminum foil wrap tightly . Add about 1 1/2 quarter of water to the roasting pan to create a steaming effect. One time, I forgot to add the water and it still came out great.

Bake 2 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Add more water to the pan if needed.

Remove roasting pan from oven and uncover the meat. The meat should be tender. If it isn’t, cover and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.

To serve shred the meat and cover with the juice with warm tortillas and habanero sauce.

Buen provecho!