Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa

My friend originally told me about this recipe. She said that her husband took it to work for a salsa competition and he won for best salsa. I made this and it was pretty good. I'm still searching for a better salsa, but this will do for now. I'm pretty picky about my salsas.

Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 to 2 fresh jalapeño chiles
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, preferably fire roasted
1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt

My addition:
Onion, chopped finely, to taste
Ground pepper, to taste
Extra cilantro

1.    Roast the chiles and garlic.   In a small ungreased skillet over medium heat, roast the chiles and garlic, turning regularly, until they are soft and blotchy brown, about 10 minutes for the chiles, 15 minutes for the garlic.  Cool until handleable, then pull the stem(s) off the chile(s) and roughly chop.  Peel the skin off the garlic.  Scoop into a food processor and pulse until quite finely chopped.
2.    Finish the salsa.   Add the tomatoes with their juice.  Re-cover and pulse until you have a coarse puree.  Scrape into a serving dish.  Stir in the cilantro and lime juice.  Taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2  teaspoon.  You’re ready to serve.

I got this recipe from rickbayless.com

Award Winning White Chicken Chili

The 24 other chilis that we were up against. Ours is in the red crock pot.

 Adam holding our prize!
The Most Original Chili

Adam and I got this recipe originally from my sister Amber. (Thanks Amber for sharing!!) It's been one of our favorites and Adam expands on it each time we make it. Our ward was having a talent show/chili cook off last night and there were 24 people who brought their chili. Adam and I brought this White Chicken Chili and there were about 3 other people who brought white chili as well. There were five awards that they were giving out: the spiciest, the most appealing looking, the chunkiest, the most original, and the best overall. We were awarded the most original, and all the five that they picked had to taste really good too for them to be awarded the prizes. Each chili was given a number so that it could be anonymous and we heard several people comment on how good our white chili was. We even heard the judges talk about it, so this is seriously a keeper recipe!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used one chicken breast and it was plenty)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small white onion, diced
6 to 8 small garlic cloves, minced
1 (7-ounce) can diced green chiles, drained
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans,undrained
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup sour cream, plus additional for topping
2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped tomatoes


Our additions:
1-2 Potatoes cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2-3 big carrots chopped
Extra cayenne pepper
Corn
1/2 package of Bacon
We used Rotisserie Chicken rather than Chicken breasts... yum!
Just make sure these are all cooked and added to the pot!

1. Cook the chicken by the desired method. Cool and tear into pieces.
Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic,
and cook and stir until the onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add
the chicken, chiles, beans, broth, chicken bouillon, cumin, oregano, and
cayenne. Simmer 30 to 45 minutes. Chili can be made ahead to this point
and refrigerated or frozen for serving later.

3. Add the 1 cup sour cream and cheese, and continue cooking until the
cheese is melted. Keep warm until serving.

4. Serve in bowls and pass cilantro, tomatoes, and additional sour cream.
-thefoodnanny.com

THANKS AMBER FOR SHARING YOUR RECIPE!!