Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa

"Dia de Independencia" is this week's theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) , where we are cooking up a feast to celebrate Mexican Independence Day! 

I've made some salsa! Simply because, when I think of Mexico, one of the things that comes to mind is Salsa! And I have never tried making my own before, I bought a bottle of salsa a couple of months ago for my Mexican cooking, and I wonder why did I not make it earlier, when it is so simple, easy and taste absolutely delish when homemade! And definitely much cheaper to make your own! 

When I read the instructions for making Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa, it seems easy enough! The garlic cloves and jalapenos are being roasted till brownish all over and garlic are tender and soft. Love the smell of the roasting jalapenos and garlic!

The garlic and jalapenos are then thrown into the food processor, whiz to chop and added in the rest of the ingredients, processed to a coarse slightly chunky puree, simple, quick and very easy! Season to taste with some salt and lime juice. The result is a wonderful, tasty and delicious salsa with the spiciness of the jalapenos and also I have used a can of diced tomatoes with mild peppers, a superb choice! This is a little too spicy for my kids, so I get to enjoy it all to myself! This salsa is great eaten with anything. I ate this yummy salsa with another of Rick Bayless's yummy recipe, that's for next week. Craving for some salsa, give this a try!

This post is linked to IHCC, where we are cooking from Rick Bayless's recipes. To view the fiesta menu, hop on over! 

I'm sharing this too with :
Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa

(source : Fronterafiesta, Rick Bayless)

Makes about 1-1/2 cups

1 to 2 fresh jalapeno 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

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 stems off the chiles 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. Your're ready to serve.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

Cornbread is one of my very favourite savoury bread. I have made a few recipes and constantly on the look-out for other good cornbread recipes. Those that I have made so far are all very good. When I saw this cornbread recipe over at girl versus dough, I knew that I MUST bake it! Firstly, again, yes, I love cornbread, secondly jalapeno is my favourite ingredients, in any savoury breads or dishes! Not to mention that corns are my favourite too and my family loves scallions, I even have some lovely scallions growing in my garden. And cheese, need I say more? Haha! Looks like, I have a lot of favourites! When they all come together in one bake, it spells out Yumminess!

A slice of yumminess!  :)

Usually cornbreads are really easy to make, just like this one. The dry ingredients are whisked in a large mixing bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Put the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir to combine and add in the rest of the ingredients like scallions, chopped jalapenos, cheese and corn. This recipe requires the batter to rest for 10 minutes before baking. Maybe to soften the cornmeal a little before baking?

The original recipe is called Jalapeno Cheddar Skillet Cornbread and it is baked in a cast iron skillet. I do not have any cast iron skillet [er... any sponsors?? :-) ] so I used a 7" square baking pan for half a recipe. Some changes which I've adapted are, I omitted the salt since I used salted butter, and note that the cheese are usually quite salty. To substitute the buttermilk, I use a mixture of homemade yoghurt and milk, (ratio 2:1).  More cheese are sprinkled over the top of the batter along with some sliced jalapenos before baking.

As soon as the pan goes into the oven, boil some water, make a pot of tea, you would want to enjoy your cornbread with that cup of tea, trust me, you would thank me later!  

 

Freshly baked Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread. I sliced it to 8 rectangular pieces.

About 20 minutes after baking, it's taste-testing time!  As soon as the knife cuts into the bread, I knew that this is a winner! It is so soft and tender! It has a beautiful sunny colour and looks so good! 

The first bite, oh my! so delicious, finished the first piece before continuing on with the photographs! It is so moist, soft, tender, with that wonderful cheezy taste of the Cheddar and the Jalapeno are not spicy at all, even my son ate it without any complaints, the only thing he says was "Mmm... very good"! I love the corns that has softened during baking, and the scallions adds a wonderful aroma to the bread.

At first, I did intend to make some chili to go with the cornbread, but that intended chili was "abandoned" when I find that I do not have certain ingredients which I thought I had in my pantry! But then, these cornbreads are truly delicious eaten on its own! I finished two slices with  two cups of tea for my lunch, and it was a very satisfying lunch! I'll be making this again definitely! And hopefully with some chili to enjoy it together! Thank you, Stephanie for sharing this lovely recipe.

I'm linking this post with the following :

• Bake Your Own Bread (BYOB), hosted by Girlichef, Delectable Musings and My Discovery of Bread, featured bread blog for this month is Stephanie from Girl Versus Dough
• Twelve Loaves, hosted by Cake Duchess, Creative Culinary and Life's A Feast, theme for this month is "Cheese!"
• Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes
• Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage
• Frugal Food Thursday hosted by Frugal Frollies

The measurements below are adapted for half a recipe, for the full original recipe, please visit girlversusdough.
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely stone-ground cornmeal
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt (I omitted this, as I use salted butter)
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 stick (95gm) butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
3 medium jalapenos, one seeded and finely chopped, two sliced in rounds and seeded

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line a 7" square cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt (if using) in a large bowl. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter and eggs.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Add 1/2 cup cheese, scallions, corn and chopped jalapenos to the batter and stir to combine. Let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with remaining cheese and sliced jalapenos. Bake until edges are golden brown and toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, slice and serve.

Everyday Yoghurt Cake : Free and Easy Bake-Along #32

This is a really simple cake, just as its name, Everyday Yoghurt Cake, the cake chosen by my baking buddy, Lena from Frozen Wings for our Bake-Along No 32.

I think that there will be mixed reviews from my baking friends for this bake. For one, this cake is quite unlike other cakes. According to Lauren Chattman, this plain cake has a light and airy texture, and can be "dressed" up in various ways by placing a paper doily on top and dust with confectioners' sugar for a lacy decoration. And it can be served with some yoghurt and sliced fruits on the side.

I decided to leave it plain as it is. This cake rises well and bakes up beautifully. 

Light and airy? The texture that I got was a little dense, but very soft, moist and smells really good. This is the kind of cake that goes well with a cup of coffee or tea, something simple but satisfying.

My overall review : I like this cake. The dense texture is really a soft, moist, and good dense. This cake is made from very simple basic ingredients, that I was surprised it could turn out rather tasty.  I kept a few slices and ate them the next afternoon, and the slices has got a little more dense but still remains soft.  I enjoyed these slices with a cup of black coffee. Very nice!

To see the others review on this cake, please do visit my baking buddies, Lena and Zoe, and all our baking friends who has baked along with us in the blog-hop linky below.

For our next bake-along, we will be baking the following, do join us:

Theme : Cream Puffs (bake any Cream Puffs)

Date : 27/09 to 03/10

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme.

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Everyday Yoghurt Cake
(Cake Keeper Cakes, Lauren Chattman)
Serves 8
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yoghurt or lowfat yoghurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the yoghurt, oil, eggs and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the yoghurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
2. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top of the cake is light golden and a toothpick inserted into the center is clean, about 40 minutes.
3. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar, then slice and serve.
4. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

kitchenflavours notes :

For half a recipe, I used 1/3 cup sugar, baked in a 7" round cake pan for 32 minutes

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