Mexican Restaurant Style Chips And Salsa

Anyone who’s ever gone to a good Mexican restaurant knows about the chips and salsa your waiter or waitress brings to the table when you first sit down. Aren’t those just awesome? Well, have you ever tried to make them at home? Now you can! Here’s my version of that wonderful little pleasure. It’s very simple and adds that extra dimension to your Mexican feast. Enjoy!

Ingredients: Salsa

1 15oz. Can diced tomatoes

1 jalapeno (diced)

¾ onion (diced)

1 big cup fresh cilantro (chopped)

Juice of ½ lemon (about 1 good tbsp.)

¼+1/8 teas. salt

¼ teas. garlic powder

¼ teas. pepper

¼ teas. sugar

¼ cup water

Method: Salsa

Dice the jalapeno and onion into about 1/2in. cubes. Rough chop the cilantro. You don’t’ have to worry too much about the size at this point since it will be going into the blender.

Note: I got a really “hot” jalapeno which made for a nice hot salsa just the way I like it. If you like it that way great, or you may want to just use just part of it. I also love the taste of cilantro which is the reason for the big cup, you could use a little less if you want to, it’s a matter of taste.

You can skip this step and add everything right to the blender if you want

Add everything but the water to a large bowl and give it a good stir. ( I did it this way so I could measure everything “by eye” to see if I had the right amounts of the veggies.) See the picture.

Pour everything from your bowl to your blender and then add the water. Blend until you get the consistency you like. The longer you blend the less chunky it will be. ( I blended mine for about 45sec. to minute.) That’s it!

Pour it into a container and let it sit for awhile to marry the flavors. There may be a little foam from blending but stirring it with a spoon will help to get rid of that. I let mine sit overnight in the frig to really let the flavors combine and to get rid of the foam. It also turns more red.

After it’s blended you can check it for seasoning but I recommend letting it sit for at least an hour first.

Another Note: Some Mexican restaurants will add cumin or chili powder to their salsa so if you like it that way I’d suggest no more than an 1/8 to a 1/4 teas. of either one. This is also a matter of taste and what you like. The recipe above is just a basic salsa which stands on its own.

The recipe makes about 3 cups of awesome salsa! On to the chips!

Ingredients: Corn Chips

15-20 6in. corn tortillas

2-3 cups of oil (I’m using vegetable oil)

salt to taste

Method: Corn Chips

Start by heating the oil in a medium to large skillet over medium to medium high heat. You want the oil to reach 350 degrees before you fry the chips. You can use a thermometer for this or toss a tiny piece of tortilla into the oil when you think it’s ready. If the tortilla bubbles and floats immediately that’s a good sign that it’s hot enough. The oil will take about 8-10 minutes to get hot so you have plenty of time to prepare your tortillas.

Cut the tortillas into triangles or strips, your choice.

To do this just stack 5 or 6 tortillas at a time and cut them in half.

For strips, after you cut the tortillas in half, cut the halves in half so you have 4 long strips.

Then cut the strips in half from the opposite direction.

For triangles, after cutting the tortillas in half, cut them in half from the other direction making 4 large triangles.

Then cut them in half from the point to the center of the curved part.

Just like cutting a pizza.

Some Mexican restaurants will just simply cut them into “4′s” giving you large triangles.

It’s really up to you how you like them cut.

After cutting them your oil should be just about ready so check the temperature with either a thermometer or piece of tortilla.

When the oil is ready add enough chips to fill you pan with one layer evenly spread out.

(I just grab a handful and “deal” them like cards into the pan)

You’ll notice that they will start to float right away.

To make sure both sides get cooked you can use either a slotted spoon, pair of tongs or a “spider” (wire mesh spoon) to constantly keep pushing the tortillas down into the oil. I call this the “pogo stick” method

The chips will take about 2-4 minutes a batch.

You can tell when they’re done when they stop bubbling and if you tap on them they sound and feel crisp.

Now they may not “look” done but they will continue to cook and turn golden brown once you remove them from the oil.

Transfer your cooked chips from the oil to a plate or piece of foil (for easy clean up) with one or two napkins on it to absorb any oil and salt them immediately.

Salting them while they’re still “wet” will allow the salt to stick to the chips.

After they have cooled and drained transfer them to a napkin lined bowl.

Continue frying in batches until done. Also, you can use more or less tortillas depending on how many people you will be serving.

It should only take you about 15 minutes or so to make a bunch of chips. You’ll be surprised at how many chips you’ll get out of the tortillas!

It really goes fast once you get a rhythm going and hey, why not get someone to help you

You’re gonna love these, they’re sooo much better than the store bought stuff. These are the “real deal” when it comes to authentic Mexican style chips and salsa. They’ll remind you of that Mexican restaurant you go to for an authentic meal. They are very easy to make and really round out any authentic Mexican dish. The salsa is also great over tacos and in burritos. Enjoy!

David

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