Killer Quesadillas and Homemade Salsa

The garden is just going crazy here at Purple Chocolat Home

and if you saw the posts on my garden you realize that it

is planted amongst the flowers but I still get a lot of

produce, just not enough to really can.

Yet, there are more tomatoes than we can eat so

last year I hit upon a great way to use up all those

tomatoes and get the fam to consumer plenty of

lycopene!

I adapted this recipe from our neighbor Jeff

who would bring us his salsa all of the time.

  He used canned tomatoes.  He

adapted his from the back of a vinegar bottle. 

I can't get that vinegar, so I made my own, so let's start there.

Santa Fe Chili Pepper Vinegar

Clean and sterilize glass bottles with tops or screw caps.

In clean bottles place:

 1 T. whole peppercorns

3 whole cloves garlic

3-4 small green or red chili peppers

sprig of basil

sprig of oregano

Fill with white wine vinegar.

Replace cap and let sit for at least 3 days

for the flavor to develop.

To make the labels:

I downloaded a picture of chilis from http://www.photobucket.com/

a free photo sharing site and added the title

then printed it off on label paper and attached it to the

bottles.  What a great gift this makes.

 Click here for the instructions that I gave

previously when making the labels for

 Garlic Basil Oil.

Several people wanted to know where I got

that photo for the label on the basil oil. 

 It was on page 13 under Herb Garden

(not Herb Gardens) on the Photo Bucket site.

Yes, a little hard to find but worth it.

Fresh Salsa Recipe

8 C. fresh tomatoes

1 large onion

3/4 C. mild pickled jalapeno peppers

(or 3 T. hot pickled jalapeno peppers,

or 2 fresh jalapeno peppers or to taste)

1/4 - 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

1 tsp dried cumin

1 T. minced fresh garlic

1 T. salt

1 T. sugar

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper (optional)

1/4 C. Santa Fe Chili Pepper Vinegar

(you can use regular unseasoned vinegar)

Blend 3/4 of the tomatoes, leaving a few

chunks.  Remove and blend the remaining

tomatoes with the remaining ingredients.

Mix all together.  The flavors will blend as it sits

in the fridge.

(If you want to make this during the winter

with canned tomatoes, use 4 - 14 oz. cans

of tomatoes and reduce the salt by 1 tsp.)

Killer Quesadillas

8 - 10 inch flour tortillas (we love Costco's

ready to cook tortillas)

2 C.shredded or cubed cooked chicken breast

4 C. shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

8-12 slices cooked bacon

chopped fresh cilantro

chopped fresh red onion

Butter or spray with cooking oil one side of each

cooked tortilla.

Layer one cooked tortilla with cheese, chicken,

bacon, cilantro and red onion.  Top with

second tortilla.  Cook in frying pan on medium

high heat or on griddle until cheese is melted.

Serve with fresh salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

My friend Monique taught me how to make these

at Lake Powell.  They are also great with steak.

I hope you enjoy your tomatoes this year and maybe

these recipes will help you enjoy them even more!

I will be posting this with

Just Something I Whipped Up Monday

and

Tasty Tuesday.