Salsa Veracruzana

This salsa, as the name implies, hails from the state of Veracruz on the east coast of Mexico. However, it is served in just about every corner of the country in just about every restaurant that serves fish. Most famous with Huachinango (Red Snapper) it goes great with almost any fish cooked almost any way. I've had it over a whole fish wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over charcoal. On filets wrapped in aluminum foil and done on the BBQ. Mostly it is just served over a sauteed filet and garnished with some lime wedges and a sprig of Cilantro. Great with shrimp too.

PARTS LIST

One poblano chile
Seeded, stemmed and cut into thin strips about an inch long
One medium onion
White or yellow, halved and cut into thin slices
Four medium tomatoes
Cut into pieces about the size of a marble
Two cloves of garlic
Chopped - feel free to use more garlic in this one
Two bay leaves
Some lime (or lemon) juice
Green olives
Cilantro
Chopped

On this one we proceed just as we did with the Salsa Ranchero. Start the chile sauteeing in a little neutral oil. You can throw in the bay leaf at this time too. When the chiles have softened but not browned toss in the onion. When the onions have turned translucent throw in the garlic and tomatoes and the olives. In Mexico the olives generally still have the pits in but you gringos are spoiled and if you use olives with pits one of your guests will probably break a tooth - so you might want to use olives with the pits removed. You can either use whole olives or you can use half olives or you could even chop the little suckers all up. I don't care. You can even toss in a little of the liquid that the olives came in. Add water to cover what youÕve got in the pot. Throw in some chopped cilantro and the lime/lemon juice and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Go easy on the lime/lemon because when it is done simmering you'll taste it and add some salt to tast. You can add some more lemon/lime but you'll play hell taking it out if you added too much. The cilantro that you added will lose its color so when you serve it add some more chopped cilantro - if you hate cilantro use green onions or parsley but for heaven's sake put something fresh and green in it. Oh, a lot of recipes will call for oregano too. If you do use oregano don't use the powdered - use whole or fresh. Let me know how it turns out. Have a happy holiday season and a really, really nice new year.