Salsa Safranal

This aromatic slant on a classic Taquería Salsa Roja flirts with Thai and Indian notes and blends well with a variety of international cuisines. I love it on Carne Asada, served with guacamole and Salsa Ranchera (thanks to Jeffrey Steingarten from, 'It Must've Been Something I Ate'), Tortilla Pizza and a staple in my house, eggs on rice. It almost tastes like Sriracha on the latter.

This recipe makes enough for a good party, or to spread out over a couple of weeks. It's a great use for those tomatoes that get too ripe for your salad. Of course, depending on the size of the tomatoes and how spicy you like it, all of the other ingredients are subjective.

2 large ripe tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 chile de arbol
6 cups of water
1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
6 saffron stigmas

Slice the tomatoes in half, place in a 4Qt Sauce Pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. At the same time, break the stems off of the chiles and toast them in a cast iron skillet. Take care not to blacken them. Discard any seeds that fall out.

Place the chiles, garlic and spices in a food processor. When the tomatoes and water create a pink foam, floating in the water, the tomatoes are ready. Just cover the contents in the food processor with the water (i.e. 1 ladle or so). Discard the skins from the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the food processor. Liquify the salsa so that the only solids are the seeds, and transfer into a salsa dish or ramekin.

yum.