Mesquite Charred Corn & Poblano Salsa

This recipe is for a cold salsa made with mesquite smoked fresh corn, poblano peppers, garlic, fire roasted tomatoes, cilantro & spices. I added chipotle in adobo sauce for ours, we like it a little kicked up!

This recipe requires the following ingredients:

• 4 ears of fresh corn
• 2 large poblano peppers
• canola or olive oil
• 1 pod of garlic
• 2 Tsp mesquite liquid smoke
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 15oz can chopped fire roasted tomatoes, or fresh if you have them
• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (leave out if you don't like the heat!)
• 1 tsp Texas Chili Blend, or your favorite chili powder
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 cup mesquite wood chips
• salt to taste

Mesquite Charred Corn & Poblano Salsa

• Shuck & remove silks from corn, rinse corn & poblano peppers & pat dry
• Rub corn & poblano peppers with oil, place in plastic zip bag with 1 tsp mesquite liquid smoke
• Let rest in fridge for 1 hour
• Soak mesquite wood chips in hot water with 1 tsp mesquite liquid smoke added . Soak 1 hour
• Drain wood chips. Heat gas or charcoal grill to high heat. Place wood chips in smoker box.
• Rub oil on outside of garlic pod
• When smoke is present, remove garlic & poblano peppers from plastic bag & place on center of grill
• Turn center burner to medium low to char for 2 minutes on each side, this should char the flesh, if not leave it several more minutes until it is charred
• Once the pepper is black, turn off center burner & cook corn & peppers over indirect heat to continue the smoking process
• Place garlic beside corn to smoke
• Limit how much the grill is open to retain the most smoke you can.
• Smoke for 15 more minutes at low heat
• Remove from grill on to a heat proof dish & let it cool on the kitchen counter.

• When corn has cooled to touch, remove corn from the cob by standing it on the flat end in a large bowl.
• Begin with knife at the top & cut from the cob, turning after each cut.  
• Continue to cut until all corn is off

                           

• Poblano peppers will char black, then you need to remove the charred skins, veins & seeds. Try to remove as much as possible.
• Slice into small strips, then chop into bite size pieces.
• Add to corn in bowl



• Roasted garlic will squeeze out of the papery skins without much effort
• Discard the papery skins then chop or mash & add garlic to salsa



• To the corn, poblanos, & garlic, add the chopped red onions, tomatoes, cilantro,chopped chipotles in adobo sauce & seasonings
• Add salt to taste.
• Finish by squeezing the juice of the lime over the dip
• Stir well to blend
• Cover with plastic wrap & place in fridge to chill at least 1 hour for the full flavor blend.
• Serve with your favorite chips. Great on taco's or burritos. Also a great topping for taco salads

Butter, Oil, and Shortening , yes you can eat them but not with a spoon!

Resolve to Change #4
Don't give me Trans Fats..no really!

In 1998 the World celebrated the 125th anniversary of margarine. In 1920 as we entered World War I, the shortage of butter brought on the dependence in America to the synthtically produced spread. If you didn't have cows to milk and make your own butter then you ate margarine. People became accustomed to the artifical butter and didn't have the craving for that rich buttery taste.

Butter came under a great deal of scrutiny when it was found that the high levels of saturated fat could cause heart disease in some people. Many people were advised by their doctors and nutritionist to switch to margarine. Then we did an about face and could no longer use the margarine because of trans fats which were found to raise LDL, the bad cholesterol and lower HDL,the good cholesterol. So we chunked the stick margarine and went to the tub, which didn't have trans fats. Now in 2011 butter is on the list of things to use sparingly with heart disease, due to the saturated fats...feels like we are little mice on a wheel!

I will admit I eat butter very sparingly because my family has a history of heart disease. You really can't use tub spread on fresh corn on the cob! I cook with canola oil or olive oil, but you have to remember that they all have LOTS of calories. My favorite thing to do is use 1/2 teaspoon of melted butter to 1/4 cup canola oil when a recipe calls for oil. It gives it that buttery taste we need but with much less saturated fats. Trans fats are the final answer after all this research. They are in so many of the fast food items that I have given most of those up.

When you are looking for information on your health and diet, be sure the source is trustworthy and un-biased in their writing. There are so many scams for diet and advice on the Internet that it makes you want to just say enough already, just give me the facts. I always lean towards medically based sites because they seem to be less radical and more fact based.
This website at the Mayo Clinic gives great substiutions for recipe ingredients. I have also listed it in my favorite websites on my blog.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/NU00585

Moderation is the key to a good life and it is the hardest thing to accomplish at times. When I shop for food I look for labels with very few ingredients. Why do I want to eat things with names I can't pronounce? My feelings on preservatives and additives are very strong...and Southern women don't mind telling you just how we feel!!