pico-de-gallo.md

This is a quest to make the perfect pico de gallo for @kelly

The Backstory

Over the past few months my husband, Kelly, has been asking me to get him a specific kind of pico de gallo. "It's the store's brand, they have it next to all the prepared food," he tells on my way out the door. I grab the store's brand of hand made pico, and bring it home. We've been through this routine no less than 10 times, each time with the wrong type of pico procured.

So, instead of continuing to fail at the local Whole Foods, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I've embarked on a journey to prepare the best pico de gallo I can. It's a lesson in culinary skills, attention to detail, listening to what my customer husband wants, but most importantly acceptance of feedback.

Who knew pico would be so powerful?

Notes on the latest batch:

• Less onion (last time I used a small onion, but the whole thing. Next time, use 1/2 of a small onion)
• Use roma tomatoes & take the seeds out
• Add pepper
• Add jalapeno
• Less lime (last time I used a whole lime, use a half lime)
• More cilantro

Have you tried with red onion yet? Also, a little olive oil (about 1tsp) helps bring it all together.

Pics please!

@jhutchings1 red onion - great idea. just tried it. so good. also put some olive oil in -- this olive oil i used is infused with meyer lemons. :D

Tonight's recipe:

• 1 red onion
• 5 roma tomatoes, seeded
• 1 jalapeño, seeded
• 1 bunch cilantro, just the leaves
• couple cranks of pepper
• dash of salt
• tbsp olive oil (meyer lemon infused)

Tasting notes:

• Needed a little more salt and pepper
• Preferred chilled before serving

That looks great! 🤤

Update! Added more tomatoes this time, and a few extras. Recipe and tasting notes below. Plus some 🧀 photos of me with the salsa.

Tonight's recipe:

1 red onion
6 roma tomatoes, seeded
1 jalapeño, seeded
1 bunch cilantro, just the leaves
3 cloves garlic
dash of crushed red pepper
couple cranks of pepper
couple dashes of salt
tbsp olive oil (regular this time)

Tasting notes:

Red peppers aren't overpowering, but unusual, not in a bad way
Definitely needed to chill before serving

Sounds funny, but II can definitely see the progress! And props on leafing the cilantro that is :chefskiss: And how was that transition from 0 garlic to 💥 garlic?

@ajjimenez it was good! i didn't put too much in, but could tell the difference -- spicier pico is def better, IMO. Next time I think I'm going to try quick pickling the jalapeños. 😋

oh and also - I think this is a no-brainer, but the pico is much better on day 2. from now on, I'll be making bigger batches so we have leftovers for the next day.

Double batch! We're in Tahoe for the week, but the pico dreams don't take vacation. Today's recipe is largely the same as the last one (including the red peppers), but I added an extra jalapeño, and I didn't chop the cilantro as fine.

Tasting notes coming soon when Kelly is back from his ride (may be bias based on post workout hunger).

prediction: "best batch yet!"

Ok so that batch was way too salty, and he thinks a little too dominated by cilantro. I agree on the salt - I was liberal with it and I didn't really measure too accurately.

So onto the next. Same base recipe, but I've been spending more time being mindful with my ingredient preparation. I hope that taking a bit more time to seed the tomatoes, de-stem the cilantro, and finely chop the jalapeño, pays off this time. :D

This week's recipe:

1/2 red onion
6 roma tomatoes, seeded
2 jalapeño, seeded
3/4 bunch cilantro, just the leaves
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tbs kosher table salt
couple cranks of pepper

Verdict: Best batch to date. This batch was devoured in less than 10 minutes. Caveat though was that he'd just gotten home from a long bike ride.... There were more tomatoes this time and less onion, so the tomato to onion ration was good. The dicing job on the veggies was also good - small and equally proportioned. I think the mindful preparation paid off! Now I have to see if I can replicate.

Also: I need better chips. Any recommendations?

Easily found: Casa Sanchez Thin and Light
If you happen to be in the area: La Palma Mexicatessen. Say hi to Terry! She's the best.

Update! Included a pic of my chopping job for scale :D

1 whole medium red onion (makes about a cup), chopped fine
7 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped fine
2 jalapeño, seeded and chopped fine
3/4 bunch cilantro, just the leaves (pick them off the stems, it's tedious but only takes about 3 minutes to do, and it's worth it - stems are bitter)
4 big cloves garlic
2 tbs kosher table salt
couple cranks of pepper
1 tbs olive oil