Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo is a classic fresh ingredient salsa, also known as the Rooster’s Beak, and is the perfect condiment for Mexican food.

Pico de Gallo

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Perhaps the most culturally appropriated holiday in existence (celebrated far more in the USA than in Mexico) but Americans love Mexican and Tex-Mex food, don’t we? And to my delight, not so much the paying of the controversial border wall. But then, nobody really wants it. Not really. Not if it empties their own wallet.

We finish up #MexicanRecipes week today with my final offering for Pico de Gallo. Pico, also called “Rooster’s beak” is commonly known as what we make calling it “salsa fresca” or salsas made with fresh ingredients. There are so very many kinds of salsas in existence, and even if your repertoire is full of ideas, you have probably only scratched the surface, as have I.

I do love a good saucy salsa for chips, and this is not that one, to be sure. But I mostly find this served as a garnish for tacos and fajitas. That it is less drippy in that sense makes it perfect for slathering on a tortilla, folding it, and eating out of hand. Who wants red stuff running down their arm?

It was probably called Rooster’s beak after the things that roosters and chickens like to pick at and eat off the ground, but I don’t really know for sure. All I know this is the one I want when I want it fresh, and from here, if you add a little tomato paste or sauce, it becomes a passable dip ketchup, but I do prefer a cooked salsa for my chips. I have a recipe for that online, albeit not on the blog yet (My recipes are spread out like butter on too much bread—) But if you make a salsa with canned tomatoes as I do in this simple recipe, it is okay, Ok meaning really good, but not *quite* as tasty as cooking down peppers. We’ll get into that some other time, but for now you can use this one for that: Mexican Restaurant Style Salsa.

Maybe I can get some roasted chile salsa posted in the near future. I picked up some skirt steak this week on sale and popped it into the freezer, hoping to get a chance to grill that later into maybe fajitas. But you know, if it keeps on raining, the levee’s gonna break! Let’s hope all of our sunshine comes back in a hurry, and y’all stay dry, ok?

Join me tomorrow for some Derby Day fun as I post the Louisville Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich. My Dad was from Louisville and I have a lot of kin there, but don’t own any particular corner on the sandwich, except that my sandwiches are pretty good.

Sunday I’ll be posting my BBQ Chicken Salad with Sunday Supper then on Monday it’s off to a week of Brunch recipes. Who doesn’t like a nice new breakfast recipe for special days like Mother’s Day or any given weekend for that matter? My favorite lazy day weekend breakky has *always* been biscuits and gravy, unless someone mentions bacon. What’s your favorite?
~Sue

Pico de Gallo

Servings: 6
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Yield: 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup diced ripe tomato
1/3 cup finely diced white onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 finely diced fresh jalapeno (stem and seeds removed)
salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 thinly sliced green onion
1/2 cup finely diced poblano pepper (may sub bell pepper)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

Stir together ingredients and serve.
If you make it a bit ahead, leave out the jalapeno and onion because that just makes it hotter than it would be otherwise, adding that just before serving. (You can chop the jalapeno and onion ahead, just keep it separate until ready to eat, then stir it in).

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com