Fire-Roasted Habanero Salsa

The cool thing about making this salsa is that you cook the vegetables and chilies directly on the coals. The Mexicans have been doing this forever, and it is typically referred to as cooking al carbon. The cooking method instills this awesome flavor that you typically will not get by cooking on your stove top or broiler. Trust me, you need to try this. Folks have even been known to cook meat directly on the hot ashes as well!

Heat your coals in your grill until they are all nice and gray. Lay the onion, tomatoes, and habanero peppers directly onto the coals. Note that the onion will take longer to cook than the tomatoes and habaneros. Cook everything until they are completely black and super charred on all sides. Once fully charred place them in a bowl and let them cool to the touch.

Once they are cooled, use the back of your paring knife and scrape off the outer skin from each of the items. Don’t worry if you get a bit of ash or char along with the items. You can decide if you want to keep the seeds intact on the habaneros. I kept two whole, and removed the seeds from the third.

Once the charred skin is removed, add the tomatoes, habaneros, and onion into a food processor. Toss in the garlic, cilantro, salt, and lime juice. Pulse until you have a nice consistency, then start slowly pouring in the water until you have your desired thickness. Taste and adjust with additional salt if needed.

The result is just the perfect amount of heat. It does have a kick to it, but the flavor is just out of this world. This stuff is great on just about anything. I was adding it to my omelettes in the morning, using it as a standard chip dip after work, and drizzled on chimichangas. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think when you decide to cook al carbon!