Cortez Salsa

Name: Cortez Salsa
Yield: makes about 3 cups
Ingredients: 15 fresh jalapeño peppers, stems removed, cut in half (we leave the seeds in); 1 medium onion, quartered; One 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes; 1 garlic clove; Juice of 1 lime; Kosher salt to taste; Saltine crackers or tortilla chips

January 24, 2012

For more than fifty years, Min’s two family branches, the Merrells and the Almys, have been eating at the Cortez Cafe in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The food is straightforward Tex-Mex and always finishes with a round of sopapillas and honey. Back in the ’70s, the family thought nothing odd about beginning meals with bowls of fiery green salsa scooped up with saltine crackers. The Cortez has since switched to tortilla chips and you may prefer them as well, but the Merrell-Almy clan retains its hot spot for salsa and crackers. Pining away in Nashville for that distinct Cortez flavor, Min thinks she’s figured it out—it’s mostly fresh jalapeños. Min’s cousin Eric, knighted Sir Cortez by the clan, now brings his version of Min’s Cortez Salsa recipe to every family dinner—with sleeves of only the freshest saltines, of course.

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