Arizona Rentals Blog

My father always told me to follow my passion. One passion of mine that is at the top of my list, more than anything else is creating delicious and awesome recipes. I always read cookbooks for the initial inspiration for my recipes but always end up adding my own twist or spin to the recipes. And when cooking I always cook by taste and only use measurements for the few dishes I cook that require precise measurements, like when making a roux or savory crepes.

 The first time I had the Mexican Salsa called Picco De Gallo, which literally translates to “beak of the rooster” Gringos will call it Fresh Salsa! I’ll never forget that first taste of the fresh salsa. I was 18 and living in Hermosillo, Sonora Mexico. I went only for vacation, met a girl and ended up staying. All the taco stands serve up carne asada tacos wrapped up in corn or flour tortillas, grilled green onions on the side with fresh cut limes and a tub of Picco De Gallo. I was never given a recipe for Picco De Gallo but I have concocted my own take on it. It is a real easy recipe, requires no cooking and honestly this is a recipe that would be next to impossible to completely mess up.

Basic Recipe:

Ingredients:

5  large tomatoes.

1 large white onion

½ cup cilantro leafs chopped (Cilantro can usually be found in the produce section near the parsley. (Do not try to make this recipe with parsley. It’s not even close to the same flavor and your recipe will end up tasting like something you would use for pasta sauce)

1 garlic clove crushed.

2 jalapenos with seeds and stems removed for mild flavor

2 jalapenos with seeds and stems for medium heat.

4 jalapenos with seeds and stems for hot heat.

Sea salt or kosher salt to taste

Juice of 1 lime.

Preparation is real basic; simply dice and chop up all ingredients as follows and place in a large missing mixing bowl.

Chop your tomatoes into small chunks. The smaller the better.

Dice your onion into very small pieces.

Remove the cilantro leaves from stems and discard the stems. Chop up the leaves and place in bowl with chopped onion and tomatoes.

Crush garlic and add to bowl.

Add your jalapenos to taste.

Add the juice of one lime

Sea Salt or Kosher salt to taste. I usually start with 1Tblspn of salt.

Mix all ingredients well. If you have built up a tolerance to Jalapenos like I have you can use the tools god gave you to lightly crush up the tomatoes and mix the bowl of salsa up. If not you can use surgical gloves or a heavy wooden spoon and really get the salsa mixed well, crushing tomatoes somewhat in the process. Taste for salt and add more if needed.

 This recipe always taste best after sitting in your fridge over night to let the flavors fully develop.

 Now the next time you come to Arizona and you rent an Arizona Lodging Experts vacation home, and you are having a poolside party you will have the perfect dipping salsa. If you enjoyed this recipe make sure you bookmark this page and stay tuned for my super secret inside tips to making the perfect Carne Asada Tacos, Guacamole and of course the perfect Margaritas to round it all off.