Fire-roasted tomato chipotle salsa

Blacken 2 pounds of Roma tomatoes (barbecue them until their skins blister and blacken in places and they start bubbling, or put them directly on a gas burner, one to a burner, and turn them with tongs).

Roast a head of garlic (dribble some olive oil over it, wrap it in a double thickness of foil, and throw it on the same barbecue, or dry-roast cloves in a frying pan until soft).

Put half the tomatoes, half an onion chopped and browned in olive oil, about half of the garlic (spread the other half on French bread and eat), one to four chipotle chiles in adobo (look in any Latin store or gourmet shop) and a handful of washed cilantro into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed.

Peel the remaining tomatoes, seed them as best you can, chop coarsely, and mix into the other mixture along with a good dose of fragrant olive oil (say 1/4 cup), salt to taste, a teaspoon of sugar, and a quarter-cup of red wine vinegar. I can eat a bowlful of this stuff with a spoon. So can my younger child, though the chipotle starts to get to the tot after a while.

Sources

This is slightly modified from the book "The Great Salsa Book" by Mark Kiffin and Mark Miller of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe.