future hubby's favorite salsa..

FH loves Chipotle's corn salsa. So, since our closest Chipotle is 74 miles away and corn season is coming to an end with the end of summer, I decided I would try to make it at home.

So heres how I did it:
6 ears of corn
2 poblanos
2 jalapenos
1/2 of a red onion, finely diced
1/3 cup cilantro
lemon, lime and salt to taste

Roast the corn, poblanos and jalapenos on a stove top grill pan, an outdoor grill, or a dry saute pan. After the chiles are completely charred on all sides, place in a bowl and cover tightly with saran wrap. Also, place the corn on a plate or large bowl and cover those with saran wrap as well. The saran wrap will steam the corn and continue to cook the kernels until they are tender, and will also steam the peppers making it extremely easy to peel the charred skin off.

After about 10 minutes, peel the skin off of the peppers and finely chop. Cut the kernels off of the cobs and place in a bowl. Add in the onions, peppers and cilantro. Mix and add the juice of one lime and half of a lemon and about a teaspoon of salt. Taste and add more citrus or salt depending on your own tastes.

Serve with toritlla chips or Fritos scoops. This salsa would also be fantastic on a salad with black beans or sprinkled over tacos.

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For all you cilantro haters out there, this probably is not going to be a salsa you want to try. I guess you could substitute parsley, but it won't be nearly as tasty. Give cilantro another try! It has great citrusy notes that pair perfectly with mexican and latin foods (thai food too). You know the old saying "I'll try anything once," well I like to say I'll try anything twice. I don't think you can definitively say you don't like something without trying it more than once. Maybe you actually like the ingredient just maybe not the way it was cooked, or maybe it was even something else mixed in with it that you didn't like. Give cilantro a try. Well that was my PSA for the day. I will now step off my soap box.

Good tip: Do not throw away the corn cobs after you cut the kernels off!!! Those cobs are chock full of flavor that you paid for. Do not just toss them in the garbage. My favorite thing to do with leftover cobs is to make corn chowder. Stick the cobs in the pot while the chowder cooks and the corn juices will infuse the entire soup. Yum.

Poblanos are a great pepper. Most people know them as the pepper used for chile rellenos at Mexican restaurants, but they are so much more. They are typically mild, but can sometimes be as spicy as a jalapeno. So they key to using them is to taste the peppers before adding them to the corn, then you will be able to gauge how much you want to add depending on how hot you like it.

I think this copy-cat version is better than Chipotle's. I think the main difference is fresh corn off the cob versus the canned corn that Chipotle uses. If its the dead of winter and you want to make this salsa, I would suggest using thawed frozen corn over canned. I think my flavors matched the Chipotle version spot on, but using the fresh corn made the difference.

Since I was already chopping cilantro, red onion, and peppers I decided to throw together a quick pico de gallo too. I always have tomatoes on hand, I love tomato and mayo sandwiches, so I make sure I never run out.
For the pico de gallo I chopped 3 tomatoes (gently squeeze out some of the seeds and juice), about 2 tbsp of red onion, 1/2 of a tiny poblano pepper minced, about 1 tbsp of minced cilantro, the juice of a lime, and kosher salt. Tomatoes beg for salt, don't be afraid to use salt. But when cooking use kosher salt. Most recipes, like the ones on Food Network's website and most food blogs, use kosher salt, and if you substitute with regular iodized table salt, your dish will most likely be way too salty.
Pico de gallo is great to serve with chips, on tacos, spooned over grilled meat or fish, or mix it into mashed avocados for an instant guacamole.