Homemade Salsa

A favorite around here. It's hard to keep it around for very long.
Be careful when you are chopping fresh peppers, as the juices can be quite irritating to your skin (especially if you touch your eyes). You can use latex gloves to protect your hands, or I've even used a sandwich bag on my left hand to hold the pepper while I cut it in chunks before putting it in the food processor. The juices can also be quite irritating to your throat when you are cutting a lot of peppers at a time, and can cause lots of coughing. I stir them immediately into the tomatoes to limit this problem.

Homemade Salsa

3 or 4 Jalapeño Peppers, finely chopped
3 or 4 Serrano Peppers, finely chopped
1 large Red Onion, finely chopped
1 large Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1 bunch Cilantro, chopped
2 @ 28 oz cans Crushed Tomatoes
1 Avocado, finely chopped

Begin by putting the Crushed Tomatoes into a large bowl.
I chop everything in my Cuisinart, but it can all be done by hand if you prefer.
Chop Peppers, Onion, Bell Pepper and Cilantro, stirring them into the Tomatoes.
Finely chop Avocado and stir into finished Salsa.

You can control the heat by using or not using the seeds in the peppers.
It will also depend on the spiciness of the peppers you buy. You never really know what you'll get in the store.
You may keep the seeds out at first, and stir them in to get the degree of heat you prefer.

Spicy Mexican Shredded Beef

adapted from Allrecipes.com
This sounds like it might be too spicy, but once it cooks and gets all mixed into the meat, it's really quite delicious. Surprisingly, nobody complained it was too spicy.

Spicy Mexican Shredded Beef

4 lb Chuck Roast or Sirloin Tip
  (seasoned with salt & pepper)
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 large Onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Fire roasted Green Chiles,diced (7 oz can plus 4 oz can)
1 tsp Chile Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
5 oz Hot Pepper Sauce (I used 4 oz Frank's and 1 oz Tobasco)
chicken broth (or water)

Trim off excess fat from meat, cutting into several large pieces; season generously with salt & pepper.
Heat oil in large skilled over medium heat. Sear meat in hot oil, browning on all sides.
Place chunks of seared meat in crockpot.
Saute chopped onions in hot skillet, browning a  bit to bring out the flavor.
Put onions in crockpot along with green chiles, chile powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and hot pepper sauce.
Add enough chicken broth (or water) to come up about half way up the meat.

Cook on High setting for 6 hours, making sure there is always some liquid in the bottom.
Reduce to low and cook for 2 more hours.
Shred meat, and mix well into the sauce.

Serve for tacos or burritos.
This is great with grilled corn tortillas along with lettuce, tomatoes, chopped onions, guacamole and sour cream.
It also makes a great rice bowl!