Whip out the food processor and fire up the grill because you’ll need these essential tools to clone one of the best
restaurant salsas in the business. The key to recreating the flavor of the real deal is to fire roast the tomatoes and the
jalapenos, and to add a little mesquite-flavored liquid smoke. The restaurant chain uses a mesquite grill, so these
steps are crucial to getting the same smoky flavor as the addictive restaurant version. Chevys uses chipotle
peppers, which are smoked red jalapenos. But unless you grow your own jalapenos, it may be difficult to find the riper red variety in your local supermarket. For this recipe, the green jalapeno peppers will work fine if you can’t find the red ones.Adjust the number of jalapenos you use based on the size of the peppers that are available: If you have big jalapenos you need only 6, and you’ll need around 10 if your peppers are small.

MAKES APPROXIMATELY 2 CUPS.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium tomatoes
• 6 to 10 jalapenos (use more if small, fewer if large)
• ¼ of a medium Spanish onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons liquid mesquite smoke

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your barbecue grill to high temperature.
2. Remove any stems from the tomatoes, then rub some oil over each tomato. Leave the stems on the jalapenos and rub some oil on them, too.
3. Place the tomatoes on the grill when it’s hot. After about 10 minutes, place all of the jalapenos onto the grill. In about 10 minutes you can turn the tomatoes and the peppers. When almost the entire surface of the peppers has charred black you can remove them from the grill. The tomatoes will turn partially black, but when the skin begins to come off they are done. Put the peppers and tomatoes on a plate and let them cool.
4. When the tomatoes and peppers have cooled, remove most of the skin from the tomatoes and place them into a food processor. Pinch the stem end from each of the peppers remove any skin that has burned, and place the peppers into the food processor with the tomatoes.
5. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and puree on high speed for 5 to 10 seconds or until the mixture has a smooth consistency.
6. Place the salsa into a covered container and chill for several hours or overnight so that the flavors develop.