Recipes from San Francisco Chronicle:

South To North - `Everything' Salsa Adds Zing to, Well, Everything

Jacqueline Higuera McMahan

The ideal salsa should be able to adorn many things besides tortilla chips.

This summer, while playing around in the kitchen with luscious tomatoes from a nearby farm stand, I discovered the perfect Everything Salsa. It's made with wonderful summer tomatoes, spiked with New Mexico and chipotle chiles, sweetened with red onion, and smoothed with cream.

Best of all, the recipe makes a full quart and keeps well, refrigerated, for up to a week. (You can also freeze it, in one-cup measures, for several months.)

That means you've got plenty for those chips - but much more, too. You can brush Everything Salsa onto chicken breasts or pork tenderloins that are grilling on the barbecue - just omit the cream if you're using it on the grill - or use it to lace vegetables for tacos.

It's even nice on pasta, if - like me - you think salsa goes with just about anything.

Everything Salsa is best, however, in Stacked Enchiladas - one of the easiest and fastest enchilada recipes I know. It's great for a quick summer meal and it, too, can be made ahead.

Instructions: Rinse and stem the chiles, then place in a large pot. Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, water and salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to very, very low. Simmer for 30 minutes. Place half of the solid ingredients in a blender. Add about 1 cup of the liquid (do not use all of the liquid or the sauce will be too thin). Process until the ingredients are pureed.

Push the puree through a fine sieve into a large saucepan. Use a spatula to scrape off all bits of puree from the bottom of the sieve.

fRepeat with the remaining solids and 1 more cup or so of the liquid.

Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes, tasting for seasoning.

Add the half-and-half and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, until the sauce smooths out and the flavors come together. Yields about 1 quart salsa.

Per Tablespoon: 10 calories, 0 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 0 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 69 mg sodium, 0 g fiber. Posted to