Green chiles - poblanos, Anaheims, and New Mexico long greens - always make me think of Santa Fe. There, they make salsa with the local chiles and bottle it for sale around the world. This fresh version has more complex seasonings than the Santa Fe product, and is one of the truly great salsas for dipping and slathering all over everything.

Pan roast garlic until brown and soft, then peel. Pan roast onion until brown and soft, then roughly chop. Pan roast tomato until blistered, deeply browned, and soft. Pan roast tomatillo until blistered, browned, and soft. Pan roast poblano chiles until dark brown, then remove seed cores.

Place the garlic, onion, tomato, tomatillo, and chiles in a food processor and pulse briefly until finely chopped. Add the water, cilantro, salt and cumin and process again until blended. Keeps, tightly covered, about 3 days in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

g.howard@ix.netcom.com