Roasted Tomato or Tomatillo Salsa

Directions

1. 1
   Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. 2
   Put the whole chiles and the garlic cloves, unpeeled in the pan.
3. 3
   Core the tomatoes and cut them in half.
4. 4
   If cooking tomatillos, remove the husks and cut the tomatillos in half.
5. 5
   Add the tomatoes or tomatillos to the pan, and cook the vegetables for 10 minutes or so, until they start to soften and brown.
6. 6
   Turn them over to brown on the other side, and cook until tender throughout, then remove from the pan.
7. 7
   Squeeze the soft garlic cloves out of the skins.
8. 8
   Remove the stems from the serranos and slice the chiles.
9. 9
   Combine the garlic and chiles in the mortar and grind to a paste.
10. 10
    Add the tomatoes, with or without the skins, and mash them to blend thoroughly with the garlic and chiles.
11. 11
    Peel and finely dice the onion, put it in a small strainer, and rinse in water to crisp the onion and take away some of the raw bite.
12. 12
    Stir the onion into the salsa and season with salt, a squeeze of lime juice, and the chopped cilantro.