Rita's Tomato Salad- Tongue Tingler

Many years ago, my mother created this easy-to-make salad. She wrote her first cookbook, published locally in Roswell, New Mexico which quickly sold out. Her second cookbook was done in conjuction with the chef at Tinnie's Silver Dollar restaurant in Lincoln, New Mexico.

This easy and quick recipe for that next pot luck that you can't decide what to bring.  You will need the following ingredients:

• 5 medium size tomatoes- Beefsteaks are best but any good ripe tomato will do. Vine ripened and home grown also adds to the taste. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 10-15 seconds and cool immediately in cold water. Core, peel, and cut into bite size pieces.
• French Bread baguette- This is to dip into the juice from the salad.

Mix the following ingredients

• 1/2 cup of light vegatable oil. VERY IMPORTANT: Knowing how healthy olive oil is, one might be tempted to substitute. DON'T! Olive oil is much too heavy and the taste is too overpowering. In short, it's nasty!
• 5 cloves of garlic- finely chopped.
• Tobasco to taste. We usually add between 5 and 10 shakes. You need to have enough to just tingle the tongue.

Add the tomatoes and allow to sit for at room temperature for about two hours before serving for best results. Not a show stopper though. You can wait a shorter time if in a time crunch.

Slice the baguette into thin slices to dip into the juice from the salad. Serve at room temperature .

Enjoy as my family has for many, many years.

Stuart