Instructions: To make the mixed tomato salsa: In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, serrano, cilantro, and salt and pepper. Season to taste. Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. (Makes 2 3/4 cups)

In a medium-size saucepan, boil potatoes in salted water to cover until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and cool. Push potatoes through a sieve into a bowl. Scrape the potatoes into a 1-cup measuring cup, and discard the rest. Return potatoes to bowl. Knead in the masa or masa harina. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt.

Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Divide the dough into 18 balls slightly larger than golfballs, and cover with plastic to keep from drying out. If the balls crack when you are rolling them, knead a few drops of water into the dough to give them the consistency of a soft cookie dough. Cut two sheets of plastic (preferably from heavyweight food-storage bags) into 6-inch squares.

One by one, form the fat little tortillas that will become the sopes: With your hands, gently press out a ball of the dough between the sheets of plastic into a 2 1/2-inch circle (it should be about 1/4-inch thick). Peel off the top sheet. Use your thumb and first finger to pinch up the dough into a border about 1/2-inch high around the edge to form a little boat. Flip the tortilla - uncovered-side down - onto the fingers of one hand, then gently peel off the second piece of plastic.

In one flowing movement, roll the tortilla off your hand and onto the griddle or skillet. After about 50 seconds, when the tortilla has loosened itself from the cooking surface, remove it from the griddle. This is just to set the surface of the tortilla, not cook the masa all the way through. While the first tortilla is cooking, continue pressing out others and adding them to the griddle or skillet. After cooking, pierce the bottoms with a fork, taking care not to poke it all the way through. Slip the cooled sopes into a plastic bag or cover them to keep from drying out.

Heat the oil to 375 degrees. Turn on the oven to its lowest setting, and set out a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain the sopes. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the salsa and set out the herbs and crumbled cheese. A few at a time, fry the sopes until they are a rich golden brown, about 50 to 60 seconds. Drain them upside down on the paper towels. As the sopes are fried, keep them warm in the oven.

When all of the sopes have been fried, arrange them on a serving platter. Spoon about 1/2 tablespoon of salsa into each one, top with a tuft of the herbs, and sprinkle generously with the cheese. Serve immediately.

Makes 18 sopes.

Cuisine: "Mexican"

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