We do love Mexican flavors and often have some version of Tex-Mex burritos, tacos, or enchiladas on the menu. However, once in awhile I go to my Diana Kennedy cookbooks and do something traditionally Mexican. And, sometimes, I will see an ingredient that says Mexico and buy it whether I’m putting a Mexican meal on the table or not. The other day, the market had the freshest, greenest, perky paper skinned tomatillos that were singing “buy us, buy us”. So, of course, I did.
I had planned to have grilled chicken for dinner – using my trusty grill pan and decided that a lovely Tomatillo Sauce would be just the thing to perk up the chicks. Not only did it do that very nicely, but it also added some zest to some grilled sandwiches we had for lunch the following day.
I first grilled the tomatillo along with shallots and garlic. Then, I chopped the grilled mix in a food processor along with some cilantro and a jalapeño. Seasoned it up with lime juice and salt and we had a most delicious charred tomatillo sauce to zest up our dinner.
So that’s what you do with them! Sounds and. Looks so tasty that they will be on our menu next time I see them in the store. Your blog is so inspiring… thanks for your insight, otherwise I would never know what to do with them!
This sauce would be great with grilled or rotisseried chicken — or almost anything else – bean burritos, tacos, roast pork – you name it and this sauce makes it sing!
Sophie Coe, my guru when it comes to early Meso-American cooking, in her masterpiece, America’s First Cuisines, tells us that the tomatillo (also known in Mexico as “miltomate,” “tomate verde,” or simply “tomate”) was likely the most-consumed “tomatl” (Nahuatl for a general class of plump fruit) in pre-Columbian times. Yes, more than the “jitomate” or red, ripe tomato to us English speakers. That explains, I think, why a mouthful of tomatillo salsa transports you straight to Mexico. It is the gustatory essence of the country – a gleaming contour of fresh green spiciness, herbal perfume and zest.