Crowd-sourcing tomatillo sauce.

[mike.stavlund]

Okay, so I just made my first tomatillo sauce, and it blew my mind.

I'm a total n00b, literally saw tomatillos at the farmer's market last Thursday and thought, 'what the heck?'.  Asked the farmers for a few pointers, and then had a chance to ask for advice for one of the teachers at my daughter's school (she had recently tasted my pollo a la brassa, and was eager to talk food).  She is from the TX/Mexico border area, and suggested a really simple recipe:

Tomatillos, roasted over direct heat until brown and/or black, and roasted jalepeno peppers blended together. 

I used some fresh chipotles (ripe/red jalepenos smoked over hickory alongside my ribs yesterday, so not dried but nicely flavored) and also added a bit of fresh cilantro, chives, lime juice, and a splash of Peruvian brandy I had leftover from the chicken recipe.  Plus salt and pepper.  It was incredible.  I removed the seeds and ribs from the peppers, so they brought a nice long, mild heat to the sauce.  Paired it with some roasted spatchcocked chicken that was seasoned with lime and adobo seasoning.

So I'm hoping y'all can help me take the next steps-- what am I missing, what should I leave out, what should I do differently next time?  Listo?  Andele!

[1buckie]

So you got this:

"and it blew my mind"


and you're asking this:

"So I'm hoping y'all can help me take the next steps-- what am I missing, what should I leave out, what should I do differently next time?"


Maybe just do the same one again?

BBcue-Z will maybe have some good ideas on this, too..........................

[landgraftj]

Hopefully I'll try this out by summers end. I'm growing tomatillos and jalapeños but they won't be nice and ripe for at least another month. Until then, store bought will have to do. Love cajun and Mexican cuisine so I can't wait!

[Fo Sizzle My Nizzle]

I made one very similar today for some carnitas I had going.

Had about 6 tomatillos, 1/4 cup of white onion, two cerranos, fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, and one ripe avocado into the blender. Ran it until smooth.

[landgraftj]

Mike it looks like most recipes I've been looking at include onion and garlic and do not include chives. Otherwise they all look pretty similar. Maybe try that next time?

[mike.stavlund]

Try #2





Roasted tomatillos over direct heat, marked thick slices of vidalia onion at the same time. Put the tomatillos straight into the blender, and moved onions off the direct heat to roast. Also added a small clump of garlic cloves to roast. Blended all of that together, plus fresh cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper, water, freshly smoked chipotle (minus seeds and ribs), and a small splash of reposado tequila.

It was very good. The pepper was hotter than the last time, but not too much heat.


Sent from my iPhone using my fingers

[1buckie]

So no chives this time & a smidge hotter?


Sounds pretty dang good to me.....the wife would probably love that mixup !!!!!

[mike.stavlund]

I grabbed the chives last time because they are growing right next to the cilantro.  But yes, the sweet onion that was not entirely cooked was much better. 

Not sure why the sauce was hotter this time around, maybe just that individual pepper or the way the cook didn't get all of the ribs out.  But it was a pretty nice level of heat:  hot, but not enough to blow out the taste buds. 

And I made enough for leftovers, so I'm eager to see what it tastes like after an overnight in the fridge.  I'm also eager to get some more tomatillos at the farmer's market tomorrow morning.  ;-)

[jcnaz]

My friends at work and I make lots of salsa. Each batch is always a bit different!
If it is a tomatillo salsa I don't add any lime.The tomatillos that we buy are usually tart enough on their own.

[landgraftj]

Keep working on that recipe mike, you're doing all the leg work for us! Seriously though, good job so far.

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks for the tip, jcnaz.  It does seem a bit tart, now that you mention it.

The flavors are much more even after a night in the fridge, but the heat is still  nice.  Nicely melded. 

And I found a bunch more tomatillos at the farmer's market this morning (and a fresh cilantro plant to supplement my ailing one), so the experiments will continue.  I better switch to pork tenderloin before my family stages an anti-chicken revolt, though.   ;-)

Terry, it's been quite simple so far-- I am now putting the roasted tomatillos directly into the blender so that I don't lose a drop of the juice, and then it's just a matter of blending and tasting, adding more of this or that until I like it. 

[mike.stavlund]

Okay, so my official position is:  Keep it Simple.

I blew some minds tonight with my salsa verde.  Not simple minds, either, but a former NYC restaurant pro and a BGE guy.  They were speechless at the adobo pork tenderloin with green sauce (they also loved gummi's Filipino banana sauce marinade, as well). 

Just roast those tomatillos over high heat, burn the skins a bit black and put them right into the blender carafe.  Then mark some sweet onion, and indirect roast it along with some garlic.  Cut off the end of the garlic, then squeeze it into the blender, along with some of the roast onion.  Add salt, pepper, and some chipotle (or whatever roast pepper you like).  Fresh cilantro also, and add a little water too.  Keep it in the fridge overnight to develop the flavors. 

[jcnaz]

^^^ That sounds like a winning recipe to me.

[1buckie]

I blew some minds tonight with my salsa verde.  Not simple minds, either, but a former NYC restaurant pro and a BGE guy.  They were speechless at the adobo pork tenderloin with green sauce (they also loved gummi's Filipino banana sauce marinade, as well). 

   "But the ever versatile kettle reigned supreme"    

[MINIgrillin]

Looks like the only thing missing is some tortillas and borracho beans