 | For the first time in my life, this year on New Year's Day, I made and canned blueberry jam. Also for the first time ever, I planted tomatillos. What do these 2 "firsts" have in common? |
For the first time in my life, this year on New Year's Day, I made and canned blueberry jam. Also for the first time ever, I planted tomatillos. What do these 2 "firsts" have in common? Or maybe you say "so what, where's the recipe?" Well, you get a story first. Read on kind reader!
Last year, a friend gave us some amazing canned goods straight from from a garden most would just dream of. Among these pickled items, relishes and such was a jar of tomatillo salsa. I wasn't thrilled. I've never been a fan of that twangy sour "green" salsa. No thank you...honey, you can have all of it. And it was a big jar.
Somewhere amongst the 4th or 5th fish taco night, I dipped a chip in the green stuff. Hmmm...that's different? (insert chip in salsa again)
That's pretty good and not at all like the nastiness I've had the poor fortune to try in the past.
So about the same time (January) I make the blueberry jam, I'm perusing the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company catalog, dreaming of warmer weather and the opportunity to go outside and dig in the dirt. I come across the Tomato/Tomatillo section and remembered how tasty the salsa verde was.
The catalog description gave this blurb:
Somewhere amongst the 4th or 5th fish taco night, I dipped a chip in the green stuff. Hmmm...that's different? (insert chip in salsa again)
That's pretty good and not at all like the nastiness I've had the poor fortune to try in the past.
So about the same time (January) I make the blueberry jam, I'm perusing the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company catalog, dreaming of warmer weather and the opportunity to go outside and dig in the dirt. I come across the Tomato/Tomatillo section and remembered how tasty the salsa verde was.
The catalog description gave this blurb:
(Physalis ixocarpa) Also called “husk tomato,” for the paper-like calyx or husk that encloses each fruit. They are grown about like tomatoes, except that they are seldom staked; they do tend to be a bit faster from seed than most tomatoes, and a little more tolerant to cold weather. Tomatillos are used in fresh salsas, and cooked in any number of sauces, including Mexican-style chili verde.
They had me at "no staking". I order the seed, start them indoors, and plant about 7 tomatillo plants in the hopes of having a ton of these little husk tomatoes for canning and have throughout the whole year into the winter when fresh vegetables will be but a distant dream. I didn't stake. They promptly rambled into the path along with the Big Max pumpkins effectively killing any pathway that used to exist between the two rows.
Fast forward to now. Some of the husks have semi large fruit in them, but not nearly enough to make salsa for canning. Most are only marble sized and apparently need more time to mature which I guess makes sense as the Pink Brandywine tomatoes also haven't ripened to the point of picking although we did sneak a couple for frying green -- yum!
So Monday night, I looked up the recipe that my friend gave me, and it was every bit as good as the stuff we brought home that she made. Thank you for sticking out the story. Without further ado, I give you:
Fast forward to now. Some of the husks have semi large fruit in them, but not nearly enough to make salsa for canning. Most are only marble sized and apparently need more time to mature which I guess makes sense as the Pink Brandywine tomatoes also haven't ripened to the point of picking although we did sneak a couple for frying green -- yum!
So Monday night, I looked up the recipe that my friend gave me, and it was every bit as good as the stuff we brought home that she made. Thank you for sticking out the story. Without further ado, I give you:
Tomatillo Salsa - "Salsa Verde"
Ingredients:
Tomatillos - 10 large
Jalapenos - 2 or more depending on how hot you want it (3 is pretty dang hot)
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Salt - 1 teaspoon is plenty
Take 10 or so tomatillos out of their paper husks and rinse. They are sticky little monsters and sort of waxy after washing. This is normal. Don't worry about it.
Take 2 or more jalapenos- depending on how hot you want to make it. Pull off stem.
Place tomatillos and jalapenos in water and bring to boil. Cook until tomatillos change color from bright green to a darker green.
Put fresh garlic cloves, half a bunch of cilantro and salt into a blender or food processor. Put the tomatillos and jalapenos in and reserve the water to use if you want thinner salsa. Pulse/blend till consistency you like. Add reserved water if it is too thick.
Put back on stove and bring to a boil. Chill and enjoy.
If you are canning, reheat, pour in jars and do the water bath thing for 7 min.
Tomatillos - 10 large
Jalapenos - 2 or more depending on how hot you want it (3 is pretty dang hot)
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Salt - 1 teaspoon is plenty
Take 10 or so tomatillos out of their paper husks and rinse. They are sticky little monsters and sort of waxy after washing. This is normal. Don't worry about it.
Take 2 or more jalapenos- depending on how hot you want to make it. Pull off stem.
Place tomatillos and jalapenos in water and bring to boil. Cook until tomatillos change color from bright green to a darker green.
Put fresh garlic cloves, half a bunch of cilantro and salt into a blender or food processor. Put the tomatillos and jalapenos in and reserve the water to use if you want thinner salsa. Pulse/blend till consistency you like. Add reserved water if it is too thick.
Put back on stove and bring to a boil. Chill and enjoy.
If you are canning, reheat, pour in jars and do the water bath thing for 7 min.
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