A Southern Grace: where have you been all my life?

March 14, 2014

where have you been all my life?

Yum

I went a long time without playing with tomatillos in the kitchen, over 30 years, to be more exact. I guess I was intimidated for some reason, but I always enjoyed dishes that featured them.


I don't think I ever even noticed them in the grocery store--they were something my eyes just skimmed over, ignored like that tin of sardines that's been in the cabinet for an eternity. I finally bucked up and paid attention, though, and brought some home for some experimentation. I turned to my guru for anything and everything involving Mexican cuisine--Mr Rick Bayless. (High on my bucket list is a trip to at least one of his restaurants.) He had plenty of recipes for salsa, and I picked one that was less smooth and more chunky.


Bayless didn't disappoint. Half of an avocado is pureed with the some of the tomatillos, making the salsa super creamy and flavorful. The chunks consist of the other half of the avocado all diced up, as well as some chopped tomatillos. I added some sugar and lime juice to the recipe because I thought it might be good, and it was. If you don't want sugar anywhere near your salsa, I can understand that, but I think the lime juice is a must.

I can tell that this will become a refrigerator staple for us, so I'm thrilled to be on board the tomatillo train. Better late than never!

Tomacado Avotillo Salsa
Based on this recipe
Ingredients:
  • 8 ounces (about 4 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup (loosely packed) coarsely chopped cilantro
  • 1 small jalapeƱo, stemmed and roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 ripe avocado, pitted, flesh scooped from the skin
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, or to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Roughly chop half of the tomatillos and scoop them into a food processor with the cilantro and jalapeno pepper.
Measure in water and lime juice and process to a slushy, coarse puree.
Roughly chop half the avocado, add it and the sugar to the processor and pulse until incorporated into the salsa.
Scrape into a serving dish.
Finely chop the remaining tomatillos and add them to the bowl.
Finally, chop the remaining avocado into 1/4-inch pieces and stir that into the salsa.
Taste and season with pepper and salt.

27 comments:

Alicia Foodycat said...

Well, I've made it 40 years without tasting (to my knowledge) a tomatillo, so you are still up on me! I've recently seen canned ones, so I will have to give them a go.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That salsa look really good! I wish I could easily find tomatillo here...

Cheers,

Rosa

Ally said...

Looks tasty!

Last year one of my friends (who has a green thumb) grew some purple tomatillos. If she has some again this year, I might try them with this recipe! :)

Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic said...

I don't cook with tomatillos often enough! This sounds amazing.

Rosita Vargas said...

Luce estupenda y sabrosa esta salsa quiero untar,abrazos.

Blond Duck said...

Yum!

Juliana said...

I have never used tomatillos...like the idea of avocado in this salsa.
Thanks for the recipe Grace...have a wonderful weekend :D

Angie's Recipes said...

Don't see tomatillo here...I would love to taste your salsa, Grace.

Beth said...

I've never seen tomatillos for sale locally. But if I do, now I know what I'll do with them!

Lorraine Not Quite Nigella said...

I first tried tomatillos is America. We don't tend to get them much here but if I do find some, I'll be doing this with them for certain! :)

Joanne said...

It took a while for me to discover tomatillos as well...but now I can't get enough of their sweet-tartness! I'm sure this salsa is fabulous.

Barbara said...

I'm with you....but with many more years under my belt :), but have never experimented with tomatillos. I see them all the time in the market, but never know quite what to do with them. I can see they'd be great in this salsa...so pleased you gave it a try...now I'll copycat.
Love Rick Bayless!

Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies said...

Such similar thoughts when I was reading your post today. I have so many recipes that call for tomatillos, yet for some reason I shy away from them. This salsa sounds simply amazing, maybe you will help me break the barrier and finally touch a tomatillo!

Gloria Baker said...

this plate look so good Grace:))

Carolyn Jung said...

I think I can go to town on that with an entire bag of chips! LOL I, too, am guilty of not using tomatillos not nearly enough. Probably only cooked with them twice. Must start using them more.

pam said...

I can never find them around here, but I have been known to bring suitcases filled with them home from vacations!

I Wilkerson said...

I discovered tomatillos a few years ago when one of my CSAs grew them. They do an annual salsa party and the tomatillo salsa was the best! This winter I ordered some for my buying club and also made avocado and tomatillo salsa--I almost fell off my chair when I saw this recipe on your blog! It was well enjoyed here too!

Anonymous said...

Tomatillo is pricey imported stuffed here in Indonesia...
and you've made it just right!!!

Pam said...

Mmmm. It looks and sounds fantastic.

Lisa-Marie said...

I had to googled tomatillo! Google says it's like a gooseberry - is it sharp in the same way? If so, yuuuuuum!

Marjie said...

And it's the right color for St. Patrick's Day, too! Mexican food on an Irish holiday; what could be better?

~~louise~~ said...

I want to get on the Tomatillo Train too, Grace. I do the same exact thing for some reason. I don't know why. As a matter of fact, I actually looked at them in the grocery store the other day and still passed right over them. Why oh why???

This is a perfect introduction to them, Grace. And you can't go wrong with Bayliss. I'm so saving this and the next time I pass those tomatillo, I'm going to take the plunge!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the recipe, Grace...

Blond Duck said...

I hope you had a good weekend!

Katerina said...

The color is amazing and I bet the taste is equally delicious!

Lucy @ Lucyeats said...

Haha, I don't think I've ever seen a tomatillo before let alone touch one - I had to google what it was! I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled in the supermarket for these now!

Caroline Taylor said...

I love tomatillos, what a great way to use them.

Becki's Whole Life said...

You have inspired me to try using some Tomatillos in my next salsa. I always love them when I eat anything that has them in there so not quite sure why I haven't made anything with them before?