Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Last Year's Post:  Farro and Kale Salad
Two Years Ago:   Breakfast Sandwiches with Canadian Bacon, Chipotle Cheddar and Guacamole

Tomatillo salsa is great with shrimp, fish, chicken, pork, and eggs (think huevos rancheros).  It's a great sauce for tacos, fajitas, quesadillas and enchiladas.  Roasting the tomatillos and jalapenos gives them a wonderful deep flavor, much like my favorite red tomato salsa.  This recipe only takes a few minutes to make, and the salsa freezes beautifully for later.

If you're not familiar with tomatillos, they look like this on the inside.

The outer husk is papery and loose, but the inner fruit should be firm to the touch. Remove the papery outer husk and rinse the tomatillos to get rid of the sticky stuff before roasting.  Or I should say, charring.  You really do want the charred parts - they add great flavor.

After that, it's just a simple matter of blending everything and letting it sit to develop the flavors.  If you've ever had New Mexican cuisine at a restaurant,  they ask you whether you want red sauce, green sauce, or "Christmas" (both red and green).  Next time you make enchiladas, try them Christmas style - you'll be amazed at how good they taste.

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Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Makes 2 cups

1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed

2 to 4 jalapenos, to taste, stemmed, cut in half lengthwise and seeded

¼ cup chopped white or yellow onion, soaked for 5 minutes in cold water, drained and rinsed

1 garlic clove, peeled and halved

½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Heat broiler, positioning a rack at highest setting under the heat.  Cover a baking sheet with foil and place tomatillos on top, stem side down.  Add jalapeno halves to the pan, skin side up.  Broil 2-5 minutes until some tomatillos and jalapenos are well charred.  Remove the jalapenos as they are charred, and turn the tomatillos over.  Continue to broil, turning tomatillos and removing jalapenos and tomatillos as they are done.

Transfer the tomatillos, jalapenos, and any accumulated juice to a blender.  Add onion, garlic, cilantro and ¼ cup water and blend to a coarse puree.  Transfer to a bowl and thin as desired with water.  Taste and adjust salt.  Set aside for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

The salsa may be placed in jars with tight-fitting lids and frozen for several months.  Thaw overnight before using.