Tomatillos: The Topic

[judiu]

Make a tomatillo jam - absolutely delicious! Also they work really nicely in a bloody mary - swap them for the regular tomato juice and use a jalapeno chilli sauce or green tabasco as opposed to the regular one.

love these ideas. What do you call this drink? It would be green, so can't be "bloody."

Spock's bloody mary, or Vulcan Bloody Mary?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had this thought.

I was gonna say Martian Mary (you know, little green men?)

[suzilightning]

i use tomatillos in making a white chili after roasting tomatillos - about 1.5 lbs - with some poblanos. skin the poblanos, 1/2 or 1/4 the tomatillos and add to 2 lbs of center cut pork roast or loin cut into 1" pieces and browned off in some lard. add a sweet onion, bay leaf, oregano,tomatillos, poblanos, cumin and chicken stock. takes about an hour and a half but makes a good chili.

[EatNopales]

A tomatillo-based Bloody Mary with green Tabasco is obviously a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster.

Someone needs to start a drinks topic on this one!

....Substitute fresh, roasted hot green chiles for the dried to make a common salsa verde. I won't tell you to put in cilantro because I know you dislike the stuff. (This is how I make salsa for chicharron en salsa verde, btw.)...

You must be thinking of someone else, I love cilantro. I'll admit that I didn't always, but that was in a galaxy long ago and far, far away.

All these pickling, brining suggestions sound really good. First, though I think I'm going to try some of these salsas and sauces. And I'm going to be on the lookout for some good whole trout, I'd love to try EatNopales' suggestion for Tlapiques--it being corn season it's easy to have fresh corn husks left over from cooking corn (I know you said corn leaves, EatNopales, but hopefully the fresh husks will work, I'm unlikely to get my hands on the leaves).

Linda I was sloppy on the husks / leaves distinction... I meant husks... fresh or dried... both are used traditionally, both work well.

Incidentally, last night I made Escabeche with green tomatoes (our tomato plants are getting close to delivering a killer bounty... might have to make some Amaranth crusted Green Tomato "Milanesas" soon... before the ripes overwhelm us)

[LindaK]

damn, white chili, escabeche...I'm getting very hungry. What are "milanesas??

[Goatjunky]

Roast and dice or even puree and add to guacamole. Really vibrant and fresh tasting

[Dakki]

damn, white chili, escabeche...I'm getting very hungry. What are "milanesas??

Thin slice of beef, breaded and panfried.

Wienerschnitzel, basically, although it's beef instead of veal. Latin America got it through Italy instead of Austria so cotoletta a la Milanesa (I have no idea how to spell that) became milanesa.

[Jaymes]

You can go through buckets of tomatillo salsa on chilaquiles.

And buckets more on Enchiladas Verdes, my personal very favorite enchiladas. In fact, when we go out for Mexican and I order Enchiladas Verdes, which I almost always do, I always ask for an extra portion of the sauce.

[andiesenji]

You can go through buckets of tomatillo salsa on chilaquiles.

And buckets more on Enchiladas Verdes, my personal very favorite enchiladas. In fact, when we go out for Mexican and I order Enchiladas Verdes, which I almost always do, I always ask for an extra portion of the sauce.

I bake thin "layers" of cornbread and spread my chile verde sauce generously on each layer, along with dollops of sour cream (homemade) then press the layers together, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two or three hours.

Makes a nice savory "cake" and the wedges are quite attractive.

Edited August 15, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[EatNopales]

damn, white chili, escabeche...I'm getting very hungry. What are "milanesas??

Thin slice of beef, breaded and panfried.

Wienerschnitzel, basically, although it's beef instead of veal. Latin America got it through Italy instead of Austria so cotoletta a la Milanesa (I have no idea how to spell that) became milanesa.

Yup. In addition in Mexico other forms of "traditional" Milanesa include Chicken Breast, Fish Fillet, flattened Shrimp, as well as (maybe more recently)... vegetable based Milanesas with Cauliflower & Zucchini being the more common ones I have seen cooked at home.

As to how vegetable Milanesas came about the story I heard from my mom is.. there is a more traditional dish Coliflor Capeada that has been prepared for centuries.. big hunks of cauliflower are simmered until somewhat tender then battered, then fried, then simmered in a tomatoe sauce... its a lot of work... and in the 70's cooking shows & recipe magazines focused on easier cooking popularized it as a shortcut to Capeados... so it has grown by extension any vegetable you can maneuver into a flat, wide "fillet" can be "milanesed"

[LindaK]

I picked some of my tomatillos this afternoon--but alas, when I cut into a few, they weren't ripe. This is my first time growing them, so obviously have a lot to learn. Does anyone know if they ripen off the vine, as tomatoes do?

There are still plenty in the garden, I just need a little more patience. In the meatime, if I see any in my regular farmers market, I'll pick some up, I'm anxious to try some of these ideas.

[Emily_R]

Linda -- what do you mean they weren't ripe? They're not supposed to be soft... If they've more or less filled out the husks, then they're generally good to go.

[LindaK]

Emily, yes, I know. I've used them before, but have never grown them. These were still mostly white inside and there wasn't much flavor to them. We had such a long, cold, rainy spring here, everything in the garden is late this year.

[CeeCee]

Like Darienne, I have trouble getting tomatillos. I did find a La Costena can, but I'm not sure if I could use it in recipes described above as these seem to call for fresh ones. Does anyone have any tips for using canned ones?

I feel a craving for an envy Mary now...

[janeer]

Like Darienne, I have trouble getting tomatillos. I did find a La Costena can, but I'm not sure if I could use it in recipes described above as these seem to call for fresh ones. Does anyone have any tips for using canned ones?

I feel a craving for an envy Mary now...

Honestly, canned tomatillos are an almost exact substitute for fresh. One of the best.

[Darienne]

Not sure which forum to put this in...

 

First of all I am not a gardener.  Almost zilch is what I know about growing things.  We live in Zone 5 Ontario which is not prescribed for growing tomatillos, although I grow them every year to make Andie Pasinger's Chile Verde which we love.  Also one store only in my area carries Poblanos and I have a passel of them on my counter right now. 

 

OK.  This summer was colder and wetter than usual and the first hard frost was two nights ago.  I thought I'd better bring in the tomatillos.  Also we never eat them raw.  Now I have some questions:

 

- is it safe to eat them (cooked) when none of them has a dried husk?  (we've done it but I thought I'd ask anyway)

- are they more mature when a paler green rather than a dark green?

- does size count for maturity? 

- what about when the fruit is small but fills the husk completely?

- what about when the fruit is only half as large as the surrounding green husk?

- do you have to get all that sticky off them before eating them?

 

I know I have more questions...thought about them as I was de-husking the little devils, on and on and on...they'll come back to me no doubt.

 

Thanks for any and all help. 

Edited October 20, 2014 by Darienne (log)

[Smithy]

I won't be much help, except possibly to save you some time.  Do you roast them or char them as a cooking method?  After I did that a few times (usually charring over open fire) I decided it wasn't necessary to remove the husks first.  The charring removed (or significantly reduced) the stickiness, and the husks peeled away easily.

[Deryn]

I grew tomatillos (well, they grew me) in NC a few years ago. When they just went wild near the end of the summer, they were in all stages of growth/perfection/maturity. One day, my husband pulled up all the plants at once (no idea why - but they were 'messy') and I had to 'rescue' the fruits. I think I had some of each of what you described in your query.

 

I just removed what husks there were, soaked them all in the sink for a few minutes (mostly to be sure I got the bugs off) and popped them in a pot to cook them down for an impromptu pork chile verde. Tasted great. No one died. Probably wasn't ideal. Had they all been at a very immature stage, I might not have tried that, but, the mix worked quite well in a pinch.

 

I am no expert either. That was my first time growing tomatillos - and the last (so far). Just from my personal experience, I think I would use them all - cooked, mixed up, in a stew or cooked down sauce. Others opinions may vary.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Deryn (log)

[Darienne]

Thanks, eGers. 

 

I throw them all into a couple of basins of water, de-husk them, and then try to get the sticky off them in a few changes of water.  Then I dump them into a huge stainless steel bowl with a bit of oil and then 'roast' them in the oven until soft...when they will be combined with the 'roasted' poblanos, etc, and thrown into the blender to blend.

 

Hmmm...sounds like a lot of throwing and dumping...  Not traditional method...but then my take on 'Mexican' food falls short of Bayless and Kennedy, but works for us.

 

So, unless I hear other in the next couple of hours, that's just what I'll do. 

 

Oh, I found the non-dried husks easier to remove from the watery base.   No bugs.  Too cold. 

 

ps: I used the word 'roast' in apostrophes because my method is just too careless to be called 'roasting'.  If they tend to steam more than roast, then that's what happens.  Actually the above is pretty disgraceful when you consider the traditional methodology and I should be ashamed to have admitted any of it. 

Edited October 20, 2014 by Darienne (log)

[gulfporter]

We lived in Mexico for 5 years and bought a lot of tomatillos.  Simply remove the husks and wipe off the sticky stuff with damp dish towel.    

 

In addition to savory recipes, I used them as a base for a version of mincemeat pie, along with apples and raisins.  Tomatillos are quite acidic and they worked well in that recipe.  

[andiesenji]

I usually just pull off the husks and drop them into a bowl of warm water with vinegar, swish them around a bit and dump into a colander to drain.

Then they go into a roasting pan because I can't eat them raw. I cut the very large ones into halve, quarters or smaller - just so all the pieces are about the same size.

 

I have substituted them in green tomato chutney when the green tomato supply was nil and also  made  the green tomato pie filling (on my blog) with tomatillos successfully.  I didn't grow any this year because I just couldn't handle the effort required.  I have used them from marble size to baseball size and some are dark green, some light green and there is even a purple variety (the Mexican supermarket has the latter occasionally but one has to get in early because they sell out rapidly).

[weedy]

I also just wipe them under running water to get the stickyness off.

 

and I pull the stems off at the same time.

 

 

you can eat them (or blend them into a puréed salsa) raw, or roasted, or charred... the difference is in what that does to their flavour and so it's clearly just up to you!

 

I most often like a blend of 2/3 charred to 1/3 raw in the salsa I make most often.

 

 

But I also love the Bobby Flay (decidedly not Mexican) salsa that takes tomatillos, raw, and processes them up with a bunch of fresh coriander, horseradish, and honey.

it's addictive.

[Darienne]

Aha.  Vinegar.  Of course. 

[andiesenji]

Aha.  Vinegar.  Of course. 

I use 1/2 cup vinegar to a gallon of water - I use this to clean apples, pears, nectarines, plums, grapes and tomatoes, etc., from the market - it will remove some of the wax, not all but it also seems to inhibit the hatch of fruit flies...

[LindaK]

Darienne, if it makes you feel better, I'm very lazy about removing the sticky coating on my tomatillos. After pulling off the husk (I find it easier when they're dry), I put them in a colander in the sink, and just roll them around in my hands under running warm water for a few minutes.  That's it.

 

I do like to roast them and usually do so under the broiler.  Unlike baking them, you do have to watch them so they don't burn. I generally shake the pan a few times so they turn/roll over and cook more evenly.

 

By the way, roasted tomatillos freeze beautifully. A quart freezer bag holds about a pound. Let them defrost in the fridge and they're ready to use.  It's wonderful to have fresh salsa verde or a tortilla verde soup in February.

 

[Darienne]

Thanks LindaK.  The husks would be easier to remove dry...if the husks were dry on mine.  Because they aren't really ready for harvest, the husks are still green and for me easier to remove in the water. 

 

Roasting under the broiler would be better, but I am lazy about some things  (and thank heavens, not about others) roasting them on a half sheet in the oven is easier.  Not to mention that I had pounds and pounds of them at one time.  As noted, we cannot buy them in our area.  And now one of the chains which carried Poblanos has quit doing so, leaving us with only one store.  We do not have much of a hispanic population in east central Ontario. 

 

I have frozen the tomatillos cooked and I have frozen them raw and then cooked them later.  If it makes a difference, my uneducated palate can't tell.