Tomatillos just got mentioned in the pizza thread. I've been
intrigued by the idea of these for, ooh, about a decade, but didn't
find them here (England - Oxford at the time, now London) until a
couple of months ago, when I spotted them for 50p each on a stall at
Borough Market[0]. Of course I bought some. I ended up putting them
in a salsa with tomatoes, fresh green chilli, and lime juice - and
they were gorgeous. I really should get some more. What else is good
to do with them? And is 50p each a reasonable price? That's, um,
about 80 US cents, I think.

Kake
[0] http://openguides.org/london/index.cgi?Borough_Market

In article ,
Kate Pugh writes:
| Tomatillos just got mentioned in the pizza thread. I've been
| intrigued by the idea of these for, ooh, about a decade
....
And is 50p each a reasonable price? That's, um,
| about 80 US cents, I think.


I grew tomatillos for the first time this year, near Seattle Washington
which is a similar climate to London. They were easy to grow, very
prolific, and frankly I got a little tired of green salsa, so I would
love to hear of other recipes that use them. 80 US cents each sounds
expensive to me. I should think about going into business!

-Keith

Hey Kake.

They're best in salsas, though purists like me would never mix tomatoes
and tomatillos in the same dish.

Try using them in sauces for fried or scrambled tofu (kind of like a
fake huevos rancheros verde dish), as a sauce for green enchiladas
(tofu, tvp, or veggie filling), and so on. I think they're best roasted
first (which helps to get the peel off; be sure to remove the husk and
wash the fruit first) rather than boiled. We roast them on the stove
using a comal (kind of like a round griddle), but you can roast them in
the oven.

As for price, I probably should keep my mouth shut. They sell in stores
here for about 80 cents to a dollar per pound -- about a dozen per pound
of smallish ones, half that if mature. I have a bunch of tomatillo
shrubs growing wild (as they normally do) so I get them for free.
Naturally, you'll pay a lot more for them in the UK. Too bad they don't
like the cold or cloudy weather.


Kate Pugh wrote:
Tomatillos just got mentioned in the pizza thread. I've been
intrigued by the idea of these for, ooh, about a decade, but didn't
find them here (England - Oxford at the time, now London) until a
couple of months ago, when I spotted them for 50p each on a stall at
Borough Market[0].
mod sniop

writes:

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003, Kate Pugh wrote:

Tomatillos just got mentioned in the pizza thread. I've been
intrigued by the idea of these for, ooh, about a decade, but didn't
find them here (England - Oxford at the time, now London) until a
couple of months ago, when I spotted them for 50p each on a stall at
Borough Market[0]. Of course I bought some. I ended up putting them
in a salsa with tomatoes, fresh green chilli, and lime juice - and
they were gorgeous. I really should get some more. What else is good
to do with them? And is 50p each a reasonable price? That's, um,
about 80 US cents, I think.


Yikes. That would be an EXCEEDINGLY high price here. I
paid (IIRC) $2/lb for them. A pound is quite a few
tomatillos. And I'm in the northeastern USA, nowhere near
the Southwest with its emphasis on Mexican and Tex-Mex food.

Same here (New Hampshire). I just bought a giant crate of them for
$0.80/lb for making more of my fire-roasted chipotle salsa (which I'll
post if I can dig out the recipe), since we decided to can some this
year, and ran out of tomatillos from the garden.

They're evidently easy enough to grow, and can be treated
just like tomatoes (from a growing standpoint). I'm going
to grow at least two plants next year. Maybe you could grow
some?

In fact, I've found tomatillos produce more and are hardier than most
tomato plants.


--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

(Keith Michaels) writes:
They were easy to grow, very
prolific, and frankly I got a little tired of green salsa, so I would
love to hear of other recipes that use them.

I use them in tortilla soup. I use a modified recipe from one of the Moosewood
cookbooks, but most any good tortilla soup recipe I've found uses tomatillos.

--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

I used to live in Mexico and here is my recipe for 'salsa verde' or green
sauce.

1 lb. tomatillos
1 medium onion
a handful of cilantro (fresh coriander)
1 or 2 serrano chiles or other hot green chiles
salt to taste

Take the husks off the tomatillos and wash them well. Drop them into a pot
of boiling water and cook until they lose their bright green color and are
soft, maybe 5 minutes. Drain well.

Put the tomatillos along with the remaining ingredients into a blender or
food processor, and prosess until all ingredients are chopped. Place the
salsa into a bowl and let cool. Use on tacos, etc.


On Thu, 16 Oct 2003, Kate Pugh wrote:

Tomatillos just got mentioned in the pizza thread. I've been
intrigued by the idea of these for, ooh, about a decade, but didn't
find them here (England - Oxford at the time, now London) until a
couple of months ago, when I spotted them for 50p each on a stall at
Borough Market[0]. Of course I bought some. I ended up putting them
in a salsa with tomatoes, fresh green chilli, and lime juice - and
they were gorgeous. I really should get some more. What else is good
to do with them? And is 50p each a reasonable price? That's, um,
about 80 US cents, I think.

Kake
[0] http://openguides.org/london/index.cgi?Borough_Market

wrote:
I suppose they are an exotica in the UK, a rarity.

Yes - I've only seen them once. I'll have a look around and see if I
can find them cheaper elsewhere.

They're evidently easy enough to grow, and can be treated just like
tomatoes (from a growing standpoint). I'm going to grow at least
two plants next year. Maybe you could grow some?

Now that's plausible - as long as they're the kind of plants that
could be moved at short notice, ie I'd grow them in a pot rather than
planted in the garden. Basically I'd need to be able to move house
with them partway through the growing season if necessary. Are they
going to be suitable for that? And, should I be looking for seeds or
baby plants?

Kake

usual suspect wrote:
They're best in salsas, though purists like me would never mix tomatoes
and tomatillos in the same dish.

Come to think of it, I'm not actually sure whether I did put tomatoes
in that salsa. It was a while ago.

I think they're best roasted first (which helps to get the peel off;
be sure to remove the husk and wash the fruit first) rather than boiled.

Ah. I used them raw. Was that wrong? They were really nice.

Kake
who is making your meatless meatballs again tonight if housemate manages
to buy TVP, and will repost the recipe here if all goes to plan

Richard Kaszeta wrote:
I use them in tortilla soup. I use a modified recipe from one of
the Moosewood cookbooks, but most any good tortilla soup recipe I've
found uses tomatillos.

I've never made or eaten tortilla soup, so I'm not sure what to look
out for to be sure of choosing a good recipe. It sounds like
something I would like, though. Could you share your recipe, please,
or some hints on what a good tortilla soup should include?

Kake

Kate Pugh writes:

Richard Kaszeta wrote:
I use them in tortilla soup. I use a modified recipe from one of
the Moosewood cookbooks, but most any good tortilla soup recipe I've
found uses tomatillos.

I've never made or eaten tortilla soup, so I'm not sure what to look
out for to be sure of choosing a good recipe. It sounds like
something I would like, though. Could you share your recipe, please,
or some hints on what a good tortilla soup should include?

Here it is. To give credit where credit is due, it's mostly the
recipe from one of the Moosewood cookbooks, although I've tinkered
with it a bit (adding garlic, adjusting some of the ingredients, etc)

Tortilla Soup:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 jalapenos, minced
1 chipotle pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp adobo sauce (note that the abovementioned chipotles usually
come in a can packed in adobo sauce)
8 tomatillos, husked, seeded, and diced
1 large poblano pepper, diced
1 zucchini
1 tablespoon of ground coriander
1 tablespoon of fresh cumin seed, toasted and ground
1 teaspoon of Mexican oregano (not Mediterranean)
8 cups of vegetable broth (usually the ones that claim to taste like
chicken work best)
Juice from two limes
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups of fresh corn kernels
8 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2" strips
Grated Queso Blanco

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, saute the onion, garlic,
jalapeno, chipotle, tomatillos, peppers, and zucchini in the oil until
softened. Add the spices and saute for a few minutes. Add the
chicken stock, lime, and adobo and simmer for 10 minutes. While
simmering, bake the tortilla strips in the oven for about 10 minutes,
until they crispen. Add the corn and cilantro and simmer for another
10 minutes. Serve by lining a soup bowl with the tortilla strips,
pouring soup on top, and garnishing with the queso blanco.

--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

Kate Pugh wrote:
They're best in salsas, though purists like me would never mix tomatoes=
=20
and tomatillos in the same dish.
=20
Come to think of it, I'm not actually sure whether I did put tomatoes
in that salsa. It was a while ago.

It's not a mortal sin even if you did.

I think they're best roasted first (which helps to get the peel off;
be sure to remove the husk and wash the fruit first) rather than boiled.
=20
Ah. I used them raw. Was that wrong? They were really nice.

No, they can be used raw. It's more common around here, though, to use=20
them in cooked salsas. Roasting them first, before cooking with other=20
ingredients, adds a very rich depth of flavor. The cooked salsas are=20
pretty good for some of the suggestions I offered like tofu enchiladas,=20
scrambled tofu, and so on.

Kake
who is making your meatless meatballs again tonight if housemate manage=
s
to buy TVP, and will repost the recipe here if all goes to plan

Hope you enjoy'em. BTW, I've cooked them using more Tex-Mex ingredients=20
(chili powder, cumin, epazote, garlic, oregano, etc.) and then stewed=20
them in a salsa verde. The salsa verde consisted of roasted garlic,=20
tomatillos, onion, serranos, and jalape=F1os.