SFist in the Kitchen: Tomatillos
We didn't know what to do with the tomatillos we received last year in our CSA box. Though the SFist test kitchen didn't exist yet, its diligent staff draws heavily from French and Italian cuisines. Julia Child and Carol Field don't devote any space to the Mexican food that uses these bright green vegetables with their distinctive papery husks. Now that the test kitchen is in full swing, we kept an eye out for tomatillos so we could share the knowledge we gained last year.
The tart taste of a tomatillo, which is a relative of the tomato, adds a zingy note to guacamole or salads, though Elizabeth Schneider cautions readers to use raw pieces in moderation. More often, chefs cook and purée the vegetables to combat the tough texture. We took this approach, roasting the tomatillos in their husks for about 15 minutes at 450°, peeling them, and running them through a food processor to form the base of a chunky salsa verde that also included grapes, cilantro, mint, garlic, and lime juice. We admit that's not a novel use for this vegetable.
Photos by Melissa Schneider
We figured a gaggle of food bloggers (a roll of bloggers?) would polish off our salsa so that we could try Schneider's recipe for salmon poached on a bed of tomatillos, onion, and chili, but it turns out that people have little appetite when you show up late to a party overflowing with good food. Who knew?
Instead, we used the leftover salsa verde as a sauce to accompany roasted pork tenderloin and an impromptu combination of garlic, peaches, and goat cheese. The combination worked well, balancing sweet, acidic, and savory characteristics and bright flavors. We enjoyed the peachy flavors, crisp acidity, and creamy texture of a Viognier from the Russian River Valley with this dish. If you still need to use up salsa verde, try serving it with warm goat cheese on toasted baguette slices, with a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc nearby.
Tomatillos, better adapted to cold weather than their fragile cousins, can be refrigerated in their husks for some time: weeks, if you get them at their best. Look for tomatillos with intact green husks and firm flesh. You can roast them like we did, or you can barely cover them in water and simmer until tender to yield a softer purée.