Grilling: Tomatillo Salsa
With the amount of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes I've served up here, it should come as no surprise that Cinco de Mayo is probably my favorite cooking holiday. I start trying out party menu items weeks in advance, taking every opportunity to whip up some fine Mexican foods. Of course no Cinco de Mayo affair would be complete without salsa, and my current favorite is Rick Bayless's roasted tomatillo salsa.
Although the original recipe has the tomatillos cooked stovetop in a skillet, it's easily adaptable to the grill, and I actually find it cleaner and easier to make this over the flames. I grill tomatillo halves until they're completely soft, then pulse them together with some garlic, chiles, cilantro, and water. After adding in chopped onion, I adjust the seasoning with sugar and salt, and so quickly a beautiful and fresh salsa with a complex mix of tart, sweet, and spicy is ready to go. I always make a double recipe of this, because I usually finish a single myself before anyone else even gets a chance at it.
Grilled Tomatillo Salsa
Adapted from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless.
Ingredients
8 ounces husked, rinsed, and halved tomatillos
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled
1 jalapeño or 2 serrano chiles, stemmed and roughly chopped
1/3 cup (loosely packed) roughly chopped cilantro
1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup water
Sugar
Salt
Procedure
1. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals out evenly over the charcoal grate. Clean and lightly oil the cooking grate. Place tomatillo halves on the grill, cut side down. Grill until browned and they begin to soften. Flip and continue to cook until completely softened. Remove the tomatillos to the work bowl of a blender or food processor. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Add garlic, chiles, cilantro, and 1/4 cup of water to the bowl and pulse until coarsely pureed. Pour salsa into a small dish and stir in the onion. Thin the salsa out with more water if necessary. Taste and add sugar to if the salsa is too tart. Season with salt to taste.
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14 Comments:
'Tis the season for tomatillos! I agree with your grilling method, really warms up the flavor. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
tabletalk at 8:32PM on 04/24/09
Great recipe, pretty much the same thing I do, definitely trying some of the tomatillos grilled next time.
I'd recommend using lime and lemon juice in place of sugar.
UncleDave at 3:13AM on 04/25/09
thank you.. i'm a tomatillo virgin, not eating, but fixing. I love Salsa Verde and was looking for something I could try for my first attempt that would be easy .. and wonderful. FOUND IT! Thanks. Grilled tomatillos, cilantro..oh yum!
TeriN at 7:47AM on 04/25/09
I'd grill the onion too. Ba-BOOM.
Tallula Hamburger at 3:30PM on 04/25/09
This looks delicious. I love tomatillos.
driftingfocus at 8:18PM on 04/25/09
defintely going to grill up some tommy's....
looks SO delish.
pooch at 5:48PM on 04/27/09
This was delicious, but I would chop the onion a little finer next time I make it. I made it a bit to chunky, but the roasted flavor was superb.
FryPrayEatPassOut at 4:48PM on 05/01/09
Here's my recipe for spicy salsa-
Ingredients:
3 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium red onion, small dice
2 tomatillos
2 fresh poblano peppers
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 persian limes, zested and juiced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
kosher salt
Equipment:
Barbeque or gas cooktop
Method:
Roast the poblanos on a hot barbeque or over a gas flame until the skins are charred. Allow to cool, then peel, seed, and chop the peppers.
Roast the tomatillios as well, until they soften, then chop.
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and season to taste with salt. Refrigerate for one hour, and pour off excess liquid in bottom of bowl before serving.
salpico at 12:27PM on 05/02/09
After seeing this post, I ran home to make it this weekend. Awesome! I will have to go out and buy more tomatillos because I ate most of what I plan to serve tomorrow for cinco de mayo!
ltunick at 11:15AM on 05/04/09
I made it this weekend too! Used juice of one lime instead of water and didn't use sugar. Couldn't have been easier or tastier!
Roxipapi at 3:03PM on 05/04/09
This sounds good. I love tomatillos. Here's my guacamole--
1 lime
2 ripe avocados
3 tomatillos
4 cloves garlic
Mash avocados. Dice tomatillos. Crush garlic. Mix together with juice of the lime. Add salt to taste. Eat.
MarvinDog at 10:18PM on 05/05/09
Im a newbie. About how many tomatillos (medium size) constitute 8 ounces?
Mr_Bentley at 4:10PM on 05/10/09
Samantha Brown on Travel channel is HOT!
old chef at 2:32PM on 05/15/09
This is so yummy. I made it for 4th of July and it was a HUGE hit.
dcspecialk at 4:26PM on 07/06/09