What do you do with Tomatillos?
Help! The packet of seeds was labelled "ground cherries" but instead I've ended up with 23 enormous tomatillo bushes. My first harvest this morning yielded 30 huge fruits, and these bushes will keep producing until the frost kills them in October or November...what would YOU do with an almost unlimited supply of fresh tomatillos?
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16 Comments:
Are you very certain your seeds were labeled incorrectly? Ground cherries look lot like tomatillos when they are still in their little paper covers. Check google images to confirm.
If they really are tomatillos, I would make a ton of salsa and can it.
ProfessorChaos at 4:13PM on 08/07/09
I'm green with tomatillo envy. My favorite is to make chile verde (I cut the broth way down and do mine in the crockpot) or use the sauce part of that recipe to top black bean enchiladas ... or anything else really.
I also like to make salsa with them with mango, red onion, garlic, ginger, and a little adobo sauce.
You could probably just cut them in half and grill or roast them too ... I would look to use them in place of tomatoes (might not translate to raw uses or all things I'm sure though) to throw a nice summery twist into anything you'd normally do with a tomato-based sauce. You could probably do an eggs in purgatory thing with tomatillo sauce, for example.
joyyy at 4:14PM on 08/07/09
Make tomatillo salsa of course. Can or freeeze a big, big batch.
Then add to stews (pozole), soups (chili, chicken chili, lime-chicken tortilla soup), enchiladas, over tacos, in burritos, quesedillas........
p.s. I'd be happy to take some too. :oD
CJ McD at 4:14PM on 08/07/09
i usually make salsa verde with either raw, blanched or roasted tomatillos, and then use it just as a salsa for dipping, or with chilaquiles or tamales or tostadas or sopes or enchiladas or...a bunch of other stuff.
to tell you the truth, i could use some new ideas about tomatillos myself!
also, a while ago, LA times had an interest article about tomatillos with some suggestions
korovka at 4:18PM on 08/07/09
Kaylyn's Rio Salad Dressing
http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/07/recipe-favorites-cafe-rio-style-creamy.html
Pork and Tomatillo Stew
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pork-and-tomatillo-stew
Chicken and Tomatillo Soup
http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/tomatillos.html
Tomatillo Guacamole
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tomatillo-Guacamole/Detail.aspx
Add some to your chow-chow or make a relish.
Chile Verde
http://simplyrecipes.com/tag/Tomatillo
Chicken with Tomatillos
1 Onion, Diced
2 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
4 Serving Pieces of Chicken
1 Pint and 1 Pound Tomatillos, Peeled and Diced
1 Cup Chicken Broth, or Boullion
Salt
Cook onion until translucent in oil and butter. Add garlic, briefly stirring. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Add chicken broth, reduce heat and cover. Cook 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Add diced tomatillos, and water, if necessary. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring to keep from sticking. Serve chicken with sauce. Several sprigs of lemon basil are a nice addition.
CJ McD at 4:25PM on 08/07/09
Tomatillo Jam
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/tomatillojam.htm
CJ McD at 4:30PM on 08/07/09
This recipe is from Homesick Texan's blog. I've made it.
And it is sooooo GOOD.
Ninfa’s Green Sauce
Ingredients:
3 medium-sized green tomatoes, coarsely chopped (you can substitute yellow if you can’t find green ones, but never use red)
4 tomatillos, cleaned and chopped
1 to 2 jalapenos, stemmed and coarsely chopped
3 small garlic cloves
3 medium-sized ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
4 sprigs cilantro
1 tsp. of salt
1 1/2 cups of sour cream
Method:
Combine chopped tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic in a saucepan. Bring to a boil (tomatoes provide the liquid), reduce heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Place tomato mixture with the avocados, cilantro and salt in food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into a bowl and stir in sour cream.
Makes 4 to 5 cups
CJ McD at 4:40PM on 08/07/09
All of the above plus white chili (cannelini, navy or other white bean, chicken chunks, tomatillos, some kind of pepper for heat, cumin)
betteirene at 5:37PM on 08/07/09
Over a year ago, Mario Batali had a recipe here on Serious Eats for chicken cooked in a tomatillo sauce. It's an all-time fave at my house. I'd make batches and batches if I were you.
July at 6:46PM on 08/07/09
@Professor Chaos- Yes, I'm pretty certain they're tomatillos. They're the size of my palm, and still stubbornly green! I've been comparing canning recipes all afternoon. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year? :D
@CJ McD WOW those recipes look fabulous! If you're in the Pacific NW region, come on up!
@betteirene Mmm...white chili sounds AMAZING for this fall. I'll definitely try that out.
@July Thanks for the chicken heads up- sounds like a real winner for my family! Think it would freeze well?
myrnie_twin at 6:54PM on 08/07/09
I wonder if the person you got them from was trying to use tomatillos in their ground cherry recipes? They must have ended up with some interesting concoctions!
ProfessorChaos at 7:06PM on 08/07/09
@ProfessorChaos Unfortunately, the seed packet came from a rather large seed company! An oops on their part... but wouldn't a tomatillo pie be funny? Perhaps I should make a delivery to company HQ :)
myrnie_twin at 7:18PM on 08/07/09
@myrnie That would be very funny! Mabye accompany it with some tomatillo chocolate chip ice cream and some tomatillo cobbler.
ProfessorChaos at 9:52PM on 08/07/09
Glad for all the terrific tomatillo recipes.
@myrnie_twin: Chances are you'll never have to plant tomatillos again. They're a predominant weed in my garden here in Vermont. Whole tomatillos sprout little forests of seedlings. I just weed all but the ones I want, and leave them in situ.
I have a serious problem with cucumber wilt, a bacterial disease carried by the striped cucumber beetle, who prefer tomatillos to cucumbers, so I treat the tomatillos as a trap crop. But of course I also have oodles of tomatillos, and this year because of the blight I have lots of green tomatoes too, so I'm really happy CJMcD added that salsa recipe. Thanks.
lemonfair at 6:32AM on 08/08/09
i just came back from Mexico and I looooooooove tomatillo-anything...
I make a roasted tomatillo salsa to go with my Cheesy Rice Burritos or for my Mexican Lasagna...
MadelynRodriguez at 5:01PM on 08/10/09
MMMMM - salsa and tomatillo gazpacho. I'd also pickle a few of them. Yum!
CookiePie at 5:27PM on 08/10/09