[CH] A wonderfully subtle chipotle-tomatillo salsa
Ron Hay (ronhay@pacbell.net)
Thu, 19 Aug 1999 07:53:52 -0700
Good morning, my friends!
Yesterday, when contemplating a use for our bounty of tomatillos, I went
surfing and arrived at a web site known as chuck@gumbopages.com. Under
his salsa section, I found this delightful salsa, which we served with
grilled Chilean sea bass, and was absolutely fabulous. It could be used
on almost anything, but goes especially well with grilled meat, poultry
or fish. Please resist the temptation to crank up the heat, as it will
overpower the delicate, natural sweetness of fresh tomatillos.
25 large tomatillos (about 2 pounds)
3 cloves garlic, unpelled (I peeled our jumbo cloves with their woody
skin)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 canned chipotles in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
1 bunch of cilantro, leaves only
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 1 lime
Husk and wash tomatillos under hot water. With a comal or black iron
skillet (dry), cook tomatillos for 20-25 minutes over medium-high heat
until soft and blackened all over. (Mine were so fresh, right out of the
garden, that they never turned black, but collapsed into a tomatillo
jam, after developing brown spots before they released their juices.) Do
not allow to dry out (fresh ones can hardly dry out!) Shake pan every
few minutes.
Roast garlic until soft but not burnt. (I roasted ours right in the pan
with the tomatillos.) Sautee onion in 1 tablesppon olive oil until soft
and browned. Place tomatillos (in my case, their juices, too), garlic
onion, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, chipotles, adobo sauce, cilantro and
salt in a blender or food processor. Process until combined;
consistency should be even, with no lumps. Add water (!) if necessary.
Add lime juice and blend for a few more seconds. Add more cilantro if
desired. Serve at warm at room temperature, or chilled.
Yield--about 3 cups.
This salsa, in my opinion, ranks along with the best served in really
elegant Mexican restaurants, and is a real find. I hope you all enjoy
it as much as we did.
Ron,
Van Nuys, CA