Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

aka salsa verde

I've posted a tomatillo sauce recipe before, a concoction that is mild and goes very nicely with a mild, cheesy enchilada. This salsa verde by Rick Bayless is much more flavorful, though, and is more of a star unto itself - great for serving with chips, or livening up simple beans and rice. M. saw the recipe featured on Mr Bayless's delightful show, Mexico One Plate at at Time. We first tried it out when Mom, intending to buy 4 tomatillos, accidentally bought 4 pounds of tomatillos via Peapod. This time around, we got a unit of tomatillos from our farm box and M. scored a free habanero from another stand.

Below is my adaptation of this recipe. You can add more or less hot peppers, depending on your type.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Makes ~2 cups
Heat up the broiler.
Husk, stem, and wash ~1 lb tomatillos.
Peel 4 cloves garlic and 1/2 sweet onion.
Stem 1-2 hot peppers (we used 1 jalapeno and 1/2 habanero).
Roast the tomatillos, garlic, onion, and peppers in a rimmed pan (like a brownie pan) ~4" under the broiler until the skin of the tomatillos partially browns/blackens, about 4". Check them frequently - you can overdo it with a broiler pretty quickly.
When 1 side of the veggies looks good and roasted, flip/stir them and roast the other side for another 4 minutes or so.
Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
Meanwhile, wash and chop a small handful of cilantro (~1/4 c).
Put the roasted veggies, cilantro, and 1/2c water in a blender and run for just a few seconds - you want everything to chopped/mixed up but not completely uniform in consistency.

Note: this freezes really well!

Swordfish and Vegetables to Great Falls

Suzanne and M came to Great Falls (August 3) bearing swordfish from Whole Foods, zucchini from the rooftop at 704 William, and tomatoes from One Star Farm. (And lots of other things that made a fabulous gazpacho.) They also brought the following recipe from Whole Foods, calling for 3/4 lb. swordfish, skin removed 2 medium tomatoes, diced 2 small zucchini or yellow summer squash, or one of each [the recipe is so user-friendly], diced (about 2 1/2 cups) 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 T brined capers, drained and chopped We mixed the vegetables and put them atop the swordfish in an oiled casserole and let it meld in the frig. Suzanne added pepper and salt, and Robin leaned out the window and got thyme from the flowerbox. We cooked it for 35 minutes.