What to do with Tomatillos (Salsa Verde)

I grew tomatillos this year and have been asked, "What does one do with tomatillos?" Hopefully this helps to understand the lantern fruit a little better and to enjoy it deliciousness. 

The seedlings

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A little bigger

A lantern fruit hugging the ground

A much needed pollinator. Tomatillo plants require you to have two plants at least because they can not self pollinate. 

This is just the one plant. My goodness.

The Harvest

Tomatillo Salsa:
3 pounds of Tomatillos
2 shallots-peeled
1 yellow onion- peeled
1 Jalapeno
1 Red pepper
1 Whole Clove of Garlic (un-shucked)
2 Limes
Handful of Cilantro
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (more to taste)

Roast the pan with the Tomatillos, Shallots, Onion, Peppers, and Garlic at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes to an hour

After the pan looks like this, let cool.

After it has cooled, squeeze the juice from the tomatillos out. There is plenty of seeds and juice left over, trust me. Discard the juice onto the foil and then toss the foil afterward.

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until desired consistency. I put it on high for 30 seconds or so. 

The Red one is a tomato salsa I made in the same night. Tomatillo is Green. (Salsa Verde)

After the salsa is made, you can make

Chicken Enchiladas:
Rotisserie Chicken that is already made
Jack Cheese
Corn Tortillas
Salsa Verde

Enchilada Sauce:
2 Cup Chicken Stock
2 Tbls Flour
2 Tbls Chili Powder
1 Tbls Chipotle Chili powder (habenero)
1 Tbls Cumin
1/4 Cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Mix until spices and flour dissolve into chicken stock.
 

Make sure you lay corn tortillas down first to lay the little enchiladas on.

Chicken, then Salsa Verde, then a little cheese

Fold into a pan with the open side down on the 4 corn tortillas you laid out as a base

Add Jack Cheese

Add Enchilada Sauce 

Add olives, Cilantro, Sour Cream and Green Onions. Serve with Salad.

Plum Poppy Seed Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Deb Perleman's Smitten Kitchen Cookbook which my dear friend gave to me for my birthday last year.

The plums I used were from the tree in the back yard. I put in a cup more of sugar overall because I love my sugar and wanted more of a desert than a muffin. The plums were not fully ripe and so that is also why I added more sugar.

• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces or 85 grams) unsalted butter, melted and browned and cooled, plus butter for muffin cups
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar
• ¾ cup (180 grams)  full- fat plain yogurt
• 1-1/2 cup (125 grams) all- purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons (20 grams) poppy seeds
• 2 cups pitted and diced plums, from about ¾ pound (340 grams) Italian prune plums (though any plum variety will do)

Wet ingredients 

The book Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

Dry ingredients 

 Do not use the mixer at this point. Fold the fruit it so as not to turn the fruit to mush.

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Ready for the oven

I used cupcake holders with foil on the inside which helps bake and remove afterward.

To share at work with co-workers

Insects R Us

I love to spend time with the insects in the garden. 

I find myself becoming very zen watching their behavior.  

I  enjoy killing aphids by hand. 

I do not use poison. 

Dragonflies are 99.9 % effective at hunting. The best predator. 

Largest praying Mantis in my garden

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A slightly smaller Mantis

I bought an egg sack earlier in the year and 3 or 4 occupy parts of the whole garden.

Smallest Mantis in the garden.

Proud to have attracted a Monarch butterfly

An elusive jumping spider

Damselfly. Also 99.9 % effective at killing what it intends to kill. A pollinator and a defender. 

One of my local pollinators 

Butterfly on Tomatillo 

Hello, Ladybug.

Snail.

Pesto to Pizza

I grew the basil myself.

Varieties: Lettuce Leaf Basil & Corsican Basil (purple)

The Corsican Basil is an heirloom variety that is said to have originated where Napoleon grew up.

Pesto:
2 Cups of fresh, homegrown, basil
2 Tbls pine nuts
5 cloves of roasted garlic (put a whole garlic clove in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes to an hour and then pop the 5 out you need)
1 Cup of grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 Cup of Olive oil

Add basil, pine nuts, garlic, & cheese to blender and mix into a pulp. The leaves will stick to the sides of the blender so periodically stop the blender and scrape the sides. After the leaves have made a pulp, drizzle the olive oil in until the desired consistency.  More cheese creates a 'dry' pesto while more oil creates a 'wet' pesto.

I made the pizza sauce from tomatoes from the garden but forgot to take pics during the process.

Sauce:
1 yellow onion 
2 Tbls butter
3 large homegrown tomatoes 
1 Tbls honey
1/2 Tbls dried cayenne pepper
1 Tbls black pepper
1 Tbls dried oregano
1 Tbls dried thyme
1 Tbls dried basil
1 Tbls salt
1 can of tomato paste (6oz)
1/4 Cup homegrown basil
6 roasted garlic cloves (use the rest of the roasted clove from the pesto)

Saute onion in butter until browned. Add diced tomatoes, honey, spices, can of tomato paste. Add roasted garlic and fresh basil at end. Add sauce to blender and puree until it looks like pizza sauce. 

I like the mozzarella from Trader Joes. We get whole, but I suppose you could use the 2%. (if you hate cows) 

Remember to roll the dough out on parchment paper. It will be a dream to move from the oven to the counter

It barely fits on our baking stone!

Bake for about 20 mins.

5 mins before taking it out, brush the crust with some of the pesto oil that has separated from your extra pesto

Glamour Shot!