Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh tomatillos
1 large white onion (yellow is OK too)
4 large cloves of garlic
4 medium Hatch New Mexico green chiles (gotta be the real thing! - aaah, no they don't - if you use Anaheim chiles from the grocery store you probably will want to add a jalapeno chile for some heat)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2-3 Tbs fresh squeezed lime juice.
1-2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
water as needed

Tomatillos - just picked

 Method:
Remove the husks and wash the tomatillos.  If you have never used tomatillos before - don't be freaked out by their sticky feel - that's normal and OK and goes away when cooked.

Tomatillos - husked, washed and ready.

The other stuff - the onion and the green chiles are from our garden - next year the garlic will be too.

Roast the chiles on the grill outdoors (my method) or under the broiler or right on gas stove top burner until they are charred all over and look like this.

Roasted New Mexico green chiles

Put the roasted chiles in a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes to steam.
When the chiles are cool, cut off the tops, peel off and discard the charred skins.

In a roasting pan - put the whole tomatillos, rough chopped onion, rough chopped garlic and the rough chopped roasted peeled green chiles (and rough chopped jalapeno, if using).  Add the oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and lime juice.
Roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for one hour until the tomatillos are tender and blackened a bit in spots.  Puree the roasted veggies in a blender or food processor, adding water as needed to get the right consistency.  What is the right consistency you ask?  I give up - what is the consistency you like?  That's the right consistency.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Add the fresh chopped cilantro just before serving.  Lasts a week in the fridge.  Great as tortilla chip dip, of course, but also great as a taco sauce or green enchilada sauce (although I make a different green chile enchilada sauce - smooth Sante Fe style for chicken enchiladas.  I'll post that recipe when all the chiles are ready to harvest.)

I made a larger batch of salsa from the 3 1/2 lbs of tomatillos we harvested yesterday and adjusted the proportions of the other ingredients accordingly.  I canned the sauce in pints jars - so after roasting the veggies I transferred it all to a sauce pan, used an immersion blender to puree it, adding enough water to make a sauce just a little thinner than canned tomato sauce.  I pressure canned it - processing the jars for 20 minutes at 10 psi so I did not have to worry about it being acidic enough for water bath canning.

The finished Tomatillo Salsa