Tons of Fun With Tomatillos
I love Hatch green chile soup. Last fall, during Central Markup's annual Hatch chile festival, the boys and I discovered a jarred green chile soup base, made with what I was assured by the makers to be the finest tomatillos and pick-of-the-crop Hatch green chiles. I wound up using the soup base both as a soup and as an enchilada sauce. Sadly, a jar of that yummy stuff is a bit pricey, so I've been trying to find something comparable at a cheaper price point.
"Why not just make some yourself?" you ask, Gentle Reader? Quite frankly, Gentle Reader, I'm not that 
ambitious, especially when it comes to working with tomatoes and those incredibly tasty but incredibly foreign-to-me fruits, tomatillos.
Hmmm. I should rephrase that last sentence. It should read, "...I wasn't that ambitious...." because MyRecipes.com kindly sent me a recipe that I thought could help me overcome my trepidation with tomatillos.
1/2 t ground cumin
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 6-oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 lb. tomatillos
1/2 C fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 C cilantro leaves
1/4 C chopped green onions
2 T fresh lime juice
1/2 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 t salt
- Prepare the grill to medium-high heat.
- Combine the olive oil, cumin, garlic and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag, add the chicken, seal and let stand for 15 min.
- Discard the husks and stems from the tomatillos.
- Combine the tomatillos and broth in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, then cover and cook 8 min.
- Drain the remaining broth from the saucepan, and let the tomatillos cool slightly.
- Combine the tomatillos, cilantro, green onions, lime juice, sugar, salt, chopped garlic and chopped jalapeño in a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth.
- Remove the chicken from its bag, discard the marinade, then sprinkle the chicken evenly with a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
- Place the chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill 6 min. on each side or until the chicken is done.
- Serve the chicken with about 5 tablespoons of tomatillo sauce per breast.
Calories: 237
Fat: 5.1 g
Sat fat: 1 g
Protein: 40.4 g
Carbs: 6 g
Fiber: 1.5 g
Cholesterol: 99 mg
Sodium: 465 mg
The Faudie's Futzings
We here at Chez Boeckman-Walker have yet another way in which we set ourselves apart from our fellow Austinoids: We don't own a grill. We had a cheap hibachi years ago that we used once when we were in an apartment, but the prohibition on patio barbecuing that comes with apartment dwelling in addition to the many burn bans we've experienced since becoming home owners--not to mention that I'm not a big fan of open flame of any kind--deterred us from ever buying a real grill. Therefore, these chicken breasts weren't grilled. I cooked them in some olive oil, which I did not add to the marinade, in a skillet on the stove.
And that's about the only futzing I did with this recipe. Oh, I did forget to throw in the garlic to the marinade, but I don't think the flavor of the chicken suffered for it.
The tomatillos were incredibly easy to prepare, as was the rest of the sauce. I only used two tomatillos because they were
fairly large and together met the half-pound requirement of the recipe. I didn't cook them for the full 8 minutes because after about 6 minutes over medium-high heat, most of the broth had cooked off. I'm not sure if that was what supposed to happen or if I should have lowered the heat. I fault the recipe for not clarifying the matter. I mean, the direction to drain the tomatillos indicates to me that some liquid should remain after cooking.My tomatillo sauce might have had a bit more kick to it because I used a heaping tablespoon of diced jalapeno from a can, which included the seeds.
Granted, most of the heat of a pepper is actually in the rib, not the seeds as some people (myself included, formerly) believe, but the seeds do have some capsicum in them to add to the heat.My tomatillo sauce also had a stronger lime flavor than was probably intended because I might have used too much lime juice. I juiced two smallish limes directly into the food processor because juicing limes into some kind of measuring cup that's small enough to be marked with tablespoons is pretty difficult.
Much to my surprise, the boy decided he liked the sauce, although I refrained from giving him a lot. The husband ate a fair amount as well, and he's found that after his surgeries, eating too much spicy foods gives him hiccups. Bizarre, non? Well, at least he can eat spicy foods, which he couldn't do for a while after the surgeries.
I will warn you, Gentle Reader, that 5 tablespoons is a lot of sauce. I think I used maybe a tablespoon for my own serving, and that chicken got a good smothering. Luckily, though, all that leftover sauce means I have tasty sauce with which to make some enchiladas later. Woohoo!
Chipatopley, Anyone?
Jack combined his chipotle with chicken. Me, I used my chipotle with rice.
2 C fat-free, reduced-Na chicken broth
1/4 C chopped green onions
1/2 t minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- Combine the rice and chicken broth in a medium saucepan, then bring to a boil.
- Cover the rice, reduce the heat and let it simmer 15 min. or until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice.
- Stir in the sliced green onions and minced chipotle pepper.
Sorry, none was provided for this recipe, which was tacked on to the grilled cumin chicken with fresh tomatillo sauce recipe. I don't think the nutritional info given for the main dish includes the rice since the yield for the chicken recipe doesn't mention a serving size for the rice.
The Faudie's Futzings
Since we here at Chez Boeckman-Walker love rice and since I know that two cups of liquid is too much for just one cup of rice, I wound up using one and three-quarters cups of broth (which was all that was left in my already-opened carton) with a cup and a half of basmati rice (I haven't had plain white rice in the house for probably a year). I wanted to make sure I had plenty of rice in case the boy turned his nose up at the chicken.
I also used about three-quarters of a teaspoon of minced chipotle pepper since I also threw in the adobo sauce that wound up on the cutting board when I pulled sections of pepper out of the container to be minced. I used the sauce because I really doubted a half-teaspoon of minced pepper alone would give the rice any detectable chipotle flavor and kick.
Final Analysis
I was honestly surprised how easily both dishes came together. The tomatillo sauce is ridiculously easy to make, and I know already I'll be making it again once I polish off the leftover sauce. If you have a hankerin' for something tasty and spicy but don't want to put out a lot of effort, I highly recommend this meal. You won't be disappointed, Gentle Reader.
¡Buen provecho!**I don't speak Spanish and the brief time I studied it while in the first grade did not prepare me to translate "Bon appetit!" into it. I found this via BlurtIt, so if the phrase is wrong, Gentle Reader, forgive me.
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