Mexican Everyday: Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

I have stacks and stacks and stacks of cookbooks. And one of my New Year's resolutions is to try and actually cook from some of them. It's so easy to get distracted by the recipes I find online or in the many magazines I take. So to get 2008 off to a great start, I opened a cookbook that I bought last year and have drooled over often but never cooked from: Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday. Bayless is a chef with several restaurants in Chicago and champions traditional Mexican cooking...something we don't get everyday, even down here in Texas.


The book includes recipes for Mexican basics, including tortillas and refried beans. But the taco and enchilada recipes include ingredients we're not used to--like zucchini, mushrooms and seafood salad. And there are some delicious looking recipes for fish, including Snapper with Zucchini and Toasty Garlic Mojo and Jalapeno-Baked Fish with Roasted Tomatoes and Potatoes.


I've marked several of those pages and will try as many as I can in the next weeks and months. But I started with something simpler. A delicious riff on salsa. This one isn't red and not even that spicy, but wonderfully flavorful with roasted tomatillos, onions and jalapeno. Delicious with tortilla chips, of course, but would also be yummy heated slightly and served over grilled chicken or roast pork. I adapted it slightly (I roasted the vegetables in a baking dish rather than in the cast iron pan Bayless recommends and he doesn't roast the onion but uses it fresh.), but Bayless still deserves the credit for the inspiration and the basics.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Adapted from Everyday Mexican.


4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed and halved
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeno, halved and seeded
1/2 small onion, sliced
About 1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro


In a greased baking dish, roast the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno and onion in a 400 degree oven until slightly browned. (It will take about twenty minutes total, and you should turn the vegetables at least once to ensure browning on all sides.)


Scrape into food processor or blender and let cool to room temperature, about 3 minutes. Add the cilantro and up to 1/4 cup water. Blend to a coarse puree. Pour into a salsa dish and season with salt to taste, usually about 1/2 teaspoon.