The tomatoes are starting to ripen! Can’t wait to take them in to BCS on Friday!! Families have been asking for the last month when we’d have fresh, ripe tomatoes.
90 percent of the tomatoes are still green, including many gigantic beefsteaks, like this Brandywine (look at that sucker in my hand! HUGE!). If you’ve got a moment, say a quick prayer that they’ll all ripen before the cooler weather sets in, or I’ll be sending out lots of green tomato recipes with the week’s harvest (green tomato chutney, green tomato pickles, fried green tomatoes…).
The first of the tomatillos are ripe as well – these are the DeMilpa, which have a purple blush, and regular old green tomatillos mixed together. We have ten tomatillos plants, so there will be many MANY pounds of tomatillos to harvest in the next two or three weeks.
How to use tomatillos? Well, there are several uses, but after removing the husk and washing these sticky little cousins of the tomato, I like to make them into the best salsa verde ever:
Larksong’s Super Simple Salsa Verde (this is sort-of a recipe – just wing it!)
Two to four double- handfuls of ripe tomatillos, husks removed and washed (how many did you pick in the garden today? Use what’s on hand…the amount is flexible!)
(optional – if you like it spicy! I leave it out for the kids) 1 small jalapeno, whole
3 or 4 cloves of garlic (add more or less, to your taste), crushed
lime juice, to taste
sprinkling of sugar
flake sea salt.
Directions:
1)Line a broiler tray with foil, and oil very lightly. Place tomatillos (and optional jalapeno) on the tray and broil, checking every 1-2 minutes, until blackened. Remove tray, and with tongs, flip tomatillos (and jalapeno) over. Place back under the broiler until all are blackened on the other side. Remove from oven and let cool. (Remove stem and seeds from jalapeno and slice, if using.)
2)Toss whole tomatillos and any accumulated juice into a blender with the garlic (and optional jalapeno slices – sometimes it’s best to put in half at first, so you don’t get it too hot). Blend, then add sugar, lime juice, and salt to taste, blend again to incorporate. (My kids like a bit more sugar, and depending on the source of your tomatillos, they may be pretty acidic and not need much extra lime juice – so just taste as you go!)
3) Serve! Enjoy! Make lots, because it goes fast!
Yum! We love salsa verde! Luc and I made several pints last summer, which I canned. We ran out months ago, though, and I’m looking forward to making lots more this year. I’ll have to try roasting them.