Barefoot in the kitchen, part IV: Tequila salsa

Yet again, it's a tale of me using up my many harvested tomatoes, my backyard jalapeno plant and my weekly treasure trove of veggie-delivery-goodness from Terra Organics. This week it's my own version of Tomatillo Salsa Verde.

So, I seriously thought that after more than five years of produce home delivery that I'd seen it all. I'd learned how to use eggplant, bok choy, fresh ginger, chard, blood tomatoes, fava beans, squashes of many makes and models, fresh beets and leeks, and so much more. But then this week's delivery appeared on my doorstep: tomatillos. What the heck? Apparently the kids and the babysitter had played "guess what this is" with this piece of produce. A small, green, round goodie encapsulated in a leaf-like shell that leaves a slightly sticky residue upon the fruit. What the heck? They did trial and error ... and guessed that it must be a plum of sorts. But nope: A tomatillo, the Mexican cousin of the tomato. And oh so made for salsa. And so it began ...

We decided to make fajitas for dinner ... using some steak and eggplant for the "meat" of the fajita, and a corn and black bean mix, the kids grated the cheese, a bit o' sour cream, and some "experimental" salsa by yours truly. As mentioned in the headline to this post, it's "Tequila salsa" ... because I did not have any limes or lemons, or lime or lemon juice, I had to ponder: what liquid should I add? It's salsa. Mexican in nature. So what the heck: I substituted tequila. That and a few other subsitutes and adjustments in this recipe based on a few internet finds for "tomatillo salsa verde" and I bring you my very own, and very yummy, recipe for Tequila salsa verde ... which I consider very sentimental seeing as tequila was basically the first alcohol I ever tasted, in Mexico no less. Here you go ...

TC's Tequila Salsa (chunky - if you prefer otherwise, blend the sucker)
And as is my mantra, the exact quantities are up to you or what's in your cupboard. Chop it up, mix it up, and you should be good ...

3-6 tomatillos, roasted (remove husks, cut in half, stick under the broiler for 5-10 minutes -- untill skin is slightly blackened)
2-3 roasted tomatoes (can be green or less than ripe ... see above for roasting instructions)
1/2 a chopped-up small to medium onion, preferrably red
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 splashes of tequila
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of sugar
salt to taste

Chop onions and cilantro. Add sugar, tequila and salt; stir. Add freshly roasted tomatillos and tomatoes, squish with a potato masher until desired texuture is achieved. (Or put through food processor.) Enjoy with chips, or use wth burritos or fajitas. Yummers!

* This might be an appetizer for the over-21 crowd only ...
1 jalepano pepper