Being adventurous: Tomatillos

There comes a time in everyone’s foodie history where they feel as though they need to branch out, encourage their tastebuds to mature, and please their palate with different delicacies from around the world.  I’m trying, I really am.  I was having the discussion with the hub tonight that we really don’t know what authentic is unless we came from the particular region or have visited the country.  We are solely relying on what we are told is “authentic”.

This point frustrates me.  Do you know why?  It makes me want to travel…travel to different countries…taste all of their glorious creations…gain weight because of this…and live freely.  Ok, so yeah, nothing frustrating sounding in that last statement, eh?  Well, the frustrating part is the lack of funds to do this with.  Over the past month, I have won over quite a few subscribers from around the world.  I feel very blessed to have them as part of my everyday foodie experiences.  Hey to all of my international friends…send me recipes of your favorite dishes…PLEASE!  I want to start trying a few other items out.  I believe it would be quite the learning experience for myself and my palate. 

Speaking of exploring different items I haven’t been accustomed to in my raising…Tomatillos came to mind.  I had seen two people in the past two weeks eating this glorious looking green chili-esque item.  Everything about it looked amazing, not to mention they looked extremely happy while eating it! 

As I am when buying new cooking items, I couldn’t wait until I got the recipes.  They just couldn’t get them to me in time.  In the midst of my impatience, I immediately dug into my brain trying to pull up items that would work with the Tomatillos.  Honestly, I was trying to stay away from the suggested frying them, enchiladas, chili, soup, etc.  But, the more I searched online, the less versatile I found these little guys to be.  I resolved to the fact that I had to make one of the aforementioned items. 

So, I threw together a few things.  If you haven’t noticed…I thrive off of hand-chopping my vegetables for my meals.  I enjoy the labor part of it…the stress relief of it…and the creativeness it brings to my sometimes mundane life.  In the end, we had an amazingly delicious burrito dinner.  You can see the recipe below if you want to try something so simple and yummy…

My opinion on Tomatillos:  This was my first time touching, buying, and using Tomatillos.  Never researched them online either.  Just heard about them from a couple people at work, and decided…I can figure this one out.  This may be why I wasn’t prepared for the gluey feeling under their husks.  It was quite interesting…similar to having Elmer’s Glue on your hands, not dried yet, then running your hands under water to wash them…kind of slimy, kind of sticky.  Either way, this washed off easily after the husks were pulled off.  The raw Tomatillo brought to mind a combination of a tomato and a Granny Smith Apple, acidic, yet sweet and tart.  As I mentioned, I found them less versatile than I expected.  Would I use them again?  Yes, the recipe was that good…would I use them much though?…not too often.

I encourage you to be adventurous in your recipes and shopping…Next up on my adventure list…The bag of Star Anise I bought the other day….Hmmmmm….

Ground Turkey Tomatillo Burritos

• 6 Tomatillos – husked
• 5 cloves of garlic – peeled
• 3 bell peppers (I used one yellow, one orange, and one green.  The colors didn’t make a difference after it had sat in the crockpot all day.)
• 1 medium red onion
• 3 jalapenos or crushed red pepper flakes (I didn’t have any  jalapenos this time…so sad…so, I seasoned with crushed red pepper flakes to taste.)
• 1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 lb ground turkey (I always get 99% fat-free ground turkey.)

Directions

1. Chop all of your vegetables up into bite-size pieces.  Do not add cilantro at this point.
2. Cook your turkey in a skillet until cooked throughout (Should be white with no pink showing)
3. Combine all ingredients in the crockpot, add the cilantro, and simmer on low for 4-6 hours. 
4. Serve on your favorite tortillas with your favorite toppings!

Optional Sidenote: I laid all of my chopped vegetables out on a pan and put them in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes to get a warm charred look to them.  Watch them though, once they start turning, they will turn very fast.  Don’t get them too brown…just the tips and tops need to start turning brown…like you’ve grilled them.  This does add flavor, but it’s not necessary…promise.

Enjoy!

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