[CH] Notes Green
Alex Silbajoris (72163.1353@compuserve.com)
Sat, 8 Jan 2000 08:24:02 -0500
Pods,
When it comes to tomatillos, I'm still kinda green. (rim shot) But
seriously folks, I never had much experience with them, either growing or
eating. Last night we found a nice pack of pork chops, and somehow got in
the mood for a green sauce. We got a bottle of Herdez salsa verde (shoot
me, it's the mild version). This stuff should be fun to work with.
One salsa I made this fall is an oddball, a bittergreen mix of unripe
tomatoes and peppers from the end of the season. By itself, it has a
strange flavor, and you probably wouldn't want it on chips. We mixed it
half and half with the Herdez, and this became more workable, nice with the
jar of Arriba! fat-free chipotle beans.
I also mixed some of the bittergreen with the juice of one lemon, one lime,
and one sour orange (USE that Florida citrus), oil, and some salt. By now,
this was tasting really strange. I marinated four pork chops in it for
about two hours, maybe less. I oiled up the new Lodge cast-iron ribbed
skillet as it got hot, and seared the chops in batches, "accidentally on
purpose" spilling some of the marinade on them along with some water for
steam.
The flavor was an odd mix of green chile and citrus, rather tart, mixed
with the browned-pork flavor. It was set off by the sweetness of some
"Delicata" squash we roasted. We also cooked a batch of the Rice A Roni
red beans and rice, which was actually quite good. The flavor benefitted
from the addition of some ground hickory-smoked jamaican hots, but any
ground chipotle would do the trick.
Alex Silbajoris 72163.1353@compuserve.com
Now for a laid-back, Soup Stock Simmering Saturday