Driving Miss Stacey: August 2011

Usually I make standard salsa with red tomatoes but this week I thought I'd try something a bit different. Use the tomatillos that were in my produce box.

Tomatillos are small fruits (used as a vegetable) enclosed in a husk. The fruit resembles a small unripe tomato and is usually green or yellow. The yellow color indicates ripeness, but they can be used when they are still green. Green tomatillos are firmer and easier the slice. The husk that holds the fruit is like paper and is light brown. The flesh is slightly acidic with a hint of lemon. Tomatillos belong to the same family as tomatoes.

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

15 -20 tomatillos, husks removed, quartered

5 cloves of garlic

1 medium white or yellow onion, skin removed, coarsely chopped

1 bunch of cilantro

1 tsp salt

1 tsp olive oil

2 jalapeno, seeds removed

1 Tbsp lime juice

Preparation:

Add onions, jalapeno peppers and tomatillos into a food processor and pulse 4 -5 times. Add remaining ingredients and purse again until desired consistency. ( I like mine very coarse).

Salsa Verde can be served immediately, but is better when it sits in the refrigerator overnight to let the flavors meld.

Here is a quilt that I made called Salsa Snowballs

It's perfect for this time of year!

Pre-cuts coming soon!

rural - suburbia ~ That's where I live ~

For anyone that grew up in rural North Carolina one of the greatest things about mid-summer to early fall has to be the wild blackberries. The Triangle and NC suburbs are not quite in the mountains, and not quite off of them either so they are the prime growing area for blackberry bushes. You can find them just about anywhere from the local park to the side of the road or even the parking lot at your local grocery

store.

I’ve been watching a patch just along the road as you leave my subdivision. Watching & waiting patiently as the berries went from green to red and now finally to black.

Last week early in the morning before the heat, I headed out to pick a batch. I was really worried that I’d fall into the ditch, scratch up my legs by the thorns or even yet see a snake and FREAK. My neighbors probably saw me and thought I was crazy. I could have just gone to the grocery store and paid top dollar for a pint, gone to the farmer’s market and picked up a nice assortment. Naw! That would have been too easy.