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Hello all,
It's that time of year when thoughts stray towards the seed catalogue and I was wondering whether to have another go at tomatilloes.  I grew a couple of plants successfully outside a few years ago but - and I'm slightly ashamed to say this - I ended up admiring them rather than eating them.   :(

This isn't really in a Yorkshirewoman's nature, and I guess that what I'm really asking is whether anyone has ever found any really convincing recipes for them.  Someone on Realseeds suggests roasting them with tomatoes, basil etc. which sounds good - any other ideas?  Much as I like Mexican food, I would really need to have a bit more than green salsa on the list.  As they seem to have good storage qualities, and might be more successful for me than trying storage tomatoes, I would like to give them a shot again. 

Any thoughts?

Best regards,
Sue

I've seen a few of our plotholders grow them under glass... but have no idea what they do with them..  ???

 ;D ;D ;D

We grew them in 2010, with great success.  In fact we still have plenty left in the freezer.

We didn't plant them in 2011 but they came up anyway.  We didn't keep any of this year's crop but we rapidly got to the stage that we couldn't give 'em away!

I recommend Diana Kennedy's book Essential Cuisines of Mexico, but a few tomatilloes still go an awfully long way.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetables/TomatilloRecipes.htm

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pork-and-tomatillo-stew

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-5456166028045229%3Ahm5o6ssogps&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=tomatillo&sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=tomatillo&gsc.page=1

The chicken enchilada one looks tasty,and being akitchen fetishest im gonna have a go at growing em next season so thanks for the idea.

Gaznjude

They are productive. I fried them along with your typical fry up, instead of tomatoes. Different taste and take longer to cook than tomatoes.
You do not need to freeze them. I found that they would store raw for up to a year quite happily in a container on a sunny windowsill. Their paper covering as well as their natural sticky waxy coating, gave this astonishing performance.

Quote from: Melbourne12 on November 29, 2011, 15:15:45
;D ;D ;D
...We didn't keep any of this year's crop but we rapidly got to the stage that we couldn't give 'em away!

... a few tomatilloes still go an awfully long way.

Well yes, I think that the RealSeed website recommends growing no more than two plants of one variety because they are so prolific.  :)  But then, from other things I have read, you need to have at least two for them to produce fruit successfully, so it is a case of grow several and "pass them on", just like everything else, I think!

Quote from: realfood on November 29, 2011, 16:16:05
You do not need to freeze them. I found that they would store raw for up to a year quite happily in a container on a sunny windowsill. Their paper covering as well as their natural sticky waxy coating, gave this astonishing performance.

That is interesting, realfood - I know several people in Pudsey who are interested in preserving without cooking/using resources, so this would be a good aspect to follow up.

Some lovely ideas, thank you everyone.  I think I will be giving them a go after all. :)  After all, if the family can eat things with green tomatoes in, then I'm sure we can stretch to these, with a bit more imagination and some of these lovely recipes.  ;D

Sue

Prolific is the answer-prune them with shears!!

I do not much like them on their own but a salsa is something else

I much prefer the closely-related 'ground cherries' (properly annual physalis species) as a dessert fruit or as a blight-free tomato substitute.

I only need half a dozen true tomatillos a year for the occasional salsa - so they are hardly worth growing.

Cheers.

cleo you don't prune  tomatillo it decreased production.

Quote from: plainleaf on December 14, 2011, 10:32:59
cleo you don't prune  tomatillo it decreased production.

Maybe that was the point...?
I don't know, just a thought.  :)

Try tomatillo fried with eggs and bacon, or grilled alongside chops or steaks - just halved like you would a tomato.
I tend to chop a couple and throw them into a stir-fry just before the end.
My favourite is tomatillo and anchovy pizza. in fact that is my favourite pizza now.
I also like baked beans done with tomatillo instead of tomato sauce, served on toast of course.
The salsa has already been mentioned, but you should try instant salsa on a summers day - a bite of tomatillo followed by a bite of pepper (I like jalapeno) and then a nibble of coriander.
Honestly I can't understand why everybody hasn't been converted. I only have two trays left to last til next year. I have a question though - do purple tomatillos taste any different to the green?

Nigel B no one prunes plants to decrease production that would be counter productive

Quote from: winecap on January 01, 2012, 23:29:10
... I have a question though - do purple tomatillos taste any different to the green?

Based on our experience, there's no detectable difference.

Apparently there is a difference in the taste of  "pineapple" tomatillos.  We sowed some alongside our other varieties, but sadly none of them germinated.