Pickled Tomatillos
Tomatillos (sometimes called Mexican green tomatoes) are a funny fruit. Not particularly well-known or used in the US, they are a distant relative of tomatoes. They come encased in a papery husk that must be removed before they can be used. As a kid, we could never find fresh ones; we had to use canned to make pollo verde – green chicken, one of my favorite childhood comfort foods. (Fresh tomatillos are now available in most supermarkets.) I recall in graduate school discussing them with a fellow student who had a garden and being shocked that she was growing tomatillos here in New York. I assumed that they could only be grown in climates with a longer, hotter summer.
About 15 years ago I grew them in a garden at my wife’s office on a nature preserve for a year or two. But I had to stop when they seeded in and grew in abundance the following years from fruit that had fallen on the ground. We were too worried that they would become an invasive plant, taking over the native species on the preserve. (They did not.)
I now grow several tomatillo plants each year in my home garden. As with everything I grow, my success varies from year to year. Some years there are few fruits and they are small and sparse. Other years there is such abundance of large tomatillos that I barely know what to do with them all.
It was during one of these fruitful years that I discovered pickling. After making too much salsa verde (Mexican green salsa) and pollo verde, par boiling and freezing them for use later in the year, and giving them away to friends who know how to cook with them, I still had too many. They were rotting on my counter. That’s when I thought of pickles.
Isn’t that what our ancestors did to stretch their seasonal abundance, preserve it? A quick internet search gave me a starting point. I opted for refrigerator pickles, which last a month or so, as I have not yet ventured into the whole canning effort. They were a great success; sour and salty and spicy, perfect to cut the richness of a heavy meal or to give away to friends. Whenever I have an abundance of tomatillos in my late summer garden, I make a few jars of pickled tomatillos to preserve the harvest.
Pickled Tomatillos
These pickles, modified from Eating Well, will last in the refrigerator for a month without going bad. But as my son notes whenever he eats them, they are best about a week after they are made when they have become flavorful, but still have a fresh crisp, crunch to them.
makes about 10, 8 oz. jars, about 45 minutes
10, 8 oz. mason jars with lids
2½ lbs. fresh tomatillos
15 red Thai birds eye chili peppers or fewer of another hot chili pepper
5 large cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp. cumin seed
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
2½ Tbsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
- Prepare the mason jars. Fill a stockpot – deep enough to fit all of the jars – with water to 1 inch above the height of the jars. Bring to a boil. Using tongs, carefully lower the jars and lids into the boiling water. Allow them to boil for 10 minutes, then remove with tongs and place them on a clean dish towel to cool.
- Peel the papery husk from the tomatillos and discard. Wash them in cold water so they are no longer sticky. Cut all of the tomatillos into halves or quarters, depending on size.
- Slice the chili peppers in half lengthwise, making sure to carefully wash your hands when you are finished. Set aside.
- Peel the garlic cloves and slice them thin, lengthwise. Set aside.
- Fill each mason jar with cut tomatillos, sliced garlic and chili peppers, putting some of the garlic slices and chili peppers near the bottom and others near the top of the jars. Divide the cumin seeds evenly among all the jars.
- In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 3 minutes.
- Using a funnel if necessary, pour the hot liquid over the top of the tomatillos and fill each jar, leaving about a half inch of space at the top.
- Allow the liquid to cool to room temperature, then seal the jars with the lids and place them in the refrigerator. Pickled tomatillos will be ready to eat in a few days and will last about a month.
