Tim and I have been doing better this summer than last at finishing up our By the Bushel veggies. However, that isn't to say some things don't stump us (especially not since Tim threw out a bag of unidentifiable green goo - it might have once been lettuce - and a particularly rotted bag of tomatoes tonight). Tomatillos looked to be going that way until I stumbled across BevCooks' Braised Chicken in a Tomatillo Sauce. Part of the allure here was that I had everything to make it already in the kitchen, with a few adjustments.
Bev uses canned tomatillos. I'm not sure one could find canned tomatillos in Lakefield, plus I had a whole bag of them on my counter just waiting to mould. She also uses hominy. While she says that it is delicious (and I have no reason not to trust her), I don't know the first thing about it, including where to get it. Plus that would negate me making this from things I already had on hand. Crucial, given our newly tightened "Let's buy a house" budget.
The chicken is great - I love using chicken legs for braises like this. Perfect portion sizes and really cheap. The sauce is amazing. I could eat tonnes of this over rice. It has a little spice to it (although that will on some level depend on the heat of your jalapeno, they do vary) and a really great acidic sourness. Very different from anything I've had before and I really enjoyed it.
Tomatillo Braised Chicken
Ingredients:A dozen ripe tomatillos - make sure they fill the husks
1 small jalapeno pepper
Olive oil
2 chicken legs
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 large red onion, diced
2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Lime juice, mine was from a squeeze bottle, I will not be ashamed
1 cup jasmine rice, uncooked
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat your oven to broil on high. Cover a baking sheet or dish with aluminum foil, making sure it comes up the sides. The tomatillos will release quite a bit of juice as they cook, and you want that juice for your sauce. Remove the husks from your tomatillos. The fruit inside is quite disagreeably sticky. You'll want to rinse that off, I don't really know how. I washed mine in a bowl with lukewarm water and white vinegar and they were still kind of sticky. I don't like it. However, get over your (my) aversion and put them stem side down in your prepared baking dish. While you're at it, wash your jalapeno and throw it in the baking dish as well. Put the dish under the broiler for a few minutes until everything blackens. Take out the dish and turn each item over. Put back under the broiler and wait until that side blackens. I do not recommend leaving your kitchen for this stage. Every time I leave the room when something is under the broiler, it is instantly charred past the point of no return. I don't understand the physics to this, but it's true.
Once everything is nicely charred, remove from the oven. Pull the stem out of the jalapeno. If you don't like heat, a) you maybe shouldn't have used the jalapeno, or b) slice it open and remove the seeds. I just left the seeds in because Tim and I both like a little bit of heat. Transfer the jalapeno, the tomatillos, and all liquid in the dish to a blender. Puree it until there aren't any chunks. I did all of this the day before and threw it into the fridge, but at this point it's ready to use.
Cook your rice according to your favourite method or the instructions on the bag.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a deep-sided heavy frying pan (that you have a lid for) over medium-high heat. Add a bit of butter if you want your chicken to brown really nicely. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and a bit of cayenne for more heat. Obviously skip the cayenne if you are not into spicy. Brown the chicken on both sides in the frying pan. It should take a few minutes per side. Remove the chicken to a plate and add the onions and garlic to the frying pan. Stir them around and let them cook down a little bit, maybe another five minutes. Pour in the tomatillo puree and add the chicken back in, then season with salt and pepper. Put the lid on and turn the temperature down to medium-low. Let this cook for about 25-30 minutes. When that's done, toss in the cilantro and a couple of tablespoons of lime juice. Serve over rice.
Makes two portions.
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