I'm not kidding — you've never
tasted better salsa than this, and it's so easy to make . . . there's
really no excuse not to have a supply of it on hand at all times.
What you need to make it is four medium-sized tomatillos, three or
four cloves of garlic, two canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, some
water and some salt. Take the husks off the tomatillos, wash them
and cut them in half. Place them in a non-stick skillet, cut side
down, over medium heat, along with the unpeeled garlic cloves.
Roast them all for about four minutes, then flip them over for another
four minutes, or until the tomatillos are soft all the way through.
Put a quarter cup of water into a blender, place the roasted tomatillos
and the peeled roasted garlic into the blender along with the chilies
and a couple of pinches of salt. Two chilies makes for a very
spicy but not overwhelming salsa. Just add one if you want something
a little milder but still very tangy. If you want to knock your
socks off, add three or more — but don't say I didn't warn you.
Grind this all up into a slightly coarse blend, transfer it to a bowl and add more salt to taste, if necessary.
In this salsa the flavors of the roasted tomatillos and the roasted
garlic are a perfect complement to the smoky fire of the redoubtable
chipotle. It's good with tortilla chips of course, and on any
kind of taco. Mexican food guru Rick Bayless, in his book Mexican
Everyday, where I found this recipe, says he likes it on everything but
ice cream — and I'm not sure I'd rule out ice cream entirely.
It's sublime stuff.