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Tomatillo-Avocado Sauce

The green tomatillo has a bright sharp flavor akin to that of green plums or rhubarbs. In the winter months, when it’s sometimes hard to get fresh red tomatoes, I use tomatillos, which are available all year. This sauce makes the ideal cool counterpart to spicy salsas. The unusual addition of ice keeps the cilantro green when pureed with the other ingredients.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 cups

Ingredients

1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 small white onion, chopped
Leaves from 1 bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
2 serrano chiles, stemmed
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 cups water
1 1/4 cups ice
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large saucepan, add the tomatillos, onion, cilantro, garlic, chiles, lime juice, salt, and the 4 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil just until the tomatillos and chiles are blanched, about 5 minutes.

    Step 2

    Pour off half of the cooking liquid and add the ice and avocado. Transfer the mixture to the jar of a blender and puree until smooth. Serve this sauce cold. You can prepare it up to 2 days ahead, stored in the refrigerator.

Tacos by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Copyright © 2009 by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Mark Miller is the acclaimed chef-founder of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has started and owned thirteen different restaurants on three continents from 1979 to 2008. He is the author of ten books with nearly 1 million copies in print, including Tacos, The Great Chile Book, The Great Salsa Book, and Coyote Cafe. Mark currently works in International Culinary Consulting and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Benjamin Hargett is a travel-loving chef who has cooked in Europe, the Carribean, Mexico, and the United States, where he worked with Mark Miller at the Coyote Café for many years.
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