Tomatillos...spanish for "green tomatoes" but actually a fruit from a plant in the potato family. They're known mostly for their distinctive flavor in salsa verde, and surprisingly, they're not commonly used in much else. I did a bit of research...apparantly, these little guys should be used when their outer skin is brown/yellow, but not completely shriveled up. At room temperature with access to circulating air, they will keep for a few weeks. Once the outer peel is taken off, they are reading to eat...but be sure to wash them first, they're a bit sticky from contacting the peel. I bought a handful for 80 cents at the local open air market, just to see how they would cook up.



I diced 5 medium tomatillos and sauteed them with a medium onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a dollop of chili paste, and some salt and pepper. The tomatillos don't cook down as quickly as regular tomatoes, since they aren't as watery inside, and retained much of their texture. To go with it, I made a pseudo-western omelette, with sauteed crimini mushrooms and onion inside, and a bit of cheese.



Cw was always better at omelette making than I was....in fact, I never ate an omelette unless he made it for me. But I recently read about omelettes in Cookwise, and picked up on a few tips that made me decide to try it again. 1. Make sure your eggs are at least room temperature, or they won't cook quickly enough in the pan, and the bottoms will get too brown before the top has a chance to cook. I put mine in a bowl of warm water while I prepared the saute. 2. Coat your pan with a combination of canola oil and butter, and let the grease spread up the sides of the pan to promote easy flipping. 3. Once the scrambled eggs hit the pan, don't touch them! Just let them set up, then move the omelette to the side, and let the remaining uncooked eggs slide into the empty space to cook up. Then, fill with your sauteed vegetables and cheese, fold over, and serve!