Tomatillo Processing

When garden tomatillos are ready to pick, there will be LOTS of them. Use these steps to put them up for use all winter.

1) Remove husks and briefly cook tomatillos to get 'em a little closer to being sauce. 
BROILING (pictured - under hot grill) for about 3 minutes per side will bring a nice sweet, roasty flavour.
OR Drop into BOILING water for about 2 minutes if a greener colour is desired.

2) Use kitchen scissors to cut-through each fruit. Mashing "un-pierced" whole tomatillos will produce explosions of burning-hot magma.

3) The right kit is vital. Find a sturdy colander with large pencil-sized holes which the mash can pass through. Place inside a bowl which holds the colander above the bottom.
Press slowly at first to avoid magma explosions then mash,mash,mash, stir,stir,stir until mostly just peels remain.

4) Skins are tomatillos, too. They're fairly toothsome so decide whether to puree smooth (pictured) or rough-chop for a textured product. Add-back to the other mash.

5) Search the garden for flavour companions. These fresh pasilla chiles will go beautifully.

6) Pasilla chiles after a few minutes under the broiler to continue the roasty flavour theme. Rough chop or puree smooth as desired and add to mix.

7) This cilantro / coriander herb is past its 'best before' for fresh salsas but it still has plenty to offer. Collect any stalks and leaves which are still green and not too woody (even the feathery seed leaves). Knife-chop across the stems into <1mm pieces* then puree with a little water until completely liquid. Add to the mash. *Knife chopping first ensures no long fibers end up in the mix.

8) Pour into zip bags, evicting all air. A variety of sizes might be handy. Freeze for up to six months.