Out of the Box, Week 14

I'm back! I apologize for the posting drought. After a frustrating month of borrowed cameras, I finally got a new camera and will resume regular posting. These tomatillos came in the box on week 14 (September 19th). I've always been intrigued by tomatillos - their brilliant color! the contrast between smooth skin and papery husk! - but I've never actually tried them. Once again, this CSA has expanded my boundaries.

The weekend the tomatillos arrived, Dan and I went back to Maine for our niece's birthday party. We got in late after picking up my little brother Zach and his girlfriend Maria from the bus station. As I unpacked the CSA box, we all stood around the kitchen chatting. When I pulled out the tomatillos, Maria, who's from Texas, got very excited. She described the flavor as like a tomato, but more tangy and sour - as though infused with lime. This description fueled my excitement, as lime is one of my all-time favorite flavors. If the acid weren't so bad for my teeth, I would eat a whole lime every single day.


I took Maria's advice and decided to use the tomatillos for a green salsa. I was surprised to find the tomatillos were much more firm than tomatoes, but it gave the salsa a nice, chunky texture without too much juice. I husked and sliced three tomatillos and threw them in the mini-Cuisinart with an onion, a jalapeno, a few cloves of garlic, and a squirt of lemon juice. The result was delicious, but way too hot! My mistake was throwing in the whole jalapeno (and some seeds) without testing it first. I've made salsa before with the same kind of jalapeno and found it too mild; I forgot that every pepper can be different.

I first served the tomatillo salsa with burritos filled with brown rice, black beans, and chopped heirloom tomatoes, covered with some cheese and baked in the oven. Because the salsa was so hot, we could only use a little bit at a time. However, we had plenty of leftover beans and rice, so we ate that for lunch a few times with the green salsa mixed in.

While the tomatillo salsa was great, and I would definitely like to experiment more with tomatillos in the future, there was another surprise benefit to this experience. As I went to throw away the waste - tomatillo husks, garlic peels, onion skin, and jalapeno seeds - I suddenly saw a beautiful combination of colors and textures in my hands, and decided a photo shoot detour was necessary before heading to the trash can. Here's a few examples. Now am I crazy, or is this beautiful?





More husk photos here.

Out to Eat: La Verdad Taqueria

La Verdad Taqueria
1 Lansdowne Street
Boston

I had read about La Verdad Taqueria in Food & Wine magazine, and what struck me, besides how good the food sounded, was that the prices were actually in my realm of possibility (unlike the vast majority of the restaurants that they write about). Right across from Fenway Park and just down the street from the legendary Avalon Ballroom, La Verdad has smartly positioned itself as both a grab-and-go fast food window and a sit-down restaurant. We chose to sit down and at 10:00pm on a Thursday night had no problem getting a table. There were probably fewer than a dozen people there (including waitstaff and bartender), which was surprising, given how good the food was.

We ordered Oaxacan wings to start; they were delicious. I feel like I might need my thesaurus for this entry because that word describes everything we got. Delicious, delicious, delicious. Maria opted for a burrito, which was huge, and came with wonderfully thin and crisp plantain chips on the side. Zach went for the carne asada tacos, which he happily wolfed down. Dan selected turkey pastor tacos and I chose the chorizo y papas tacos, and we traded one of each. The turkey pastor, which came with mole sauce and a red chile sauce, was very good and very spicy. My chorizo- and potato-filled tacos were so good that I ate them all before I remembered to take a picture. I would definitely order them again, although there are so many other tasty-sounding options that it may be a while before I do. If you are either very adventurous or very old-fashioned, you might also enjoy the tripe tacos, tongue tacos, or the tripe, tongue, and chorizo tacos.

Turkey pastor tacos - mmmm!

The four of us split an order of churros with chocolate and dulce de leche for dessert. Without question, these were the best churros I have ever had (and, having spent three months in Spain, I have had A LOT of churros). They were perfectly crisp but not weighed down by excess grease.

The only minor disappointment was the drinks; I got a grapefruit soda-orange juice-tequila concoction and Dan got a watermelon margarita. Both were good, but not $10 good when you're paying $9.50 for a plate of three tacos and sides. (Which reminds me - the tacos came with queso blanco, refried beans, and "Yucatan slaw" - all so tasty that I could have happily made a full meal out of them). If you are a real tequila nut, you'll certainly be satisfied with the vast array that they offer. Next time, I'll probably stick to the fresh-squeezed juices for $2.50. And yes, there will definitely be a next time.