Garden Picked Tomatillos

I've tried growing tomatillos, but all I get is a huge beautiful plant with tons of flowers. One year I got some tiny tomatillos that stopped growing after they grew to the size of a thumbnail. I was told I need a female and a male plant, water too much or too little, and so on. I finally gave up. Last Saturday, for the first time, I saw a grower at the Farmer’s Market with tomatillos in his stall. I was amazed at how pretty they were, actually perfect. I bought a bag full, and this morning I roasted them and made a sauce which included grilled Hatch Chiles, sautéed onion and garlic, jalapeño pepper, fresh tomatoes, and chicken broth. It cooked down until thickened. The short ribs were seasoned with Chile powder, smoked paprika, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper, and then browned well. They’ll be finished off in the oven tonight for a couple of hours.

[Jenise]

Oh wow, sounds great. Send me a batch, would you?

I've tried growing tomatillos, but all I get is a huge beautiful plant with tons of flowers. One year I got some tiny tomatillos that stopped growing after they grew to the size of a thumbnail. I was told I need a female and a male plant, water too much or too little, and so on. I finally gave up.

Karen, I too tried growing tomatillos (also in Nothern CA, as it happens) and gave up for the same reason - many, many flowers but never a single tomatillo. Tomatillos wouldn't even be worth trying up here. I've since read that while each tomatillo plant is equipped with male and female flowers (no male and female plants, in other words), a tomatillo plant is not self-pollinating. In other words, the female flowers on one plant need to be pollinated by the male ones on another. So while it's not something for which I can personally vouch, in principle two plants in close proximity should work. If you feel like devoting the garden space to an experiment, you might give it another try.

I've tried growing tomatillos, but all I get is a huge beautiful plant with tons of flowers. One year I got some tiny tomatillos that stopped growing after they grew to the size of a thumbnail. I was told I need a female and a male plant, water too much or too little, and so on. I finally gave up. Last Saturday, for the first time, I saw a grower at the Farmer’s Market with tomatillos in his stall. I was amazed at how pretty they were, actually perfect. I bought a bag full, and this morning I roasted them and made a sauce which included grilled Hatch Chiles, sautéed onion and garlic, jalapeño pepper, fresh tomatoes, and chicken broth. It cooked down until thickened. The short ribs were seasoned with Chile powder, smoked paprika, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper, and then browned well. They’ll be finished off in the oven tonight for a couple of hours.

Karen,

I would like to hear more about these short ribs, and how they figured in with the sauce made from the tomatillos. both the sauce and the short ribs are intriguing to me. We are currently undergoing some November weather in September, and this might be a nice dish for the weather.

I've tried growing tomatillos, but all I get is a huge beautiful plant with tons of flowers. One year I got some tiny tomatillos that stopped growing after they grew to the size of a thumbnail. I was told I need a female and a male plant, water too much or too little, and so on. I finally gave up. Last Saturday, for the first time, I saw a grower at the Farmer’s Market with tomatillos in his stall. I was amazed at how pretty they were, actually perfect. I bought a bag full, and this morning I roasted them and made a sauce which included grilled Hatch Chiles, sautéed onion and garlic, jalapeño pepper, fresh tomatoes, and chicken broth. It cooked down until thickened. The short ribs were seasoned with Chile powder, smoked paprika, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper, and then browned well. They’ll be finished off in the oven tonight for a couple of hours.

Karen,

I would like to hear more about these short ribs, and how they figured in with the sauce made from the tomatillos. both the sauce and the short ribs are intriguing to me. We are currently undergoing some November weather in September, and this might be a nice dish for the weather.

Bob, this is the recipe I play around with. I discovered adding Hatch grilled chili peppers makes it even better. This last time I used pork bone-in short ribs, and added the tomatillos to the sauce mixture.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-Short-Ribs-in-Chipotle-and-Green-Chili-Sauce-107644

Bob, this is the recipe I play around with. I discovered adding Hatch grilled chili peppers makes it even better. This last time I used pork bone-in short ribs, and added the tomatillos to the sauce mixture.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Beef-Short-Ribs-in-Chipotle-and-Green-Chili-Sauce-107644

Thanks Karen, I have shortribs in the freezer. In fact I have a LOT of things there I need to cook, or is that KOOK?