One of my favorite restaurants is Cantina Los Caballitos on Passyunk Ave. Its such a hipster environment and you can people watch for hours. We can't help but write obnoxious things on the chalkboard walls in the bathroom like children every time we go. They have blood orange margaritas, among many other flavors, there that are to die for. They taste fabulous and before you know it, they've knocked you right on your ass. Good times. The best thing about Cantina is the tomatillo salsa that the serve with their fresh tortilla chips. I could drink it by the bowl full. Nothing you can buy in the store tastes nearly as good and I've been looking for a homemade version to try. I was so pleasantly surprised when the first recipe I tried tasted almost exactly like Cantina's. I found the recipe at a blog called Garnish with Lemon.
What you need:
approx. 1 lb Tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered
2 jalapenos, sliced and seeded
1 clove of garlic
1 cup fresh cilantro (I just used a few sprigs because this isn't my favorite flavor)
1 tsp salt
juice of 1 lime (they say to use only to reduce heat, but I love lime so I added it anyway)
Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and pulse until liquefied.
I actually did small batches in the food processor and then finished it all off with my immersion blender. It worked really well.
Serve with your favorite tortilla chip! Will keep in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
* original recipe called for 8 medium tomatillos, which she said was about 1 pound. I just got a little over a pound because the ones I found were on the larger size. This recipe does not call for roasting or cooking, it is for raw tomatillos. The lighter colored ones are sweeter than the dark green and taste better in this recipe.
Enjoy! O and check out Cantina next time you're in Philly looking for a great Mexican place!
