July 24, 2016
Sweet Corn and Tomatillos!
By Linda Dansbury

For the first time ever we will be receiving sweet corn as part of our share! Everyone knows how they like to cook their corn - for us, we most often boil a pot of water, add the corn, and then turn the water off. We eat our main course and then eat the corn. We eat it completely plain - no butter, not even salt! Farmers D&D eat theirs raw, uncooked, and plain. They think the flavor needs no embellishing.

A very important thing to remember is that corn loses it's sweetness quickly, especially at warm temperatures - some of the newer varieties stay sweet longer, but you need to put your share in plastic and get into your refrigerator ASAP - or better yet, eat it for dinner the evening of your pick up.

Tomatillos are an unusual veggie that may not be very well known to new members. They look like an un-ripe tomato that has a papery skin around it. To harvest them, as with many other veggies, look low on the plant. The veggie is ready when the papery husk is split and is getting loose around the veggie. In the stores, tomatillos are typically green because they are not at optimum ripeness. Look for fruit that is turning yellow - I have often found the best ones to be laying on the ground, especially as it gets later in the season.

Storing tomatillos is simple - plastic bags in the fridge - they keep for a couple of weeks so I often save 2 weeks worth and then "process" them. They also can be frozen whole after removing the papery skin.

To eat tomatillos, they can be diced up and added to salads - they have a mild flavor, reminiscent of citrus. I don't particularly love them this way so I cook and then use them. I sometimes grill them, or I halve them and roast them in the oven and then proceed with recipes for Salsa Verde, or a sauce to use with chicken and/or fish. I find myself making batches and freezing for use later in the year. My go-to recipe is the tomatillo sauce from the Chicken Stew with Tomatillo Sauce. The tomatillo sauce is great as used in the recipe but it also makes a great salsa for chips. I just searched this site and there are truly nice recipes that I had forgotten about so now I am very excited to pick tomatillos!!