homegrown tomatillos – Twice as Tasty

The margarita recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon is one of my favorite summer beverages—and one I mix up throughout the year when I need a homegrown hint of summer in my day. I grow and grill the tomatillos in summer and then freeze the strained juice in cubes. They’re easy to thaw and combine with agave, lime juice, tequila, and Homemade Triple Sec for a fresh homemade margarita.

To grow tomatillos, you need at least two plants so that they can cross-pollinate. That produces a big enough harvest to create plenty of grilled tomatillo juice cubes and turn the solids into Grilled Tomatillo Salsa—and still have tomatillos to use. I include recipes for quick fresh salsa and hot sauce that use tomatillos in The Complete Guide to Pickling. I’m increasingly using one or two at a time in nightly meals too, like salads and stir-fries.
Learn to make a Grilled Tomatillo Margarita

If you grow a garden, especially in a climate with a short growing season, you know that one of your last harvest decisions is what to do with green tomatoes. If you harvest them before they are damaged by frost, many green tomatoes will ripened indoors. You can also preserve tomatoes while they are still green. Some can be eaten fresh too.

I share one of my favorite ways to eat fresh tomatoes this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon: dredged in cornmeal and fried in a pan. Successfully making fried green tomatoes, with a just-soft, sweet interior and crisp outer shell that stays attached to each tomato slice, depends on the tomatoes you choose and the way you prepare them before you add them to the pan.
Learn to make Fried Green Tomatoes