Green Avocado Salsa

Green Avocado Salsa

I can eat my fill of the green, mild avocado salsa served at so many of the Mexican Food Restaurants.  It has now become a staple in several Mexican food joints, but not so long ago the restaurants that that served this cool smooth salsa were few and far between.  The first time I had this was in the late 70’s in Houston. It was in a dated structure, in the warehouse district not the typical location you would drive to at 9:00 at night to eat, the restaurant was the original Nifa’s.  This salsa was wonderful, a cool green salsa served with fresh fried warm tortilla chips.  This was nothing like I had ever eaten in any other typical Tex-Mex restaurant, all the other green salsa that I was accustomed to were so hot that most people would not touch it.  I had to wait years before Nifa’s opened a restaurant in Dallas, but it was no comparison to the Houston original.

The Ingredients

5 tomatillos

2 jalapenos

1 small onion or half of a large

3 cloves garlic

2 large ripe Hass avocados

2/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparing the Vegetables

Position the top rack of the oven approximately 5” from the broiler element and preheat on broil.

Husk and wash the tomatillos, remove the outer skin of the onion and cut into quarters, wrap in foil, peel the garlic and wrap in foil. Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds and stems.

On a foil lined baking sheet place tomatillos, peppers, and the packets of onions and garlic. Broil for 10 to 15 minutes.   Watch the vegetables closely and turn when necessary so that they do not burn.  Some of the vegetables may cook quicker than others cook, remove any that appear done.  The tomatillos will take the longest to cook because of their density, be sure that they cook completely through.  

Remove the vegetables from the oven and allow to cool.

Blending

Peel and pit the avocadoes, put all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.  Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until cool.  Add additional salt if needed

Clifton