Tomatillo

There’s no doubt that guacamole is popular. But there’s also no doubt that it can be watery, off-tasting and dull unless it’s been carefully handmade almost minutes before it’s consumed.

For years, I’ve been making a guacamole that includes tomatillos in the ingredients. I started out making the recipe because I love “Cuisine of the Water Gods,” one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. What I discovered was that this generously-proportioned guacamole with three avocados, plenty of serrano chiles, and 10 raw tomatillos didn’t separate, become bland, or discolored. In fact, I could take it to a party an hour or even two later and it was still vibrantly green and delicious.

Added as an accompaniment to Pinotepa-style Empanadas Stuffed with Shrimp, there’s no explanation given by author Patricia Quintana, but I theorize that the texture and acidity of the tomatillos (also called Mexican ground tomatoes) gives this guacamole its staying power. It’s great for chips, veggies, or for another Quintana recipe I love Tuna Taquitos.  Bring it to a party — it’ll be the star.

Guacamole with tomatillos

3 ripe avocados, peeled and roughly chopped                      2 medium garlic cloves, peeled, chopped

4-8 fresh serrano chilis, roughly chopped                              1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped

10 tomatillos, husked and roughly chopped                       Juice of 2 limes

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or mint                        Salt to taste

Put all ingredients in food processor. Pulse until just slightly chunky. Add salt to taste. Refrigerate until using.

The days of summer are getting away from me, and little time for blogging. Luckily, great food memories linger. Monday night at Gibbet Hill Grill in Groton is one of them.  Chef Richmond Edes went all out at the Farm-to-Fork dinner, creating fantastic food with vegetables from the new vegetable garden on the property and local meats, dairy and cheeses.

The striped bass with black trumpet mushrooms, honey-roasted heirloom tomatoes and sweet and hot pepper emulsion was great, and so was the duck with potato millefeuille, watermelon radishes, chard, and stewed Mayflower plums.

But my favorite was the assiette of summer vegetables — a gorgeous arrangement of raw and lightly pickled fennel, radishes, green and yellow beans, nasturiums and herbs with a little carpaccio of River Rock beef. Just what summer is made of!

Congratulations to Gibbet Hill, the Webber family, and their chef for an inspiring meal.

I talked today to Ron Cardoos of Green Harbor Associates, recently back from the American Cheese Society event  in Austin, Texas. He raved about the event — more than 1,300 cheeses to taste. And we marveled at the success of Shy Brothers Farm Hannahbells which won a medal along with many Vermont successes. But one milestone we discussed was the beautiful Cabot clothbound cheddar, which I tasted just the night before on my friend Judy Mattera back patio. This cheddar rivals any of the British greats, and tastes as much like ordinary cheddar as Kraft singles tastes like aged Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Cabot clothbound cheeses aging

Ron said that now Grafton Cheese was getting into the act, with the Kehler brothers of Jasper Hill Farms and their affineur (cave aging) program as the midwife.

I say “Bring it on.” If the big companies join in the with the smaller outfits to improve cheese in America, we’ll all be better off. America’s dairies and agricultural can support good cheese — and American consumers are ready, I think, to buy into that. If France is impossible to govern (as Charles deGaulle said) because it has 246 cheeses, think how many the US might produce? Cheese for all, and all for cheese!