My crush on Rick Bayless and a mountain of tomatillos

Watching Rick Bayless on season 1 of Top Chef Masters, I'm sure I wasn't the only one captivated by his fabulous cooking and passion for mexican food. I was taken with his eloquence and the fact that he just seemed like a really nice guy. I love that he was taking ethnic food and elevating it to the next level.

As luck would have it, I was home up in northern California and my father-in-law gave me a huge bag of tomatillos from his garden. He makes his own delicious tomatillo salsa but with my current love affair, I wanted to try Rick Bayless's recipe of Roasted Tomatillo Salsa and Roasted Tomatillo Guacamole.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

makes 1 and 1/2 cup

8 oz tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half

2 garlic cloves, peeled

hot green chilies to taste (2 serranos or 1 jalapeno)

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup white onions, finely chopped

salt


Set a large (10-inch) nonstick skillet over medium-high heat (if a nonstick skillet is unavailable, lay a piece of foil in the skillet). Lay in the garlic and tomatillos (cut side down). When the tomatillos are well browned, 3 or 4 minutes, turn everything and brown the other side. (The tomatillos should be completely soft.)

Scrape the tomatillos and garlic into a blender or food processor, and let cool to room temperature. Add the chili and cilantro, and blend to a coarse puree. Pour into a salsa dish.

Scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water, shaking off the excess water. Stir into the salsa. Taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. You'll need 1 cup of this salsa to flavor the guacamole. Refrigerate the leftover salsa for another use.

Roasted Tomatillo Guacamole

Take 1 cup of the Roasted Tomatillo salsa from above and add 3 mashed avocados. Add salt to taste and serve.

Needless to say, it was delicious. Rick Bayless, you are amazing!