Quick pickled tomatillos

Spicy brine makes for a tasty and versatile pickle!

I have to confess I had limited experience with tomatillos before they arrived in this month’s Farmers’ Feast challenge basket from the Ottawa Farmers’ Market. I’d only ever purchased them to make a terrific salsa verde, but I knew their tart, tasty properties would make them ideal for so many other purposes. I was pretty excited about this grilled corn salsa I’d made with them, but I wanted to use the rest of the tomatillos for something special. I’ve long been a fan of pickling and suspected that tomatillos would take on a tangy brine just beautifully… and it proved to be a great experiment. I’ll be making a few more jars very soon; like all ‘refrigerator pickles’, they’re really fast and easy because you don’t need to process them in a hot water bath for shelf storage.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (225 grams) tomatillos (about 5 – 6)
• 3/4 cup (185 mL) rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, bruised
• 1/2 hot pepper, cut in strips (remove some of the seeds to reduce spiciness)
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) crushed coriander seed
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) white sugar
• 3 ice cubes (or 1/4 cup (60 mL) cold water)

Method

• Peel papery husks off tomatillos and rinse them under cold running water.
• Cut tomatillos into sixths and place in a 2 cup (500 mL) canning jar.
• In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, garlic, hot pepper, coriander, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring often, and cook just until salt is dissolved.
• Remove from heat and add ice cubes or cold water to dilute and cool brine.
• When ice has melted, pour brine over tomatillos.
• Cover and refrigerate. The pickles will be ready to eat in 48 hours and can be kept in the fridge for a month.

Makes one 2 cup/500 mL jar.