I’m currently working on an in-depth post about tamales including their history, how to make them and suggestions for different varieties.  One of the variations that I’m making requires this tomatillo-chile sauce.  When I tasted this sauce I was blown away!  Not only is it healthier than what you could buy in a jar, but it tastes so much better.  I can picture myself using this on tacos, burritos, enchiladas and as a salsa.  In fact, I like it so much that I may need to make some more in order to finish the tamales!

This sauce can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Yield:  2  1/2 to 3 cups

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked and washed OR two 13-0z. cans tomatillos, drained
• fresh green chiles to taste (roughly 3 serrano chiles or 2 jalapenos), stemmed
• 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• salt, to taste

Directions

Boil the fresh tomatillos and chiles in salted water until tender, 10 to 15 minutes; drain.  For canned tomatillos, simply drain.

Place the tomatillos and chiles (raw ones if using canned tomatillos) in a food processor, along with the coriander, onion and garlic.  Process the sauce until it’s smooth, but still retains a little texture.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet set over medium-high.  Pour the sauce in all at once and stir constantly for 4 or 5 minutes, until it gets darker and thickens. Add the broth, let the sauce return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 minutes.

Season with salt.

adapted from a recipe found here