Tomatillo Chicken

I've recently started trying to learn how to cook. I've had a bit of an interest since watching Iron Chef (the Japanese one) way back, but haven't acted on it until recently after watching some shows on Food Network.

I got into Top Chef from watching Top Chef Masters. After watching that show, I tried to look for the cookbooks of those chefs. Hey, if you're trying to learn, why not learn from the masters? When I was in Boston last month I found one of Rick Bayless' books at a bargain store for ten bucks, so I picked it up. I think Rick Bayless came off really well on that show and not just because he won it.

The first episode of Top Chef Masters I watched was the dietary restrictions episode with Zooey Deschanel. She's a vegan who doesn't eay soy or gluten. So, I was watching that show hoping to see some chefs struggle. They actually all did really well. I'll admit I was watching that show in part because of Zooey Deschanel as well. If you haven't seen (500) Days of Summer, check it out. It's pretty good. I also think she was good in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Maybe one day I'll write about why I like that movie despite the fact that everyone I know who saw it hated it. You know what, yeah, I'm pretty much going to have to write my review of that to defend my taste in movies. Anyways back to the cooking, the Top Chef Masters were faced with the task of cooking a meal with no animal products, no soy, and no gluten. Rick Bayless was unfazed. He said he had no problem cooking vegan because his mexican cuisine didn't rely on meat at all. He creates the complex flavors of mexican cuisine through his use of chilies. Another episode that really made an impression on me was the challenge where they had to take contestants from previous seasons of Top Chef as their sous chefs. I think Bayless was probably the one that really took into consideration the suggestions of his sous chefs and when he won, gave them all the credit they deserved. As the head guy, he could have easily taken all the credit, or just said nothing and let the diners think the meal was all his creation, but he openly praised his sous chefs and their contribution to the meal. Of course, Bayless was impressive in the finale too, which he ended up winning.

Now this is all well and good. Rick Bayless seems like a good guy and can create some great meals, but can a beginner cook like me get a good meal out of his cook book? I had made his Guacamole recipe and his Huevos Rancheros. Both were easy to make and turned out pretty well. A couple nights ago, I decided to try making Tomatillo Chicken. What are Tomatillos? Look it up yourself. Wikipedia is only a few keystrokes away. Hehe. Nah, I'll tell you. A tomatillo is a small green fruit that is related to the gooseberry. I took a slice off one and tasted it before starting the recipe and it was pretty tart. Didn't taste like a tomato at all. From the name you'd think it might be a little tomato, but it's really not. So, the recipe is a roast chicken with a tomatillo sauce. The tomatillos are roasted first and then processed into a green sauce, then baked with the chicken.


Again, this was a very simple recipe and it came out great. I really liked the tomatillo sauce. It really has a great balance of flavors. The tomatillos are tart, but there's yogurt in the sauce to balance it out and a serrano pepper to add some spice. I ended up cooking the chicken a little longer than the recipe called for. I guess I was using thicker pieces because it wasn't done after the length of cooking time he stated in the book. It was a delicious dish. Definitely something I'll make again.


This afternoon, I made a shrimp ceviche. A ceviche is citrus marinated, raw seafood. This recipe used cooked shrimp. It turned out alright. A quick, easy to make snack.