Into the Fall

Right now, the Nightshades are starring in the garden. Today I harvested some tiny potatoes. I usually don't get a second crop of potatoes, but this year has been a bit unusual. They are pink and gold fingerlings. The tomatoes are almost finished for the year, but the peppers really haven't peaked yet. Somehow I went hog-wild and ended up with about 39 pepper plants! I am about one third of the way into the tomatillo harvest. They are really sweet and flavorful this year. Here's a recipe for a low-salt sauce I use on chicken.

Nightshade Sauce

8 tomatillos
2 large yellow tomatoes
1 jalapeno or other hot green chile
1/2 t. leek powder
dash cumin (not local, though I would like to try growing it)

Chop and seed chile. Cook in a 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan until tender. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and chop into large chunks. Chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatillo's and tomatoes to the pan and cook a few minutes until everything is mushy. Run the mixture through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins and return the puree to the pan. Add the leek powder and cumin and cook down until the sauce thickens. Serve over meat or tofu.