End Of Summer Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde with Grilled Skirt Steak

My end of Summer veggie garden round up includes using up all the baby tomatillos left on the vine, similar to using up the hard green tomatoes that are left on tomato plants at the end of their season.  Only instead of making fried green tomatoes I made roasted tomatillo salsa verde for the grilled skirt steak we enjoyed for dinner one night last week.  In California we can buy tomatillos in the grocery store year round but growing your own is very rewarding as one plant can produce close to a hundred tomatillos.  We didn't have a very warm Summer this year so I had dozens of baby tomatillos left on my plant but this recipe could be made with bigger tomatillos just cut the amount called for in half.  This is not a very scientific recipe as you can tell.  I put almost all the ingredients for this salsa on a sheet pan and run it under the broiler until everything is browned.  Then I take the entire pan and dump it in the blender.  I like mine blended smooth but you can leave it more on the chunky side if you prefer. This salsa is good over steak, chicken, fish or served with tortilla chips before dinner.

Ingredients and Directions for Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Makes 3 cups

4 Dozen small tomatillos(2&1/2 pounds) remove the paper skin covering
1/2 White onion, chopped in large pieces, optional- because I forgot to put in(whoops!)
1 Jalapeno pepper, cut in half
2 Garlic cloves
1/4 Cup fresh Mexican lime juice
1/4 Cup Mexican oregano
Sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven broiler.  Place the tomatillos, onions(if used), jalapeno and garlic on a baking sheet.  Run the tomatillo mixture under the broiler until everything is nicely browned, you may have to move the pan around or give everything a few good stirs so it browns evenly.  Dump the entire pan in a blender, add the lime juice, sea salt and oregano.  If you like save a sprig of oregano to decorate the top of the bowl of tomatillo sauce.

For the Skirt Steak
serves 4 people

4 Lbs skirt steak
1 Closely guarded secret marinade like mine which includes Thai fish sauce, Tamari sauce, ground ginger, ground mustard, Penzeys BBQ 3000 or something similar and a few hours in the fridge.

My husband is the grill master and he says cook skirt steak on a high heat and flip it regularly. Personally I like it pink in the middle!  He brings it in the kitchen where it rests for 5 minutes and then we usually slice it to serve.  Honestly I leave the outside cooking to him and he always does a great job.  I usually serve steak with a small salad and in this case with the freshly made tomatillo sauce, yum!