Green Chile Smother Sauce

This green chile smother sauce was created for a good friend after we went to a Mexican restaurant and fell in love with their smother sauce. The Mexican restaurant is a little hole in the wall across the street from the DMV. You wouldn’t think much of that little restaurant if you were just driving by, but those that know it love it. The burritos come stuffed full of ingredients, making them bigger than anyone person could ever really need. And key to this story, each burrito gets coated in smother sauce.

What is smother sauce, you ask? Well, it’s a sauce, for smothering. But it can be used in a kajillion ways (I’ll share some ideas later in this post). Mostly, it’s a spicy sauce that you can pour over burritos, tacos, eggs—really anything. 

After eating at this restaurant, we realized smothered burritos didn’t have to be restaurant-only food. Why not make our own smother sauce? That’s how this happened. Introducing Green Chile Smother Sauce.

This green chili sauce is really similar to what you would use in my Pork Chile Verde. The difference is that this smother sauce can be used in 1,000,001 ways. It is a dip for chips when you want something zesty and tangy. It is the drizzle your eggs need in the morning. It is the sauce to smother every burrito, tamale, and taco with. Basically, it is everything. Still need ideas for how to use it? 

• Green enchilada sauce (do you have leftover turkey still? Enchiladas are the answer)

• Green eggs in purgatory

• A hot sauce for your breakfast (fried eggs or omellete)

• Serve as a salsa

• Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde (use this sauce in place of the tomatillo, onion, garlic blend that the recipe calls for: they are pretty much the same thing)

• A starter for guacamole

• A smother sauce for burritos

...just to name a few.

The secret to making the sauce is roasting the tomatillos, onion, and garlic before you blend it up. That gives it a slow cooked smoky flavor that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve. It cuts some of the tartness of the tomatillos. Then all you have to do is throw it in the blender and purée it. I use this blender (affiliate link)! And then you eat it, however you damn well please. That’s it! Easy peasy. 

Green Chile Smother Sauce

Published November 21, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 8 medium sized tomatillos
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 2 cans hatch green chiles (I use the hot ones, but feel free to use mild if you prefer)
• 1/2 cup cilantro 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 lime 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat your over to 475°F. Peel the papery outer skins from the tomatillos, wash them, and slice them in half. Cut the onion into 4 to 6 large wedges. Arrange them all on a sheet pan along with the garlic cloves. Brush with 1 tablespoon avocado oil, and place in oven. Roast until the tops of the tomatillos are browned, 10-15 minutes.
2. Add roasted tomatillos, onions, and garlic to a blender along with canned green chiles, cilantro, lime, spices (cumin, coriander, oregano, and optional cayenne), salt, and pepper. Puree. Mixture should be similar to a less chunky salsa.
3. Store sauce in jars until ready to use. Stays good in fridge for 1 week.

Curtido, a recipe from Latin American Paleo Cooking

The best tacos I've ever had were served to me at a gas station in the mountain town of Glenwood Springs, CO. Let me guess.... you thought I was going to say something like, "on the streets of Mexico City" or "at this hole in a wall restaurant in Texas, just north of the border." Nope. A gas station in Glenwood Springs, while waiting for a bus. I know, that's just not as cool. But they were $1.00 each and simple. Super simple. Just a bit of shredded chicken on a 4-inch corn tortilla topped with this Mexican cabbage slaw that added acidity, crunch and freshness. That was my first taste of Curtido, and my last--at least for some time.

I didn't happen across curtido again until I visited Nicaragua, and then, boy, did I eat curtido. Many people credit El Salvador with this brilliant recipe, but it's eaten all through Central America. In Nicaragua, it came with virtually every dish I ate. Finally, towards the end of my stay, I attended a cooking class where sure enough, we learned to make curtido from a well seasoned abuela. Everything was done by hand: what most of us would do in a food processor, she did with ease on a small cutting board. She sliced that cabbage with more finesse than I've ever sliced anything in my life. The result was ribbons of cabbage were the most delicate, long and beautiful pieces of cabbage I had ever seen. (Every time I slice cabbage now I think of her, and attempt to mimic her motions. I still haven't mastered the skill). 

When Latin American Paleo Cooking cookbook showed up at my front door, and this recipe sat within its pages, I knew I needed to make it stat. Taco night anyone?

Getting your fair share of veggies on taco night is not always easy (some days you just don't feel like taco salad). But curtido! It's the answer. When you make curtido, you put your veggies in your taco, and it's the most delicious taco you'll eat. It's the crunch, acid, and spice your taco needs. And the recipe in this cookbook is awesome... along with the rest of the recipes in there. Want to hear a few? 

• Mofongo Relleno de Camarones - Mofongo Stuffed with Shrimp 
• Empanadas al Horno - Baked Meat Empanadas 
• Pupusas con Chicharrón - Pupusas stuffed with sausage (or cheese!)
• "Arroz" con Dulce - Grain-free rice pudding 
• The list goes on...

So, if you have been on a grain-free diet for a while (or not that long) and are seriously craving some real Latin American food, this cookbook is for you. (I can relate to your cravings... case in point: those tacos in Glenwood Springs! And enchiladas. And tamales. Don't get me started on tamales. This cookbook is totally the answer to your cravings). 

You can get it on Amazon, here! 

YC Media sent me this cookbook to review. Thoughts and opinions are all my own. 

Curtido

Published October 17, 2017 by Amanda Torres, Latin American Paleo Cooking

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Serves: 4-6   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 small head green cabbage, sliced very thinly or grated
• 4 carrots, grated
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced and cut about 1" (2.5 cm) long
• 2 fresh jalapeño peppers, diced and seeded, or 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp (12 g) fine Himalayan salt
• 2 tsp (4 g) dried oregano
• ½ cup (120 ml) filtered water
• ½ cup (120 ml) apple cider vinegar

Directions:

1. In a large, nonreactive bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir well. Depending on how large your cabbage is, you may need to add a bit more vinegar and water. Place it in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving. The flavors will continue to develop as it sits. Serve a generous portion alongside Pupusas con Chicharrón o “Queso” (page 63 of the Latin American Paleo Cooking cookbook)
2. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.
3. AIP compliant: Simply omit the jalapeño peppers and substitute minced garlic.

Ecuadorian Garlic-Chile Dipping Oil

La Casa de la Abuela is a restaurant with weathered wood tables and a big covered patio. It sits on the main road of La Union, a small town that doesn't even leave a mark on the Google Map of Ecuador. There, in that little town, I experienced the best meal I ate in Ecuador, despite the road noise.

One of the first things that was brought to the table was sliced fresh tomatoes with basil and a drizzle of garlicky, herby oil. There was something about that oil that made those tomatoes shine! Next arrival to the table was a big bowl of seemed muscles and clams, without a doubt freshly caught that morning. We drizzled the same garlic oil over each clam shell in delight. Was it the clams that were stellar or just the oil? Or both? 

We took turns guessing how they made the oil, until finally the owner and chef came to the table, bearing a jar full of the stuff, and the list of the ingredients. 

Just garlic, parsley, and red chiles in olive oil will give you a taste of that night in Ecuador. Drizzle it freely over seafood, dress a caprese salad, use it to make a salad dressing, or drip your favorite bread into it. 🤤

Ecuadorian Garlic-Chile Dipping Oil

Published August 8, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Yields: 1 cup   |    Total Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 fresno chile (in Ecuador, they would use a small red chile called Pico de Pájaro, but I am unable to find that locally)
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Mince garlic, fresno chile and parsley and place in jar.
2. Add salt and oil, to jar. Allow to sit covered, in fridge, for 24 hours so that the flavors seep into the oil.
3. Use as a drizzle or dipping oil.