Some Say Tomayto...

                                       

After a good summer harvest of ruby red tomatoes, the last three days of September brought in the cold and over six inches of rain in Portland. Fall had arrived. The last of the tomatoes still on the vine, still green.

It took the Italians hundreds of years of growing tomatoes before they began using the green tomatoes. They would leave the green fruit on the vine as decoration in the garden, like their wine grapes. In Mexico, they use tomatillos for salsas and stews. And we all know what they do with green tomatoes in the Deep South. Like everything else, they deep fry them.

No sense throwin' em in the composter. I'm pickin' em, puttin' em in a salsa verde, and slatherin' over a pork loin. Then I'm roastin' it.

I've got about three pounds of green grape and heirloom tomatoes. Cut them in half and lay on cookie sheet. With a couple green chilies, roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes. While you're roastin', cut up a few cloves of garlic and a white onion.

After the tomatoes and peppers have been roasted, bring out the food processor. In batches combine the tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and onion. To this you'll add the seasonings: salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin, oregano, cilantro. Juice a whole lime and to the batch add a couple tablespoons of white vinegar. Blend the salsa a few pulses so that is not chunky not purée. 

There you have it, green sauce, or for the fancy pants chef, salsa verde~Ooh fancy~Slather over a pork loin and roast at medium until the middle reaches 145*.

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Stay tuned for my simple butternut squash side. The perfect accompaniment to this pork dish.