This began as something of a joke. Â A friend of mine came over one night with some things to ‘help’ us cook dinner. Â Airplane-sized bottles of scotch, a single chopstick, a handful of strangely penis-like mushrooms… and a container of chili butter. Â After a good laugh, we put the offerings to the side and set about consuming my girlfriend’s preordained dinner.
That said, one Saturday morning…err… early afternoon… a few days later, groggy from a night on the town, we scrounged through the refrigerator in the hopes of something delicious magically manifesting there. Â What do you know? Â There, staring us in the face, was the Chili Butter.
Making the most of the situation, we settled on fajitas… cooking some chicken strips in the iron skillet with a little bit of this to grease the wheels. Not bad, but then again, at that moment, anything would have been good. Â A few days later, we made skirt steak tacos… and fried the tortillas in the chili butter. Â Have I mentioned her talent for making tomatillo sauce? Â It has to be just about the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. Â Back to the subject at hand, the tortillas did a good job communicating the spice to our palates. Â A definite plus to the meal.
Our next task? Â Searing tilapia fillets. Â Bingo. Â A little bit of lemon, and the spice from the chili butter and the citrus worked wonders.
The spice is subtle. Â But for an easy addition to the kitchen, this will do the trick.
As for the tomatillo sauce, after husking and washing them, you broil them in the oven until they’re almost black on top. Â Ditch the innards, and then blend them with cilantro, seeded jalapeno and onion (equal parts tomatillo innards and onion) until you have a delightful mess. Â Then add salt and lime juice to taste.
Do I hear tilapia tacos calling?
Sounds delish!