Tomatillo, also known as husk tomato, is a small round fruit which is green in color when unripe. It is a plant belonging to the nightshade family and it features extensively in Mexican cuisine. Tomatillos have a papery thin outer covering called the husk, which is inedible. They vary in size from the small walnut sized ones to the slightly larger golf ball sized ones. Tomatillos have a tart, tangy and slightly citrusy flavor. Tomatillos turn yellow, red or purple when they ripen, and at this point, it loses its tartness and has a slightly sweet taste. Generally, tomatillos are used when they are bright green in color, so as to impart its characteristic tart flavor to many Mexican sauces and salsas.

Tomatillos are one of the key components for making of an authentic Mexican salsa verde. But what if your local farmer’s market or supermarket does not have tomatillos? Well, you can use some other substitute for tomatillos in your dish. Although it is hard to replicate the flavor of fresh green tomatillos, you need to choose a substitute for tomatillos that will match the flavor profile of this tangy fruit. Let us take a look at some of the alternatives for tomatillos that you can use.

What You Can Substitute for Tomatillos

Tomatillos are used for making salsas, a variety of green sauces, soups and as a filling for tacos and quesadillas. It can also be added to guacamoles and salad dressings to give these condiments a bit of zing. But if you do not have tomatillos at hand and have returned empty-handed after a trip to the market, then there are some other substitutes for tomatillos that will work just as well for you.

Canned Tomatillos
One of the best substitutes for tomatillos in a dish like a salsa verde or green sauce is canned tomatillos. Canned tomatillos can be easily found in any supermarket in the Hispanic food section. As canned tomatillos are already diced and precooked so that they are soft and yielding, you should take care not to overcook it. Although canned tomatillos might not have the same texture and bright green color of fresh tomatillos, nevertheless they impart the same flavor to a dish.

Green Tomatoes
Green tomatoes are also a good tomatillo substitute to use in a recipe like soup, salsa or sauce. Choose unblemished green tomatoes that have a slightly sour taste. As green tomatoes have a pale green color and a similar crunchy texture as that of tomatillos, it works well as a substitute. Before you use green tomatoes for tomatillos in your dish, taste the tomato to check its tartness. Sometimes, green tomatoes are not very tart to taste. In that case, add a tablespoon or two of freshly squeezed lime juice to add the satisfactory sour flavor to your dish.

Green Peppers
If green tomatoes are not in season and you cannot find canned tomatillos in the supermarket, then you will need another substitute for tomatillos. Green peppers can work in certain dishes that call for tomatillos, like a soup or a zesty sauce. The texture and color of green peppers is similar to that of tomatillos and as such, it can be used in place of tomatillos. However, you will need to add a souring ingredient like tamarind paste or freshly squeezed lime juice along with green peppers to replicate the flavor of tomatillos in your dish.

Gooseberries and Green Peppers
Another substitute for tomatillos is a concoction made by mixing ground gooseberries with roasted green peppers. The sour and acidic taste of freshly ground gooseberries complements the subtle hot taste of roasted green peppers and makes a very good alternative for tomatillos in a recipe. The green color of green peppers and gooseberries is similar to that of tomatillos, and so visually, the recipe will look very much like the original one.

Out of all the substitutes mentioned above, one of the most commonly used alternatives for tomatillos is green tomatoes. However, you need to remember that a tomatillo is more richly flavored than a green tomato and is more crunchy as well. Tomatillos have a unique tangy and piquant flavor that is difficult to replicate. So, it is best that you experiment with different combinations of products and condiments to come up with a tomatillo substitute that will work in your dish.

Just yesterday, a report surfaced regarding Big Fish Games’ plans to launch a subscription-based gaming service on the iPad. For a monthly fee initially set at $ 4.99, the service would allow users to access a number of Big Fish-distributed games through a dedicated app.

The app had actually been available since last week, although new subscriptions had been disabled ahead of the official launch due to high demand, according to the developer. But with the Bloomberg report from yesterday and a press release from Big Fish Games this morning, the new service appeared to be up and running.

The offering did not last long, however, as Apple quickly pulled the app following the official launch. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Big Fish Games claims to be in the dark about Apple’s reasons for removing the app.

[Big Fish Games founder Paul] Thelen said he was surprised by the move because Big Fish had worked with Apple for several weeks to ensure that it met the requirements for recurring monthly charges made through the App Store, a method most commonly used by magazines and newspaper publishers.

“It was officially approved,” Thelen said. Apple had even seen the app’s press release before it went out earlier today, he said.

Apple declined to comment to Bloomberg on the app’s removal and has not yet responded to Big Fish’s requests for explanation, leaving questions about whether Apple will indeed allow subscription-based gaming services on the App Store and about how to reconcile the app’s removal with Big Fish Games’ claims that it worked rather closely with Apple to ensure the approval of the app.

The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela — A 33-year-old British adventurer preparing for a historic solo crossing of Antarctica was waiting at a base camp for the weather to improve on Sunday in order to begin her long journey on skis.

Felicity Aston said she has been doing more than physical training to ready herself for the expedition.

“I’ve also been speaking to a sports psychologist about the mental aspect of it because so much of this is about where your head’s at rather than your muscles and your physical fitness,” Aston told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the base camp at Union Glacier.

She aims to become the first person to cross Antarctica alone using only muscle power. If she manages to complete the journey in late January as planned, she would also set a record for the longest solo polar expedition by a woman, at about 70 days.

“Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been kind to us so far,” Aston said.

At the base camp, she said, “it’s blue sky. It’s quite warm relatively for Antarctica, but unfortunately the weather on the other side of the continent isn’t good enough to fly, apparently.”

“So we’re sitting here waiting for the weather to improve,” she said.

Aston has been to Antarctica before but said she is particularly thrilled that she will be climbing solo through the Transantarctic Mountains and onto the continent’s vast central plateau.

“Being out there and effectively having Antarctica to myself — or it will feel like that — appeals to me,” she said. “And just the completeness of it, you know, to ski from one side of Antarctica to the other and to find out what it’s like to be out there on my own.”

The ordeal she faces will be similar to that endured by Boerge Ousland of Norway, who made a 64-day trip across the continent in 1997. But he harnessed Antarctica’s fierce winds by strapping himself to a parachute-like sail when they blew in his favor. On those days could ski as far as 140 miles while towing a sled carrying about 400 pounds (nearly 900 kilograms) of supplies. At other times, his speed dropped to about 2 mph (3 kph), struggling through crevasse-laced terrain at about 2 mph, he said.

“It was physically and mentally tiring. I crossed snow bridges not knowing if they would hold my weight. I had to go slowly and very carefully,” he said.

Aston’s previous travel adventures have included skiing across the Canadian Arctic and crossing the Greenland ice sheet. But this is her first solo expedition.

“I’m looking forward to finding out what it will be like to go that length of time without seeing anyone,” she said. “There’s a definite appeal to just getting going and how simple life becomes when all you have to worry about is eating, sleeping and skiing.”

She needed to pack the bare essentials because she will be pulling her supplies behind her. Her food rations include porridge, freeze-dried dinners and plenty of chocolate, which in all she said will add up to more than 4,000 calories each day.

“There’s a lot of chocolate involved in this. It’s great,” she said with a laugh. “I get to eat chocolate all day and I still manage to lose weight, so that’s a bonus from my point of view.”

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AP Radio reporter Ed Donahue in Washington contributed to this report.

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Online:

Aston’s expedition site: www.kasperskyonetransantarcticexpedition.com

Aston’s Twitter site for tweets during her journey: www.twitter.com/felicity(underscore)aston

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November 20, 2011 04:16 PM EST

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.