cream of tomatillo soup

for 5 quarts / 10 servings:

soup:

• 2 lbs. tomatillos or 1 qt. canned tomatillos.
• 1 medium onion (8 oz.), peeled and coarsely chopped
• 7 large garlic cloves, peeled, cut in half
• cilantro
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin,
• S&P
• 2 chicken legs.

meatballs (albóndigas):

• 1 lb. ground beef chuck (20% fat)
• 1 lb. ground pork or sausage meat
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup white rice, cooked
• 1 large egg
• 2 t2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Garnish:

• Juice of 4 limes (½ cup)
  My tomatillos are so acidic that no lime juice was needed. I even added a 2 tbsp. of sugar to the soup to counter the strong acidity somewhat.
• Leaves from 10 sprigs fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

1. Make the soup

• Remove the tomatillo husks, wash the tomatillos and cut them in half.
• Combine tomatillos, 2 qts of water, and all the other soup ingredients in an 8-qrt. pot.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the tomatillos are soft.
• Skim off foam and grease.
• Remove the chicken legs.
• Puree everything with a stick blender.
• If the soup is too acidic, add water, baking soda, sugar as you prefer.
• Bring to a simmer again.

2. Make the meatballs

• While the soup is simmering, combine the ground meat with the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix thoroughly.
• Form the meat into meatballs.
  Keep your hands lightly moistened with cold water to prevent the ground meat from sticking.
• The mix should yield about 40 walnut-sized, 1-ounce meatballs.

3. Cook the meatballs

• Place meatballs in the soup and continue to simmer, about 30 minutes longer.
• Optional:
  • skim off any foam and the grease from the chicken that rises to the top. I usually leave it. The foam will disappear again after a while and the fat adds flavor.
• Adjust the seasoning.

4. Serve

• Place some meatballs in each soup bowl. Ladle some soup over the meatballs.
• Serve immediately.
• Optional:
  • Sprinkle with chopped cilantro
  • Squeeze lime juice into each bowl.
  • Stir 1tbsp. of heavy cream into each bowl. Don't combine lime juice and cream.