Recipe: Mario’s Babysitter’s Chicken with Green Sauce

Posted on 15 September 2007 under Food Blogs, Recipes

On Thursday, Chef Mario Batali posted his Acapulco-born babysitter’s recipe for Chicken with Green Sauce over on Serious Eats. I made the recipe this evening, and everyone was ecstatic about it! I ran into a couple problems … first one being I was feeding my four kids, a local ABC News reporter, Mary and myself. That meant two pounds of chicken wouldn’t be near enough. But at the same time, I could only find the three pounds of tomatillos called for in the recipe. So, I made the sauce exactly as written, but with five pounds of chicken. The excess juices from the extra chicken thinned out the sauce, and as a result it was milder in flavor than expected. But it was still a great dish! We saved the extra sauce, which I may thicken with corn starch tomorrow and cook with a nice pork tenderloin.

In case Mario’s recipes vanishes into the Serious Eats archives, here’s that portion of Mario’s post. Try this sometime … it’s really good!

She takes 2 pounds of chicken drumsticks and thighs and removes the skin and sets them aside. Then she takes 3 pounds of husked tomatillos, 6 cloves garlic, and 2 serrano chiles and places them in boiling water for 2 minutes and then drains them. Still warm, she places them into the blender with the juice and zest of 3 limes and 1 bunch of cilantro and blends until just smooth. She seasons it with salt (a lot) and then puts the sauce in a pan with the raw chicken, bringing it to a boil and then simmering it for 25 minutes. After that, she finishes it with the juice of another lime and a handful of chopped scallions … Wowsers! … The boys eat it with warm tortillas and Frank’s Hot Sauce. I even like it cold with a good splash of chipotle Tabasco for breakfast—if there’s any left that is.

Read Comments

  1. 16 September 2007 @ 6:15 pm Posted by JEP

    You really did make it–I’m impressed! What else did you serve–the tortillas like Mario’s kids? Bet your family enjoys having a chef dad :)

  2. 16 September 2007 @ 6:52 pm Posted by LunaPierCook

    Hey, this one was easy! All I served with it was Uncle Ben’s Spanish-style rice, which was a great side dish for it. I’m definitely going to see what else I can make with this sauce. It’s gnarly-good!

  3. 17 September 2007 @ 6:56 pm Posted by LunaPierCook » Blog Archive » Chef Mario Batali Leftovers, with Pork Tenderloin

    […] really, only the sauce was a leftover … This is the same green sauce I made the other day when I made Mario’s Babysitter’s Chicken with Green Sauce. This evening I seasoned a whole pork tenderloin, then gently grilled it till it was medium rare. I […]

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