Peel and rinse the tomatillos, being careful for little worms and things. Heat the comal and roll the tomatillos on the surface until there are significant browned patches on all of them. Similarly treat the peppers. Purree the tomatillos and peppers (or if you must, mash them on a molcajete) and force through a seive to remove bits of skin and seeds. (Tomatillo seeds will wind up jumping everywhere.)

Heat the oil in a small skillet and sautee the onion until transparent (about 5 minutes at pretty high heat). Add the garlic and stir quickly; allow neither the garlic nor the onion to brown. Add the cumin and the purree and stir quickly. Reduce heat slightly and allow to reduce until somewhat less watery. Taste and season, adding the vinegar if the tomatillos didn't add enough bite (be careful with the vinegar). Remove from heat and stir in cilantro leaves.

This sauce is a nice accompaniment to grilled pork or chicken. It can be combined in trendy ways with a rich red/brown sauce made from dried peppers.

From the Chile-Heads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's Mm Recipe Archive, http://www. Erols. Com/hosey.