(Courtesy of Authentic Mexican Cooking, Skyhorse Publishing). This famous sauce from the southern part of the country is prepared with pumpkin seeds and lettuce. It is very, very tasty, especially with poultry, but also with tortillas, and it is budget-friendly. Makes about 2 quarts.

1 small crunchy lettuce head

½ pound arugula

½ pound tomatillos (canned)

1 star anise

1 small bunch scallions

1 garlic clove

1 small, stale roll or piece of baguette

1 & ½ quarts chicken broth

1 & ¼ cups shelled pumpkin seeds

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Clean the lettuce head, wash it, shake it dry, and coarsely chop it. Mince the tomatillos as desired. Crush the star anise. Clean the scallions, wash them, use only the white parts of the scallions, and coarsely chop these parts. Peel the garlic clove and the shallot and chop. Grate the stale roll or piece of baguette.

Brown the pumpkin seeds underneath the grill or in a pan on very low heat. (Be careful, these burn easily and then turn bitter.)

Put the chicken broth in a pot. Stir in all the ingredients, spice, let it boil, and then simmer on the lowest heat until the sauce thickens and becomes creamy after about thirty minutes. In the meantime, stir around the broth constantly. Finely puree the sauce or press through a food mill, then spice as desired.

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Summer and Mexican Food Fun

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