Thursday, August 6, 2009
Foods What's Sauce for the Gooseberry?
Posted by Carrington Fox on Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 6:53 AM
On a recent safari through a friend's splendid garden, we kept stumbling across delicate little lanterns like the one pictured here. She called them ground cherries, but I remembered them as gooseberries.
By any name, the papery pouches were adorable, festooning the rows of larger crops like dangling party lights. My hostess said she planted them years ago and forgot about them. Despite the neglect, the ground cherries return every year, persistently but not presumptuously, adding little bursts of color here and there to the walls of corn and okra.
Inside each papery sachet is an orange fruit with a texture and taste akin to a very sweet grape tomato. The tiny bulbs made for delicious snacking as we roamed the bountiful lanes of larger veg, so I never did amass enough to need a recipe. But say one were to come across a basket full of ground cherries, what would one do with them?
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Christine Ferber's Gooseberry Jam
2 1/2 lbs gooseberries
3 3/4 cups granulated sugar
Juice of two small lemons
Wash the gooseberries in cold water. Drain them and dry them in a towel. Rub them in a dry towel to remove their fuzz. Remove the stems and any remaining blossoms.
In a preserving pan, mix the gooseberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer. Pour into a ceramic bowl. Cover the fruit with a sheet of parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.
Next day, bring the preparation to a boil. Continue cooking on high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring gently. Skim carefully. Return to a boil. Check the set. Put the jam into jars immediately and seal.
Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber
Michigan State University Press
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There was a whole discussion of ground cherries/cape gooseberries in Saveur? Chowhound? Fine Cooking? couple months back that made me want to grow them.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/557423
http://www.recipezaar.com/Ground-Cherry-Pie-129555
