Condiments/ Recipe/ Sauce

Ground Cherry & Apple "Salsa"

They cut down our tree last week. The city did. Fuckers. I know, it was diseased and not healthy and I guess it was becoming something of an eye-sore but now our yard is just a big open space with 3 very sad looking garden beds. 
 
Yes. They are sad. I’ve kind of jumped off the growing my own food train. For the Winter, anyway. The herbs are flourishing but everything else has just about had it. The tomato plants are dying off (even though there’s still lots of fruit on them), while one of the tiny pepper plants is actually fruiting one single pepper! But the lettuce is gone, the cucumbers never really came to fruition (haha, get it? “fruit”-ition), radishes have been eaten, beets sucked this year as did my carrots – not sure what happened there. The cauliflower was yummy and so were the peas. My squash plants bursted all over the place with flowers but no fruit as of yet – despite the fact that I used a cue-tip to sex them up. The strawberries have bottomed out. The potatoes are still being eaten. The basil is gone. The cilantro is finished. And the nasturtiums were mowed down by aphids ages ago.
 
That being said, there’s still plenty of local happy food available at the Moss Street Market and random farms around town like Madrona, Haliburton, and Saanich Organics (to name a few). In fact, there’s lots of food just coming into season like squash, cabbage, many root veg, chard, braising greens, apples, watermelon radishes, and all kinds of things! Yay for Fall food! 
 
 
 Speaking of Fall food – apples in particular – watch for my up coming seasonal guest post @ Seattle Seedling, coming soon! In the meantime, however, here’s the apple and ground cherry “salsa” recipe I promised you to top off the Jerk Tilapia, though I’m sure you will be able to find a ton of other uses for this little gem as well – hello halibut, snack cake, duck breasts, or even, dare I say, crepes with dark chocolate and creamy ricotta cheese??

Ground Cherry & Apple "Salsa"

Ingredients

  • 1 Small Handful Ground Cherries, shucked, rinsed and well dried.
  • 1 Small to Medium Sized Apple, cored and diced into 1/2" pieces.
  • Juice of Half a Lemon.
  • 1 Tbsp Butter, unsalted.
  • 1 Tbsp Fresh Local Honey.
  • Splash of Raspberry Vinegar.

Instructions

  1. First, toss the cut apple pieces in the lemon juice to prevent browning.
  2. Next, heat a medium sized non-stick frying pan with the butter over medium-low heat.
  3. Once the butter starts to sizzle toss in the fruit. Sautee for about 2 minutes or until they begin to soften.
  4. Add the honey and stir well to coat. Cook for 1 minute.
  5. Toss in the vinegar, stir, and remove from the heat.
  6. Allow to cool slightly.
  7. Eat.

 

 
 

 

  • Sam
    October 8, 2011 at 5:47 PM

    What a great way to use ground cherries. I usually just eat them right out of the box!

  • Ajax
    October 8, 2011 at 7:16 PM

    Looks yummy, and versatile! (sorry about your tree…bummer!)

  • patience
    October 9, 2011 at 12:52 AM

    interesting! and you know i’m leaning towards the crepe idea! this may be your shortest recipe ever! (and therefore possibly my favourite, lolol)

  • Teresa Blackburn
    October 10, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    I think this is one of the most unusual and wonderful sounding “salsas” ever. It must be sweet & tangy at the same time. And I always love a simple very easy approach to cooking. Well done.