Fruits

Count your blessings

| Green Card Gardener

Things are not going too well in the garden. The cucumbers, zucchini, and possibly also the Charantais melons have been struck by the striped cucumber beetle, the squash vine borer, and who knows what else. Last year my entire harvest of winter squash was wiped out and I had to dump 80 beautiful, perfectly shaped little Delicata squashes that did not ripen because the plants suddenly wilted and died.

While I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the organic pesticide I mail-ordered, the line-up of canning jars from this summer reassures me that it already has been a successful gardening season no matter what lies ahead.

When I first made the spiced gooseberries a few years ago, it initially looked like a complete failure. The kitchen smelled like a pharmaceutical lab, and the concoction tasted like the worst kind of cough syrup. I was mad at myself for wasting a large basket of gooseberries, several bottles of rum, whole vanilla beans, and quite a chunk of time on this. But the original recipe said to let the jars sit for two months.

When I opened the first jar in September, I was stunned. This was absolutely delicious! A very subtle spice flavor, and just a hint of rum. It is a treat on vanilla ice-cream, which is the way I have served it to numerous guests (I have tweaked the recipe a bit over the years). Everyone loved it although I always make sure that whoever comes for dinner likes gooseberries, or is at least eager to try new things. Because while gooseberries do well in this climate and I always get a good harvest from my three bushes, I am not willing to waste my treasures on culinary ignoramuses…

Spiced Gooseberries in Rum

4 to 4½ pounds (1.8 to 2 kg) slightly underripe gooseberries

4 cups (800 g) sugar

2 cups (500 ml) water

2 handfuls fresh, organic bee balm leaves, washed and picked over

2 handfuls fresh, organic lemon balm leaves, washed and picked over

1 bottle (750 ml) white rum

2 whole vanilla beans

You also need:

A canning pot, or a very large stockpot

4 1-quart (1 l) canning jars

4 bands

4 new (unused) lids

1. Remove the blossom ends from the gooseberries with small scissors (cuticle scissors work best), or a small knife. Wash the gooseberries.

2. Bring the sugar with 2 cups water to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the bee balm and lemon balm leaves. Turn off the heat and let steep for while you prepare the jars.

3. Fill a canning pot with enough water to the cover the jars with about 1 inch and bring the water to a boil. If you do not have a canning pot, place a couple of kitchen towels on the bottom and between the jars so they don’t bang together and crack. When the water starts boiling, place the jars, bands, and lids into the water to sterilize them. Remove the jars, bands and lids and dry the bands and lids thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel.

4. Fill the gooseberries into the canning jars. Slit the vanilla beans open with a sharp knife and place ½ bean into each jar in the middle of the gooseberries.

5. Strain the syrup and return it to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until reduced to a light syrup. Add the rum and bring the liquid back a boil.

6. Pour the boiling syrup over the gooseberries, leaving about ½ inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp paper towel, then wipe them dry (this is to assure a good seal). Place the lids on the jars and screw the bands on tightly.

7. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Carefully lift the jars out of the water and place them on a damp kitchen towel.

8. Let sit undisturbed for 24 hours, then store the jars in a dark cool place. Let the gooseberries sit for two months before opening. If the jars are properly sealed (the lids should not give when you press them down), the gooseberries will keep for more than a year.

Makes four 1-quart (1 l) jars

Cake on wheels

| Green Card Gardener

With the early raspberries almost gone, and just a handful of ripe blackberries, there is not too much to harvest for sweet splurges right now. But I had set my mind on making a cake for my parents-in-law, and I wanted to use at least something from the garden.

So I settled on a lemon pie with blackberries only for garnish. The forgotten half-empty jar of English lemon marmalade in the fridge, for which I had tried to find a use (the parsimony mantra “do not waste food” was fed to me with the baby bottle) came extremely handy – it gave the top a nice shiny finish.

Yet looking at the cake now, I am starting to wonder if and how it will survive the five-hour car ride. At least I have the photo to show if it arrives all mush, and I can always make it again for on-site consumption – if my tasting panel likes it.

Lemon Cake with Blackberries

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup shortening, at room temperature

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup + 1 tablespoon cold water (as needed)

Filling:

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups milk

1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

3 egg yolks

Juice of 3 lemons (at least two of them organic)

Grated zest of 2 organic lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish:

24-30 blackberries

½ to 1 cup lemon marmalade

1. Mix flour, shortening and salt thoroughly in a bowl with a pastry blender. Add just enough water to hold the dough together in a firm ball.

2. Roll out the dough between two large pieces of wax paper to fit a 9-inch springform pan plus about a 1-inch edge.

3. Grease the springform pan and fit the dough into the pan. Even out the edge with a knife. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

4. Mix the cornstarch with a bit of the milk to a smooth consistency. Put the rest of the milk with the sugar in a double boiler. Beat the egg yolks and add them to the milk. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the milk and cook over boiling water until it thickens and coats a spoon, about 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly (you might wonder if that coating ever happens, but you know unmistakably when you’re there).

5. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

6. Juice the lemons and chop the lemon zest of the two organic lemons very finely.

7. When the mixture thickens, stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and carefully transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set. If the crust gets dark but the filling is still too liquid, place a sheet of aluminum foil on top and bake a few minutes longer. But note that the filling will set more when it’s cold.

8. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely on a rack. Carefully run a knife along the edge and remove the rim of the pan.

9. Heat the lemon marmalade in a small saucepan and strain through a fine sieve. Brush a thin coat of marmalade on the cake.

10. Place the blackberries with their blossom ends down in a circle around the edge of the cake. Coat the blackberries and in-between the blackberries with marmalade. This works best with a small brush. If you have any marmalade left, brush the side of the cake. Refrigerate until serving.

Ice-cold resolution

| Green Card Gardener

Each time I make my berry frozen yogurt, I promise myself to use the ice-cream maker more often instead of lazily grabbing a pint of ice cream or sorbet in the store, which tastes overly sweet after eating this.

The most important ingredient is a good berry concentrate (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, red and/or black currants if you have them). I cook the fruit for a few minutes until they pop and release all their juices, then strain them through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.

It is important that all the ingredients are very well chilled before mixing them. Because homemade ice cream and frozen yogurt does not contain any stabilizer, it melts very quickly.

Berry Frozen Yogurt

1½ cups chilled unsweetened berry concentrate

½ cup heavy cream

2 cups sour cream

1 cup sugar

1. In a bowl mix all ingredients well with a wire whisk until sugar dissolves.

2. Process the frozen yogurt in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. I have an ice-cream maker whose bowl needs to be frozen so when it is warm in the kitchen, I carry the ice-cream maker down to the cooler basement. That prevents the bowl from warming up and improves the quality.

3. Fill frozen yogurt in plastic containers with tight lids and place them in the freezer until solidly frozen.

Makes 1 generous quart

Currants vs. currants

| Green Card Gardener

Red currants

After my currant post my sister-in-law asked me why dried currants (the tiny black stuff that’s added to cakes and other pastries) aren’t tart, and whether sugar was added to them. Interesting, I did hear that question before so I need to clarify.

Dried currants are actually from a small seedless grape, the Corinth grape (in German they are called Korinthen so no confusion there). Currants as in “black currants” or “red currants” are the yummy tart berries on the photo above.