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| Dieter & Sandra's gooseberry bush with boutique hen house in the background |
Friends Sandra and Dieter have generously offered me their gooseberries. Harvesting gooseberries is usually a prickly chore but their property on the flank of Harbour Cone on the Otago Peninsula is a magic place to visit and I love this short season tart fruit.
To reach the gooseberries I feel a little like a kiwi Gretel walking through a charming pathway through manuka woods to arrive in a clearing where fruit trees and two lucky hens live in the cutest hen house.
These lucky hens have a sheltered spot with a wonderful view over to the back bays of the Peninsula. I couldn't believe one gooseberry bush could have so much fruit. I got to work accompanied by the cluck of hens and the buzz from a nearby beehive. What is even better - the gooseberry bush is on a slope so I could easily pick from underneath and avoid those mean prickles.
After gathering a large shopping bag of gooseberries, then its the mundane task of topping and tailing. Alternatively you can just throw the gooseberries into a bag in the freezer as they freeze free flow and top and tail as you use them throughout the year. The gooseberries have to be picked green for cooking purposes and for eating leave them to ripen (if the birds don't beat you). You can also buy red skinned varieties and these I think are the nicest ones to eat raw.
In my September posting I showed you my sister Kerry's espaliered gooseberry with the fruits just forming. Here is a follow up shot of them after one harvest. This makes picking even easier and the branches were absolutely laden. I think this is a great way to deal with the prickly gooseberry bush.
To reach the gooseberries I feel a little like a kiwi Gretel walking through a charming pathway through manuka woods to arrive in a clearing where fruit trees and two lucky hens live in the cutest hen house.
These lucky hens have a sheltered spot with a wonderful view over to the back bays of the Peninsula. I couldn't believe one gooseberry bush could have so much fruit. I got to work accompanied by the cluck of hens and the buzz from a nearby beehive. What is even better - the gooseberry bush is on a slope so I could easily pick from underneath and avoid those mean prickles.
After gathering a large shopping bag of gooseberries, then its the mundane task of topping and tailing. Alternatively you can just throw the gooseberries into a bag in the freezer as they freeze free flow and top and tail as you use them throughout the year. The gooseberries have to be picked green for cooking purposes and for eating leave them to ripen (if the birds don't beat you). You can also buy red skinned varieties and these I think are the nicest ones to eat raw.
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Gooseberries top and tailed |
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| Kerry's espalier gooseberry bush makes picking easy |
The Versatile Gooseberry
Here are just some of the things you can make with your harvest:
1. The Gooseberry Shortcake - this combines the sweetness of the shortcake with the tart bite of the gooseberry. My Mum used to bribe us into harvesting the prickly gooseberries with the promise of Gooseberry Shortcake. Mum's secret tip for a perfect gooseberry cake is to avoid putting any sugar on the gooseberries. The sugar makes a syrup and the cake goes all soggy. You can find this recipe on my posting September 2012 "Gooseberry Shortcake and Sweet Cicely"
Note: I converted the imperial measurements Mum used to metric. When I recently followed the metric recipe I found it did need a little extra flour. Put in the measurement and then add enough flour to make the dough workable on a floured surface. It should be a very soft dough but it can't be that sticky that you find it difficult to gently roll out with the help of a sprinkling of flour.
Note: I converted the imperial measurements Mum used to metric. When I recently followed the metric recipe I found it did need a little extra flour. Put in the measurement and then add enough flour to make the dough workable on a floured surface. It should be a very soft dough but it can't be that sticky that you find it difficult to gently roll out with the help of a sprinkling of flour.
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| Gooseberry Shortcake - a real Mackay family favourite |
2. Gooseberries cooked with Elder flowers - Elder flower is the perfect partner to gooseberries, giving the gooseberries a subtle muscat flavour. Gooseberries make a lot of juice when cooked, so use very little water and to give a creamy flavour cook in a knob of butter and no water. Remember you can reduce the amount of sugar with the addition of the herb Sweet Cicely. To make this into a sweet sauce excellent for going over pancakes - just puree in either a food processor or that wonderful invention the stick mixer.
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| Gooseberries cooked with Elder flower blossoms and Sweet Cicely to aid the sweetening |
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| Gooseberries after cooking |
3. Gooseberry Chutney- I have never used gooseberries as a chutney before so I searched the blogosphere for the best sounding recipe. I found two that I decided to try. One included vinegar and spices connected to Christmas, the other was an Indian chutney with no vinegar and Bengali spices.
Spiced Gooseberry Chutney by Chef Heidi Fink
Gooseberry chutney with Bengali Spice by the Hungry Tigress
Spiced Gooseberry Chutney by Chef Heidi Fink
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| Peter's preferred chutney was the one with Bengali spices |
This chutney doesn't have vinegar and not that much sugar so once open it will probably only last a week or two in the refrigerator. To keep good until opened, I followed instructions and finished the jars off in the oven making sure there was a good seal. The Gooseberry Chutney with Bengali Spice was the one chosen by my pickle connoisseur husband Peter as the better of the two.
Both these blogs have excellent ideas so I have supplied the links to the recipes to give you the opportunity to go exploring these blogs over the Christmas holidays.
4. Gooseberry & Orange Jam - I shared some of my gooseberry bounty with my neighbour Rob and next thing he turns up at my door with a jar of Gooseberry and Orange jam. He found the recipe in "The Times Cookery Book" by Katie Stewart, published forty years ago in 1972.
1 kg 350g green gooseberries
5. Gooseberry & Elder Flower Fool - This is a simple and most delicious way of enjoying the flavours of Gooseberry. It can be made in a moment if you have already prepared the fruit. You don't want it to be too watery. If you don't have elder flowers to hand you can simply add some elder flower cordial.
You can make a fool with all cream, or a mix of cream and thick yogurt, or with a mix of custard and cream. Play around with the combination you like the best. I used two-third cream and one-third yogurt because the fruit is quite tart. If the fruit was sweeter I would have gone 50/50.
Simply beat up the cream until thick and doesn't drop off the beater. Next fold in the yogurt or custard and then the fruit puree. You can use any fruit for this but tart fruit is best. Blackcurrant or rhubarb fool is also good. You need to allow it to chill well before serving. It's a lovely dessert to have on a hot summer's evening.
It's now towards the end of the gooseberry season here. The gooseberry is stepping aside for delicious strawberries, currants and raspberries. Dieter has his strawberries growing in large black pots. I think this is something I might try because many of my strawberries get eaten or rot if the ground is too wet. Picking the strawberries hanging over the edge of the pot make for easy and perfect pickings....just like Kerry's espaliered gooseberries.
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| Rob's Gooseberry & Orange Jam with The Times Cookery Book |
Gooseberry and Orange Jam
Makes 2 kg 700g and takes 1 hour.
1 kg 350g green gooseberries
430 ml water
rind and juice of 2 oranges (Rob used tangelos which gives the jam more tang)
1 kg 600 g granulated sugar
Rinse the gooseberries, and top and tail them. Place in a large saucepan or preserving pan, and add the water, finely grated orange rind and juice. Bring slowly to boiling point and simmer gently, squashing the fruit occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the fruit is quite tender (about 30 minutes) add the sugar. Stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring up to the boil and boil briskly for a set (takes about 10 minutes). Draw off the heat, skim and then spoon into six clean warm jars. Cover and seal while hot.
5. Gooseberry & Elder Flower Fool - This is a simple and most delicious way of enjoying the flavours of Gooseberry. It can be made in a moment if you have already prepared the fruit. You don't want it to be too watery. If you don't have elder flowers to hand you can simply add some elder flower cordial.
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| I presented the Gooseberry Fool in a Temuka coffee cup with my New Zealand shortbread and a sprig of elder flower |
Simply beat up the cream until thick and doesn't drop off the beater. Next fold in the yogurt or custard and then the fruit puree. You can use any fruit for this but tart fruit is best. Blackcurrant or rhubarb fool is also good. You need to allow it to chill well before serving. It's a lovely dessert to have on a hot summer's evening.
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| Glossy, sweet Strawberries from Dieter's Glasshouse |
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ReplyDeleteHad my first decent yield of gooseberries here in Canada after five years of nurturing a volunteer bush. Am going to try a gooseberry galette, made with puff pastry, cinnamon and a bit of sugar.
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