New and Abundant

Husk/ground cherries will be included in shares starting this week and into the foreseeable future. They get their ground cherry name because when they are ripe, they fall to the ground - and are thus so easy to pick. Even better, for this season the farmers experimented with landscape fabric to suppress weeds over the entire patch (same as with tomatillos) making harvesting easy and comfortable. The "husks" protecting the inner fruit dries up - keep the husks on the fruit until ready to eat. Ground cherries are amazing - they keep almost indefinitely just sitting on your kitchen counter - I would recommend spreading them out on a towel to let them thoroughly dry before keeping in a bowl, since we continually have wet fields to contend with. They were grown and enjoyed by the pioneers because of the extraordinary shelf life. They are a good source of beta-carotene, calcium, iron and other nutrients. Husk cherries have a tropical-like taste with a texture somewhere between a tomato and a grape. They can be eaten raw as a snack or added to salads, or cooked into pie filling. Search this site for recipes. My favorite is the Ground Cherry Salsa, which combines ground cherries, tomatoes, peppers, hot peppers and cilantro. It requires a lot of chopping (I guess you could break out the food processor), but the yummy taste is worth it.

Every year at the farm is different - some items struggle to mature, while others are abundant. This year, eggplants are one of the abundant crops so far. You may be wondering what to do with all of them, especially since they don't keep for more than about a week in the fridge. You have read that I love mine grilled, and made the braised eggplant last week - both yummy options. A few more that also freeze well are Caponata (1 & 2) - a favorite of mine, because it incorporates peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs. It is a great dish to have as a side dish, on top of pasta, either with or without a meat component, or as a bruschetta. I make large batches and freeze in about 2 cup containers and am so happy to take out and eat all winter long. The other thing I make in batches to freeze is Baba Ganoush. Everyone that makes this dish has their own favorite version. The one on this site is mine - it is basically the one from the restaurant Zahav in Philadelphia. I like it because grilling the eggplant until the skin is really blistered and the eggplant is very soft results in a smoky flavor that you cannot achieve in the oven. Check out this site for other ideas - over the years we have added so many eggplant recipes, several from fellow members - even Eggplant Sandwiches! A new one from a member is added this week under Member Ideas and Suggestions.

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