Meatless Monday: Latest Market Find of the Week…

… is the Ground Cherry (genus Physalis).  

Inside these papery, pagoda-shaped packages are a tiny, sweet fruit resembling a small cherry tomato. Those of you who know the tomatillo may find it looks to be a mini version of that fruit, also a Physalis.

The ground cherry, known also as the husk tomato or cape gooseberry, is a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) which includes tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. It is not to be confused with the true gooseberry (Ribes), which grows naked on a  bush with prickly thorns. Ground cherries are high in Vitamins C and K, niacin, potassium, and fiber. Native to Central and S. America, the fruit can be propagated from seeds to maturity in 90 days and is a high yielder. The plants need no fertilizer and tolerate poor soil. 

In early autumn you may be lucky enough to find ground cherries at farmers’ markets. They are a bit pricey: you can expect to pay about $4/pint. The husked fruit can be eaten raw by itself or as a salad garnish, dipped in chocolate, cooked down into preserves, or baked in a pie. Popping the fruit from the husks will make your hands dirty, but the fruit inside is clean. [I would still wash before using in a recipe.] It takes a bit of work (as well as cash) to pop out the 2+ cups needed for a pie, but since we love a good pie at my house, that’s what I did. [Ground cherry pie is not a good candidate for the Slow Food $5 Meal Challenge unless you grew the cherries yourself.] 

I used an “Old Mennonite Recipe” for Ground Cherry Pie with Crumb Topping which you will find all over the internet in identical form. 

Requirements: One, unbaked pie shell; 2 and 1/2 cups of ground cherries, husked and washed.

Ingredients for the filling: 1/2 cup packed brown sugar; 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons of water

Ingredients for the topping: 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour; 3 tablespoons of white sugar; 2 tablespoons of butter

Preheat oven to 425° F

Place washed ground cherries in bottom of pie shell. Mix brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of flour and sprinkle over cherries. Sprinkle water over top. Stir together white sugar and flour, and cut in butter until crumbly. Top cherry mixture with crumbs. 

Cover the edge of the crust with foil before putting in the oven.

Bake at 425° for 15 minutes.

Lower the heat to 375°, remove the foil and continue to bake for 20-25 minutes more. The pie will be done when the filling is bubbly.

This pie is delicious when served warm, either unadorned or topped with a bit of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. It does not require much, particularly if your crust is made with butter.

Happy Columbus Day and please come back soon for more food facts or my latest produce discovery. Thanks for reading.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”

PS

For those of you who are following my Green Bean Petition, I am making good progress towards the 200 mark, on my way to 500. Thanks to all who have signed so far. Let’s keep it going and growing.

Farewell, Steve

When I posted a few weeks ago that long-lost video of Steve Jobs unveiling the first Mac to the world, I had no idea that we would be bidding him farewell so soon.

Apple is collecting reflections on the life of Steve Jobs (rememberingsteve@apple.com). 


Here is what I sent their way.

With your extraordinary power to think differently and to bring your visions to life, you gave each of us the tools to turn dreams into reality. You re-defined how we work and play, and you set young people who grew up with your products (and celebrating with you at countless Macworld Expos) on paths to careers their parents could never have imagined for them. Thanks, Steve, for making the world a better place. You will always be in our hearts.

Elaine, Mac user since 1985

Meatless Monday: Stuck at 90

It's been a week since I started my petition asking Stop & Shop supermarkets to stop using produce grown in China in their Nature's Promise line of frozen vegetables.

Enough people signed the petition in the first couple of days that I upped my target total to 500. As I write, I am stuck around 90. You can see the current total on the widget.

Signing the petition elicited an emailed response from Ahold, the parent corporation of  Stop & Shop. Here is an excerpt from the message: “… We appreciate knowing of your concerns regarding imported produce and the country of origin. Based on seasonality, we source locally and internationally in order to provide our customers with a large variety of the freshest produce. For specific information on how produce is sourced, we make an effort to include this information in our advertisements, as well as on the produce signs in our stores. Our signs and ads generally indicate if an item is ‘imported.’… Your produce manager is very knowledgeable and can always assist you with specific questions about specific products. We are dedicated to providing safe, fresh and wholesome fruits and vegetables. We have strong quality control processes and our produce inspectors and quality assurance teams are excellent. In addition, under FDA guidelines regarding the monitoring and safety of produce imports, imported produce must meet the same safety standards as that grown in the United States …”


My petition is not, however, about produce in the produce section. It is about ending the practice of outsourcing the farming of vegetables commonly grown in the US to foreign countries for processing and sale to the American consumer, and then denoting the country of origin in tiny print on the bag. 


Stop & Shop is my local supermarket. I have spent many thousands of dollars in the chain over the years. I was there on Saturday and decided to read some more frozen vegetable bags. I discovered that while organic peas do come from the US, conventional green beans come from Mexico, asparagus comes from China, and grilled zucchini comes from Italy! Why are peas American but not zucchini? This is a mystery.


An article by Bill Saporito in this week's Time Magazine gives me hope that change may come soon even without this petition. Jarden Corp. of Rye, NY is "insourcing” the production of some of its household goods, including mops, canning jars, and matches which it had been “outsourcing” to China. Rising wages and benefits for Chinese workers coupled with an increase in fuel and shipping costs is driving the return of some manufacturing jobs to America. Perhaps the same will soon be true with agricultural products — particularly if American consumers vote with their forks (and wallets).


As I said last week and in my petition, “It makes no sense to be purchasing green beans from a half a world away. For reasons of food safety and security, as well as to lower the carbon footprint for transportation costs, American farmers should be the ones growing the majority of produce Americans consume.” 


Let's help the cause along. I still need 410 votes to reach my goal. It's easy. Just click on the bag of green beans. Thanks.

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal  health and the health of our planet.”