Delicious meal with ground cherry salsa and watermelon
Some Mexican restaurants feature salsa made with tomatillos (Moe’s Southwest Grill offers it as a standard condiment or side). A first cousin to the tomatillo, the humble ground cherry, is often a volunteer in Appalachian gardens that returns year after year. Oddly enough both are in the same family as deadly nightshade (so too, I believe, are tomatoes and eggplants). At any rate, for those who have ground cherries, turning them into something other than a casual snack when doing late summer and early fall garden work is both logical and easy. If the husk-covered globes have dropped from the plant, whether yellow (an indication they’ll be slightly sweet) or not, they are ready for salsa.
Just remove the husks and mix them with your salsa ingredients of choice—tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, and the like—and either run through a blender on a coarse setting or, to avoid quite as much mushiness, chop fine. Incidentally, an ulu is a great tool for this, and if you don’t own one of these Eskimo or Inuit type knives I highly recommend acquiring one. Served with chips, plain bagels, or even toast points the salsa is scrumptious and oh so easy to make. Incidentally, mixed with some crowder peas or pinto beans, or maybe with some corn cut from the corn thrown in for good measure, it works perfectly well with cornbread salad (see above).
JC
—Celebrating Southern Appalachian Food written by Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley
I made a batch of ground cherry salsa recently and we loved it! The ground cherries add a real sweetness. I chopped them up and mixed with diced tomatoes, onions, and peppers. You can use whatever spices you prefer. I seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped basil.
Matt liked it best with tortilla chips. I really enjoyed it smeared on a piece of toasted sour dough bread.
We have ground cherries growing throughout our gardens. Once you have a plant or two you’re bound to have more the following year. Ground cherries are self sowers.
People have varying opinions on what ground cherries taste like. What comes to mind for me is a fruity tasting tomato.
You can find our cookbook here.
Last night’s video: Look What Matt Found.
Tipper
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