In 2021, Jennifer planted 4 Ground Cherry plants in the Community Garden. As it turned out, these were not the ones she really liked. This variety was large, the size of a tomatillo, and just slightly sweet - tart taste. These began to pile up, and I hated to waste them. I also didn't want another chop fest to make something of them.
So I invented this - a green salsa that is very easy to make, with a minimum of chop time, yet very tasty.
Note - this can also be made with tomatillos or green tomatoes.
When I have a gallon ziploc bag full of ground cherries (or tomatillos), I will put the shucked fruit (a side note - storing the bag in the fridge doesn't seem to hurt the taste or texture of the fruit, but it does make slipping off the sticky husk much easier) on a sheet pan. The fruit should occupy about half the pan, and the other half is covered with cleaned and halved peppers, and quartered onions. Add in half dozen so garlic cloves, and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.
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| Priot to roasting, the pan is full of veg. I used green onions instead of yellow onions for this batch because I had some that needed to be used |
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| What it looks like after 35 minutes at 400. |
When the stuff has cooled down a bit, I just scrape the whole mess into the food processor. I add 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, salt, and at least 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
After mixing, it will be a smooth, green puree. Taste it now to see if the salt/lemon mixture is perfect. If is too strong, add a peeled red tomato to the batch and puree again until smooth.
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If it tastes right, it is done. I prefer to store mine in glass, and it will keep for quite a while in the fridge.
If you want to can this in a boiling water bath, you want it to be quite tart - with at least 1 tablespoons of lemon juice per pint, or use Sodium Citrate additive (be be vary careful, this stuff is really easy to use too much, and you get a product that is almost inedibley tart). I processed mine for 40 minutes. And that is 40 minutes of boiling, NOT 40 minutes in the pot! Read up on how to do a boiling water bath for canning acidic foods.
