Gooseberries!

Tonight's featured ingredient was gooseberries. When we commenced with the Fruit-stravaganza here on Le Rue de Fleur a few weeks ago, gooseberries were included on the list of "willing to try" provided by Nate.

I've never had gooseberries; I've never even seen them. So when I stumbled across a gooseberry display at Whole Foods, I knew I had to buy them.



They are so cute! Raw, they taste like a sour grape. I think they are meant to be cooked or used with other sweet things to offset their tartness. Most of the recipes I found, though, either involved making them into dessert (pie, fool, cobbler...) or canning them with an ungodly amount of sugar to make a preserve. So I was on my own! I think I did pretty well by them, if I may say so myself.

The naming of the gooseberry recipe became an issue when I referred to it as various things like relish, salsa, chutney, and compote. I realized that all of those names were pretty much the same in my mind, so in the interest of educating myself and the general food-loving public, here are some definitions (from CDKitchen):

Relish:a cooked or pickled sauce usually made with vegetables or fruits and often used as a condiment; can be smooth or chunky, sweet or savory and hot or mild.

Salsa: 1. Spanish for sauce. 2. Traditionally, a Mexican cold sauce made from tomatoes flavored with cilantro, chiles and onions. 3. Generally, a cold chunky mixture of fresh herbs, spices, fruits and/or vegetables used as a sauce or dip.

Chutney: The name for a large range of sauces or relishes used in East Indian cooking. Fresh chutneys have a bright, clean flavor and are usually thin, smooth sauces. Cilantro, mint, and tamarind are common in fresh chutney. Cooked chutneys have a deeper, broader flavor.

Compote:Dried and fresh fruit cooked with sugar to a jam like consistency, brief enough to allow the fruit to retain their individual identity.

So, it's not a compote, that's clear. But I think what I made tonight could qualify as a Salchutlish. Whatever. It was good.

Menu:
Chile-Rubbed Chicken with Gooseberry-Mango Salsa
Mixed Greens with Basil
Grilled Corn
Grilled Pineapple


Chile-Rubbed Chicken with Gooseberry-Mango Salsa

Note: I forgot two key things when making the chicken.

1. I forgot to brine it. Cardinal sin, in my grilling book. It's easy: Dissolve 2T salt and 2T sugar in about 4c warm water and submerge chicken breast for about 30 minutes. Rinse before coating with rub.

2. I walked away to hang my laundry after putting the chicken on the grill. It *may* have burned just a teensy bit. OK, it burned a LOT. You're not getting any pictures of this ugly debacle. Suffice it to say, when you're grilling over high heat and your chicken is coated in anything that contains sugar, watch it carefully!!!

Note 2: If you don't have the ingredients for the rub or if you're just feeling lazy, a pre-mixed chili-powder rub will do just fine.



I am a big fan of Penzey's Spices, especially their Ancho Chile powder. You should buy stuff from them. They're cheap and high quality.

Serves 2-4

Chicken:
1 T ancho chile powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp brown sugar
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
2 skinless chicken breasts, bone-in

Salsa:
1 c gooseberries, de-stemmed, divided
2 T water
1 tsp lime zest (from about 1/2 of a lime)
1 T lime juice (from about 1/2 of a lime)
1 T packed brown sugar
1 tsp champagne vinegar
1 T grated ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 mango, cubed

2 c baby spinach
1 c baby arugula
1/2 c basil leaves, torn

1. If you brined the chicken, rinse it and pat dry.
2. Combine the chile powder through olive oil in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the chicken breasts and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour to overnight.
3. Heat the grill to medium-high.
4. Grill the chicken until done, being careful not to let the rub burn.
5. Meanwhile, make the salsa: Combine 1/2c gooseberries in a small saucepan with the water through cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, mashing the gooseberries with a spoon, until a thick syrup. Remove from heat and let cool.



5. Cut the remaining gooseberries in half and toss with the mango. Stir in the cooled gooseberry-ginger mixture. Taste for sweet-tartness; add more brown sugar or lime juice if needed.
5. Slice chicken and serve over greens topped with the salsa.



The leftover salsa made a very nice dressing on my salad the next day for lunch: I tossed together some baby spinach, baby arugula, torn basil leaves and torn mint leaves with some sliced strawberries, and mixed in about 1/2 c of the gooseberry salsa. Super easy and delicious.