Hi all,

We picked our first gooseberries from the allotment yesterday, almost a
pound of them from 2 bushes, and plenty more to come.

Shopping in Tesco today I decided to check the price of gooseberries to see
how much we've saved, and couldn't find any. I asked one of the staff, who
said they haven't got any in yet.


HAAAAAAA!

Eat your heart out Tesco. We got ours.

Steve
( I could smug for England)

On Wed, 18 May 2005 14:54:34 +0100, "shazzbat"
wrote:

Hi all,

We picked our first gooseberries from the allotment yesterday, almost a
pound of them from 2 bushes, and plenty more to come.

Shopping in Tesco today I decided to check the price of gooseberries to see
how much we've saved, and couldn't find any. I asked one of the staff, who
said they haven't got any in yet.

Have you tried eating them? They must be a very early variety. The
ones on our allotments are nowhere near ready.


HAAAAAAA!

Eat your heart out Tesco. We got ours.

Steve
( I could smug for England)



Pam in Bristol

On Wed, 18 May 2005 14:55:47 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:


Have you tried eating them? They must be a very early variety. The
ones on our allotments are nowhere near ready.

Not for eating raw................but under a crumble with Bird's
Custard (no other will hit the spot).................We'll be having
goosgog crumble on Sunday. That's the beauty of gooseberries, the
season starts now with little tart ones under a crumble and goes on
for weeks until they're squidgy and sweet.
Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

"Rod" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 18 May 2005 14:55:47 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:


Have you tried eating them? They must be a very early variety. The
ones on our allotments are nowhere near ready.

Not for eating raw................but under a crumble with Bird's
Custard (no other will hit the spot).................We'll be having
goosgog crumble on Sunday. That's the beauty of gooseberries, the
season starts now with little tart ones under a crumble and goes on
for weeks until they're squidgy and sweet.
Rod
___________________________-
I couldn't agree more. These early pickings are quite the best~ but
only for cooking and with plenty of sugar. No skins or seeds~ delicious.
I have a row of Careless cordons that produce a gallon each and
benefit from a May thinning. Later ones are sweeter and look impressive but
are not so pleasant IMO.
Tough skins etc.
Best Wishes Brian.

Brian wrote:
"Rod" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 18 May 2005 14:55:47 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:


Have you tried eating them? They must be a very early variety.
The
ones on our allotments are nowhere near ready.

Not for eating raw................but under a crumble with Bird's
Custard (no other will hit the spot).................We'll be
having
goosgog crumble on Sunday. That's the beauty of gooseberries, the
season starts now with little tart ones under a crumble and goes
on
for weeks until they're squidgy and sweet.
Rod
___________________________-
I couldn't agree more. These early pickings are quite the
best~ but only for cooking and with plenty of sugar. No skins or
seeds~ delicious. I have a row of Careless cordons that
produce
a gallon each and
benefit from a May thinning. Later ones are sweeter and look
impressive but are not so pleasant IMO.
Tough skins etc.
Best Wishes Brian.

And for wine, green are much better than ripe: they seem to lose
something as they mature.

--
Mike.

Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from "Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond contains these
words:


I couldn't agree more. These early pickings are quite the best~
but
only for cooking and with plenty of sugar. No skins or seeds~ delicious.
I have a row of Careless cordons that produce a gallon each and
benefit from a May thinning. Later ones are sweeter and look impressive
but are not so pleasant IMO.
Tough skins etc.

Tough ones are ideal for gooseberry fool. Simmer the fruit with a
little sugar, pass it through a sieve (gets rid of seeds and skins),
blend the puree with some cream or real custard or both and chill.


Oooh, lovely. Haven't had that for years. How much sugar do you use? I'm
quite happy with very rough estimates!

--
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the
subject.
-- Winston Churchill

Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from bigboard contains these words:

Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from "Brian" --- 'flayb' to respond contains these
words:


I couldn't agree more. These early pickings are quite the
best~ but
only for cooking and with plenty of sugar. No skins or seeds~
delicious.
I have a row of Careless cordons that produce a gallon each and
benefit from a May thinning. Later ones are sweeter and look
impressive but are not so pleasant IMO.
Tough skins etc.

Tough ones are ideal for gooseberry fool. Simmer the fruit with a
little sugar, pass it through a sieve (gets rid of seeds and skins),
blend the puree with some cream or real custard or both and chill.


Oooh, lovely. Haven't had that for years. How much sugar do you use? I'm
quite happy with very rough estimates!

Er, "to taste" :-) Gooseberries vary considerably in their sweetness.
I like the finished pud to combine the fruit's sharpish taste and the
bland creaminess, without that subtlety being masked by the taste of
sugar.

When cooking the fruit, use an absolute minimum of water ( hardly more
than the drips from rinsing them) and just a little sugar, maybe a level
dessert spoon, so that as the pan warms, the drips-and-melting-sugar
create only just enough wetness to prevent the fruit sticking to the pan
before it breaks down releasing its own copious juice and pulp. Seive
the fruit while it's hot, taste the puree, and if you think it's still
too tart, stir in more sugar..it will melt in.

Forgot to say, there's no need to top and tail the fruit.

Janet.

Ta very much.

--
"All snakes who wish to remain in Ireland will please raise their right
hands."
-- Saint Patrick