More kitchen experiments

This year I grew ground cherries for the first time.  I had never actually heard of ground cherries before I read something in Garden Making magazine last year on tomatoes, tomatillos and ground cherries.  So, while ordering some different tomato varieties from the seed catalogue at Cottage Gardener, I also picked up some ground cherry and tomatillo seeds.  The tomatillos aren't ready yet but I've been picking ground cherries for several weeks.  They taste, to me, vaguely of hazelnuts with a sour edge.  After collecting a bowl full, I decided I should make a small jam with them.  That seems to be what all of the recipes I could find did with them so, despite the fact that I feel they would be good in savour dishes too, I decided to throw in some sugar and lemon juice with the berries and make some jam.  The only trouble, I let them boil just a shade too long and made ... toffee!  Oops.  Good thing I have seeds left in the basement to try my ground cherry experiments again next year.

Today's cooking experiments were far more successful.

First up, I made ricotta cheese.  It was surprisingly easy and the results taste really good. The whey left over from the process is going in bread sometime this week.  The ricotta itself will be part of ravioli which will allow me to break out the pasta attachment for the kitchen aid mixer.  Always a lot of fun and a bit of a mess but I am never disappointed with the outcome.  There are many things that taste better homemade but I think fresh pasta is one of my favourites.

I also made crab cakes for lunch today from Lynn Crawford's Pitchin' In book.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.  The remoulade was also delicious.  Instead of the salad suggested, I just cut up some of our over abundance of tomatoes and sprinkled them on top.  This will definitely be made again.

Finally, pulled pork just came off the barbecue and will be perfect for lunch tomorrow.  I think I'll read for the rest of the afternoon!