Persimmon habanero salsa

1 batch

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 Very ripe kaki persimmon*
1 Ripe habanero; seeded deveined and cut up
1⅛ cup Ground white pepper
1½ tablespoon Ground or powdered cloves
1 large Garlic clove peeled and cut up
¼ To 1/2 ts. Quatre Epices**
3½ tablespoon Ground ginger
4 tablespoons Ground nutmeg

Directions

QUATRE EPICES

*I.e. one of the Asian types, not the American native.

**If you can't find Quatre Epices in a specialty food store, you can make your own. In France it's much used in charcouterie, but I like it a lot in prune butter, pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Larousse Gastronomique gives the following formula, but I think the one I buy here in Philadelphia at Assouline & Ting has less pepper.

Scrape the flesh of the persimmon off the skin and into a food processor; add the habanero, garlic and Quatre Epices. Pulse until smooth.

If you cook this, it gets very thick and loses some of the terrific persimmon color and some heat, but it isn't bad sauteed briefly.

Store in a closed jar in the refrigerator.

Goldstein's note: I had it with boneless pork chops just cooked in a bit of olive oil, but you could add some of the salsa to the chops after they've been browned over high heat; lower the heat and let the chops cook in the salsa for 10-15 minutes.

Combine the spices really well...you could even use a hand mixer, and store in a closed jar.

Yield: About 1 cup.

From: Libby Goldstein <libby@...> in Chile-Heads List.

Formatted by Cathy Harned.

Submitted By CATHY HARNED On 11-26-94

Related recipes