I don't think gooseberries are boring at all and really envy your find. But they are primarily a European fruit and in the US, a generational fruit many of us old fogies acquired a taste for as kids when they were cultivated here. In other words, something the younger generations have never experienced. So the demand/interest in them is quite low here, thus the lack of recipes.

But they can be substituted in most any fruit-based recipe - jams, chutneys, sauces, syrups, fruit cocktail, or even canned plain to use in many things when baking. Gooseberry syrup is one of our personal favorites.

You just need to note that they are seedy so straining is often required and they can be bitter so extra sugaring-to-taste is often called for.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Gooseberry Recipes

My gooseberry bushes are still quite young, but I did manage to get a few quarts this year. They've been illegal to grow here for a long time, but the ban was recently lifted, so I can enjoy a taste of my childhood!

There definitely is a lack of specific recipes other than jam and preserves, but as a starting point (for me, anyway) is to find a rhubarb recipe and adapt it for gooseberries. I think rhubarb is the closest "tart-sweet" comparison I could find.

Gooseberries are high in pectin and high in acid (low pH of roughly 2.8), so I made a combination jam of gooseberries with strawberries, and one small batch of gooseberries with raspberries. Haven't tasted them yet though.

I've become enamored with chutneys lately (one reason is DH does not eat much jelly or jam, but he devours chutneys as a condiment with meats). Might as well make something that gets eaten!

The gooseberry chutney hasn't fully developed its flavor since I only made it about two weeks ago, but so far it's one of my favorites. I'll have to find my notes and type them up to post later.

Pies, crumbles, jam, jelly or just stewed with some sugar and served with yoghurt, cream or ice cream. But I am wondering about the description of 'little red fruit'. Are they definitely gooseberries? Here are some of mine, not yet ripe back in May, but bigger than a large grape.

There are probably different kinds of gooseberries. The ones that grow at my parents house are about the size of a large blueberry. Definitely not anywhere near the size of a grape. And while they start out green like your picture, when fully ripened they do indeed turn red, almost a translucent burgandy.

As far as recipes, I've never made it but as a kid I heard many older people talk about gooseberry pie so that might be something else you could make.

My Grandma had gooseberry bushes when I was young. She made pie with them(if she could keep me from eating them off the bush). She had the green ones.
There is a Finnish variety, Hinnonmaki that I've seen in catalogs here that is red. I did aquire some seed last year and tried to winter sow them. One out of three sprouted and promply died(sigh).

There are plenty of vrieties of goosebrries. Color can be green, yellow, red, pink or black. The size on some varieties can be small as a pea and on other varieties, big as a walnut with many in between. The sweetness/tartness varies also from very sweet to very sour. Unfortunately here in US there are less available cultivars to buy.
I love good gooseberries fresh. Dark colored gooseberry wine is absolutely wonderful too.
Olga
Olga

Gooseberries grow wild here in the oak woods. It's rather tedious picking since the bushes are thorny, but the resultant jam/preserve concoction is worth it. I leave the seeds in and add a dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg. (Perhaps the seeds of unripe gooseberries are less developed?)

They do eventually ripen to red, but my great-grandmother told me they were too bland when ripe. She said during the depression gooseberries were used in place of lemons to acidify and thicken jams.

Gooseberry custard pie is a glorious thing. I wish I had her recipe for it. I do make a gooseberry slump (dumplings with fruit) and serve it with cream. The angels sing.

There are a lot of good sounding recipes talked about above.
Wild gooseberries (with thorns) grow around here. I might be tempted to pick them if I had a few good recipes to try.

cannond -
any chance you would post your gooseberry slump recipe? It sounds great.

malna - if you get a chance, please do post your chutney recipe. I've been thinking I should try to make some. My husband loves that kind of thing w/ meat too.

Dave - Is your gooseberry syrup posted somewhere already?

Wild green (under-ripe) gooseberries vary significantly from year to year in cooking time to render them tender. Here's what I do.

SLUMP

Rinse, top and tail 8 cups of gooseberries. Simmer gooseberries just covered with water on medium-low heat till they're tender.
It could take up to 40 minutes. (No sugar, yet. It could toughen the skins) Keep checking to make sure they don't scorch. Add more water if necessary.

When they're soft enough for you, turn the heat to low and start adding sugar till they're as sweet as you like. I wish I could be more specific, but tartness varies from patch to patch. You want SYRUP here, not jam. If it gets too thick on you, add water.

Now add 1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla. Some folks prefer a bit of cinnamon. You decide.

Now drop golf-ball sized dumplings onto the simmering gooseberries. Place a sheet of foil over the pot. Fit lid on snuggly. Simmer 15 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked. You may have to peek and cut one open. When done, let stand uncovered for 15 minutes. Serve in bowls with a jug of rich cream for pouring.

Dumplings

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk (or milk with a little lemon juice added)

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Stir in the melted butter. Add the buttermilk to make a sticky-ish or wet dough.

This is the worst looking, most discombobulated recipe I've ever seen. It is how I do it, though. The dumpling part is actually fast and easy. Incidentally, I have been known to buy a couple of cans of gooseberries in syrup to make this recipe in lean years. (Perish the thought)

This is still a work in progress:

Gooseberry Chutney

4 cups gooseberries, tipped and tailed (I only had 3 cups of gooseberries, so I added 1 cup of chopped tart apples)
1 cup cider vinegar (next time, I'll try malt vinegar)
about 3/4 cup of brown sugar (I started with 1/2 cup and began to add more to taste)
1 cup dried fruit (most recipes use raisins, but DH hates raisins, so I used 1/2 dried cherries and 1/2 dried cranberries)
1 cup onions, chopped

about a teaspoon cinnamon (probably more)
about two teaspoons of minced fresh ginger
about a teaspoon of mustard seeds
a pinch of ground cloves (of any spice, I find cloves get the strongest in storage, so I start with a small amount)

I put the dried fruit in the vinegar to soak while I chopped the onions and the apples. Added the apples, onions and the gooseberries and cooked for a few minutes until the gooseberries softened. Started adding the sugar and the spices and cooked until thick (about 20 minutes).

I thought it needed a tiny bit more liquid, so I added a splash of white wine and a pinch of citric acid to brighten up the flavors. Citric acid has become a "secret" ingredient for me in a lot of recipes - it adds a bright citrusy note, but doesn't have a distinct lemon or orange flavor. I also thought it needed a bit of heat, so I added a pinch or two of dried cayenne pepper.

Put into 1/2 pint jars with 1/2" headspace and BWB'd for 10 minutes.

Still experimenting, but have to wait until next year's gooseberry crop :-)

cjzimmer - 'There are probably different kinds of gooseberries'. There certainly are in Europe. We have many named varieties for both cooking and dessert (ie for eating raw) and some are the size of a small plum. The ones in my picture are a very common cultivar 'Invicta'. There was a tradition in the North of England for growing giant gooseberries which attained the size of a hen's egg through thinning, breeding and feeding.

The Slump recipe sounds good cannond.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gooseberries

Thanks so much for the recipes. I am looking forward to trying them!