Persimmon Habanero Salsa


                          makes about 1 cup

1              very ripe kaki persimmon (ie one of the
               Asian types, not the American native)
1              ripe Hab, seeded, deveined and cut up
1              large garlic clove, peeled and cut up
1/4-1/2 Tsp    Quatre Epices (French 4-Spice powder)*

Scrape the flesh of the persimmon off the skin and into 
a food processer; add the Hab, the garlic and the Quatre 
Epices. Pulse til smooth.

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

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 
min.

* 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, 
punkin pie and apple crisp. Larousse Gastronomique gives 
the following formula, but I think the one I buy here in 
Phila at Assouline & Ting has less pepper.

                           Quatre Epices

1 1/8 Cup             ground white pepper
1 1/2 Tbs             ground or pwodered cloves
3 1/2 Tbs             ground ginger
4 Tbs                 ground nutmeg

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

Libby
From: Libby Goldstein 
From the Chile-Heads Recipe Collection
http://neptune.netimages.com/~chile/recipes.html