Fruit

• APPLESAUCE makes about 3 cups

2 1/2-3 pounds apples (I’ve used many kinds–Empire, McIntosh, Braeburn, Pink Lady–and they’ve all turned out fine, but tart varietials work best)

1/4 c. water

1/2 c. sugar (to taste)

lemon juice (about 4 T. or 1/2 a lemon)

*optional: cinnamon and/or apple liquor*

Quarter and core the apples. I never bother to skin them, but you can. Dump the apples, water, and sugar into a large pot and bring the water to a boil–it will seem like a paltry amount of water, but resist the urge to add more because the apples will release water as they cook. Then reduce to a simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Stir them around occasionally. After the apples are soft, remove them from the heat. Toss them in a foodmill, processor, or blender until you achieve your desired chunkiness (note: when using unpeeled apples, you have to process the mixture relatively smooth, if you don’t like bits of skin in the applesauce. I personally don’t mind, unless serving to guests). Stir in the lemon juice and the cinnamon/apple liquor if using.

Mix applesauce in oatmeal or plain yogurt, eat it with porkchops, put it on latkes, pancakes, or waffles. Plain and cold is a lovely snack; heated up in a little dish makes for a sweet dessert.

PS: My favorite thing about not peeling the apples? The petal pink color of the sauce yielded from red-skinned apples.

• MINT BLOOD ORANGE SORBET

2 c. blood orange juice (about 6 medium oranges or 2 pounds)
1 cup Mint Simple Syrup (equal parts sugar and water, heated on the stove with a bunch of chopped mint until the sugars dissolve. Using a fine sieve, strain the mint particles out.)
2 t. blood orange zest
lemon juice, to taste
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Puree everything in a blender, taste and adjust the sugar or acid to taste. Cool in the refrigerator and then churn in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
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OR, if you don’t have an ice-cream machine:
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• MINT BLOOD ORANGE GRANITA

Mix 2 c. blood orange juice with 1/2 c. mint simple syrup (see above) and 1/4 c. lemon juice. Adjust sugar or acid to taste. Pour into a large shallow pan (9×13 recommended). After about 2 hours when the mixture is slushy, start scraping through with a fork about every hour for 5 additional hours until frozen.

• WHAT TO DO WITH OVER-RIPE or UNDER-RIPE PEARS

Over-Ripe Pears
- Make pearsauce (essentially applesauce, see above, but with pears. Delicious over pancakes and waffles, substituted when baking just like applesauce, or served over porkchops
- Add slices to a grilled-cheese sandwich or quesadilla. If you really want to go decadent, add some blue cheese or brie
- Stir them, juices and all, into yogurt with some honey
- Make pear libations: puree the pears and add sugar or simple syrup (omit the mint) and then add champagne for your Sunday morning bellinis or infuse your own vodka (use really good triple-filtered vodka (1/2 a liter or more); add well-washed, peeled pears; store in an airtight jar for about a month)
- Add pear the next time you make butternut squash soup, along with a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme (discard sprigs before you puree)
- Make dessert: Everyone over at Chowhound raves about galleygirl’s pear tart (AKA, “Laurie’s Pear Tart”).
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Under-Ripe Pears – pears on the harder side are good for recipes that require pears to keep their shape.
- Poach them: there’s a beautiful recipe complete with images from David Lebowitz here
- Saute them in butter, a la Mark Bittman: heat 2 T of unsalted butter in a large, deep skillet until the foam subsides and add slices of about 4 pears and cook, turning them occasionally and sprinkling them with 1/4 brown sugar as you go until they brown (about 10 minutes). Add 2 T of pear liquor and stir until the mixture bccomes saucy (about 2 more minutes). Add another 2 T of butter, turn the heat to low, and cook until the remaining butter melts and coats the pears. (from “How to cook Everything”)
- Roast them: it’s basically the same as roasting vegetables, only melted butter or lemon juice is your olive oil and a little sugar is your salt and pepper. Toss quartered and cored pears with butter/lemon juice and sugar and then put them in a single layer in a baking pan and roast for 20-25 minutes at 425. Delicious in salads.

• SUGAR-STEWED KUMQUATS

The basic recipe is: chopped kumquats (2-4 cups, peels included but seeds discarded) boiled in about 3-4 cups simple syrup (2:1 ratio sugar:water). I had enough kumquats to make about 1 1/2 cups and boiled them in about 2 cups of simple syrup.

My favorite ways to eat them? A piece of toast spread with ricotta cheese with these kumquats on top, or mixing them with some dijon mustard and mixing that with cold grilled chicken–orange-mustard chicken salad. So easy and so good!

Sugar-stewed kumquats will also make you:

Candied kumquats (strain the kumquats out and eat alone)

Sweet citrus sauce for ice-cream, cake, waffles, pancakes, blintzes, etc.

Poultry glaze: mash the kumquats up and combine them with mustard and use on chicken or pork; or pulverize them in a blender with salt and garlic

Citrus sweetner for iced-tea, hot tea, or lemonade

Flavoring for bellinis, spritzers, mojitos, and sangrias

A way to pump up your cheese plate

• IDEAS FOR BAKED PAPAYA

98% of the time, I eat my papaya fresh and straight, but sometimes the occasion calls for something with a bit more flair. Baking papaya is easy and akin to baking apples:

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the papaya in half and scoop out the seeds. Spritz the flesh with lemon juice and sprinkle it with cinnamon, brown sugar, and/or nutmeg. You might also want to add some minced fresh ginger. Speckle it with butter and put them in the oven, flesh side up, for 30 minutes (or longer, if your oven runs cool), or until the top is carmelized.

Another option for baked papaya is to fill it with yummy chicken curry and then bake it.

Preheat oven to 350. Cut papaya in half and scoop out the seeds before adding chicken curry:

CHICKEN CURRY

Use precooked chicken strips to make this easier and mix in with the sauce for chicken curry. The sauce will probably feed about 5-6 people, so you’ll need about 15-16 oz. of cooked chicken if cooking for that many.

6 T. butter

1 lg. onion, minced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 med. green apple, peeled & chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. flour

2-3 T. curry

1 t. dry mustard

1 t. paprika

s+p, to taste

cayenne, to taste

1 1/4 c. chicken broth

1 c. light cream

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion, celery, apple, and garlic and cook until the produce is limp. While it is cooking, stir together the flour, curry powder, dry mustard, paprika, s+p and cayenne. Add the seasoning mixture to the onion mixture and stir until blended. Remove from the heat, add the broth and the cream, and stir until smooth. If your chicken isn’t already shredded or cubed into bite-sized pieces, do so, and mix it up with the sauce (obviously, the amount of chicken you use depends on how “saucy” you like your curry).

Fill the papaya halves with the curry and sprinkle unsweetened coconut over the top (if you have it). Cook the halves for 10-15 minutes and serve garnished with lime.

From Maili Yardley’s Hawaii Cooks Throughout the Year

• appetizer: STUFFED LYCHEE

Peel the lychees and pull out the pit, but leave the lychee basically intact. Stuff the lychees with soft cream cheese and drizzle with a little ginger simple syrup (generally a 2:1 sugar:water mix with crushed ginger. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves. Strain and you have ginger-infused simple syrup). Done.

• GRILLED PEACHES

Like any other grilling technique, all you need to grill peaches is a fat lubricant and seasoning (and you can forgo the seasoning if you prefer). You can just coat the peaches and grill, or you can also marinade the peaches for 20-30 minutes before grilling to boost the flavor quotient. How you want to serve the peaches affects the baste you serve:

SWEET: Cut the peaches in half and de-pit. Coat them in melted butter and add a pinch of brown sugar, cinnamon, and a bit of salt. Grill on the barbecue (choose a clean spot unless you like that burger flavor with your peaches) or on a grill pan for 3-4 minutes per side.

SAVORY: Cut the peaches in half and de-pit. Coat them in olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Grill on the barbecue  (choose a clean spot unless you like that burger flavor with your peaches) or on a grill pan for 3-4 minutes per side.

OTHER OPTIONS

-brandy/rum, lemon juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon

-balsamic vinegar & sugar

-vanilla or almond extract & honey

-canola oil & black pepper

-butter, sugar, & ginger

 

• WATERMELON ICE-CREAM
There’s no other way to describe this than to say it tastes exactly, quite literally, like…watermelon ice-cream. In order to get the strongest watermelon flavor, the recipe calls for making essentially infused simple-syrup, similar to the method used in basil-lime elixir–mixing the fruit with sugar over heat and letting it rest before proceeding.
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3 lbs. watermelon flesh (about 6 full cups, diced)
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. raspberry liquor or port
1 T. vanilla extract
3 c. heavy cream
Puree and strain the watermelon flesh. Combine 3 cups of the watermelon puree with the sugar in a saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and liquor/port, plus the remaining 3 cups of raw watermelon puree. Add the cream and then chill in the refrigerator overnight (don’t skip this step; it allows the flavors to meld). The following day, put the mixture into your ice-cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions to make ice-cream.
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FYI: the recipe will make a good amount of puree. We have a Cuisinart ICE-25 bucket ice-cream maker and I needed to do a few batches (which requires extra time to freeze the bowl)
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From Joyce White’s Brown Sugar: Soul Food Desserts from Family and Friends

• GRILLED GINGER GRAPEFRUIT

For those times when you want the grapefruit, but are just a teensy bit bored…

1 whole grapefruit
1 T sugar
1 t peeled and minced fresh ginger
Cut the grapefruit in half. Mix together the ginger and sugar and sprinkle over the grapefruit. Place on a baking sheet and under an oven broiler or in a toaster oven. Broil for 6 minutes, utnil the sugar and ginger start to bubble and carmelize.

From Joy Pierson, Bart Potenza, and Barbara Scott-Goodman’s The Candle Cafe Cookbook

• CHILLED MELON SOUP

In general, I’m not the biggest fan of fruit soups because I’d rather just eat the fruit or make a smoothie, but this melon soup really takes the whole breakfast thing to a new level. Or you could also serve it as an appetizer.

1 lg. honeydew melon, small dice (4 c)
1 c. coconut water
2 T lime juice
Pinch each: chili powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon
agave syrup, to taste
blueberries & mint leaves for garnish
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more coconut water if you want a thinner soup. Serve chilled and top with blueberries and mint leaves.

Serves 2

From Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi’s Vegan World Fusion Cuisine

• DANISH CHERRIES

I confess, I have yet to pit a cherry. Use frozen cherries and get on with things.
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4 c. pitted cherries (frozen unsweetened is fine)
1 1/2 T. cornstarch
3-4 T. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 t. grated lemon rind
3/4 t. almond extract
optional: 1/2 c. blanched, slivered almonds (I buy these, but you can blanch almonds by pouring boiling water over them and rubbing of their skins. Cut them vertically to sliver them)
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Place cherries in a heavy medium-sized saucepan and cook over medium heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and sugar in a small bowl. Add lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Stir this into the hot cherries and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick (5 to 8 minutes).
Remove from heat and stir in lemon rind, almond extract, and slivered almonds.
Serve hot, warm, room temperature, or cold, topped with whipped cream, whipped ricotta, or yogurt.
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Serves 6
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From Mollie Katzen’s The Moosewood Cookbook

• GRAPE, RED ONION, and GREENS TART

This tart is farmhouse-elegant. It is rustic and thrown-together, but the addition of the grapes makes it a little fancy. They also add a beautiful clean sweetness as a foil to an otherwise savory tart.

“SALAD”
1 c. lightly-packed salad greens (spring mix or baby romaine)
1/2 c. good-tasting seedless grapes
1 med. red onion, sliced into thin slivers
DRESSING
zest of 1/2 lg. lemon
1 lg. garlic clove, minced
leaves from 5 fresh thyme sprigs
1 T. olive oil
1/4 t. salt (or more, to taste)
pinch of black pepper
TART BASE
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted (one 17.3 oz pkg)
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 c. shredded Asiago cheese
Set one oven rack as low as possible and preheat oven to 500. Tear the greens into bite-sized pieces and add them to a large bowl. Toss them with the grapes, onion, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, olive, salt, and pepper.
On a large ungreased cookie sheet, lay out pastry sheets side by side so that they overlap by 1/4 in. Press overlapping edges together to seal. Create a rim by folding the pastry edges up and over themseleves and pinching them together. Rectangle should be about 7 1/2 x 17 inches.

Fill the center of the tart with the vegetable grape mixture, spreading it out so there is space between pieces. Slip it onto the bottom rack of the oven, bake for 15 minutes. As the tart bakes, blend cream and cheese in a bowl.
Remove cookie sheet from oven. Spoon cheese mixture over tart, spreading it out. Return to oven and bake for another 6 minutes until cheese is melted and barely picking up color. Pull tart from the oven. Let stand for a few minutes and cut into 8 squares. Serve hot or at room temperature.

From Lynn Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift’s The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper

• GOOSEBERRY CHUTNEY

A recipe given to me by lovely E., who always helps me out in a pinch, a la “I don’t know what to do with gooseberries!”
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3 lbs gooseberries
1 lb sugar
½ lb onions
2 c. vinegar
½ c. water
1 T. salt.
1 T. ground ginger.
½ t. cayenne pepper.
Cut off the tops and the tails of the gooseberries, and chop roughly. Finely chop the onions; then cook with the berries in the water until they are softened well. Add the remaining ingredients, then simmer until the chutney becomes thick, stirring occasionally. Bottle while still hot, and cover immediately.

• HONEY BUTTERMILK BERRIES

This strikes me as the perfect late-summer dessert: light, fresh, sweet, and full of sunny garden flavors.

2 c. cold buttermilk
1 c. ice
1/3 c. honey
3 c. mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and/or blackberries)
1/2 c. fresh mint (minced or chiffonaded if you prefer)
Blend the buttermilk, ice, and honey in a blender until frothy. Combine with the berries and a 1/2 c. of fresh mint.

Serves 4-6
From Martha Stewart Living Magazine, August 2010

• ESCALLOPED APPLES AU GRATIN

I think this recipe tastes divine with Pink Lady apples, but you could use any other tart varietal, such as Granny Smith. Katzen also says that although the dish has sauerkraut, it blends in well enough to fool sauerkraut-haters.
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1 2-lb. can sauerkraut
6 heaping cups peeled, sliced tart apples (about 6-8 large apple’s worth)
2 T. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
dash: cloves, nutmeg, salt
2 T. honey
2 T. butter
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 lb. mild cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 c. fine breadcrumbs
3/4 c. finely chopped walnuts or almonds.
Place the sauerkraut in a colander or strainer and rinse it well under cold water. Squeeze it dry.
Toss together the apple slices, flour, and spices. Drizzle in honey and mix well.
Saute the onions in butter until clear and soft (5-8 minutes). Add the dry mustard and the sauerkraut and cook another few minutes over medium heat. Remove from the heat.
Take half the grated cheese adn combine it with the breadcrumbs and chopped nuts. Leave the other half of the grated cheese to stand alone.
In your buttered deep-dish caserole, make the following pattern of layers: 1st, a layer consisting of half the apple mixture; next, half the onion-sauerkraut mixture, 3rd, the plain grated cheese; and repeat. Finally, sprinkle the nut/crumb mixture over the top. Cover, and bake for 20 minutes; then UNcover and bake for 20 minutes more.
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Serves 4
From Mollie Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest