English Peas, Spring Onions and Roasted Almonds

Just cooked English peas, sautéd spring onions and roasted, salted almonds are a delicious combination of tender sweet, sweet pungent, and crunchy just salty. You can set this side dish next to grilled fish or chicken or mashed potatoes and a roast. It's...

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Pome Fleshy Fruits Category Archive

Apple Blossom Time

The apple is the most widely grown fruit. Apple trees grow everywhere except in the very hottest and very coldest regions of the world.

The apple is celebrated: the apple blossom is praised for its beauty and the fruit is lauded for its goodness.

Apples vary from crisp to soft, from juicy to dry, from acid or insipid to bitter, bland, or aromatic.

The “fruit” of knowledge which Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden, some say, was an apple. The ancient Greeks often told of a tussle between the Olympian gods over a golden apple that ended in the destruction of Troy.

Apples can range in color from green to gold to yellow to scarlet orange to pink to dark red to purple. All apples carry the remains of the apple blossom at the fruit’s end opposite the stalk.

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Quince

Cooked quince has a sweet, delicate musky aroma with a flavor somewhere between an apple and a pear.

Quince is often used in jams, jellies and preserves. You can also use quince in cobblers or tarts or add it cubed to beef stew or roasting poultry.

The quince is not good eating raw. Give it a try, you will find it very dry and astringent.

Most quince recipes call for prepared quince pulp or juice. That means you will peel, core, and chunk the quince then boil and simmer it for 45 to 60 minutes before straining the pulp for juice and reserving the pulp.

If you want to try the quince alone, you can quarter, core and pare it, sprinkle it with sugar (2 tablespoons for each quince), add ½ inch of water to a baking dish and bake for 2 hours at 300ºF until tender and deep red. Serve this dish cold.

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Pawpaw

What would you think of a creamy, custard-like fruit that tastes like a combination of banana, mango, pineapple, melon, and berries?

Hmmmm! Tasty!

The pawpaw—which is a native North American tree fruit—is just such a fruit. Sounds tropical, but the pawpaw is a temperate—meaning not tropical—tree that is native to the Mississippi Valley, a swath of the North American continent from Kentucky to Michigan.

In some parts of the world, the name pawpaw refers to papaya. The papaya is a tropical fruit, so let’s be clear, the pawpaw of North America is not the papaya.

The pawpaw looks like a plump mango, is soft and thin skinned. Its green to yellow fruit is about 3 to 6 inches (7.5-15 cm) long, weighs 5 to 16 ounces, and has 10 to 14 black lima-bean shaped seeds in two rows.

The pawpaw with its wonderful combination of tropical flavors is perfect for making pies, cakes, cookies, bread, custard, pudding, and sherbet. The cream-colored flesh of the pawpaw—which is nearly puréed in preparation for cooking--shares the creamy texture of a banana. The ripe pawpaw can be eaten out of hand or chilled and served as a stand-alone dessert.

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Finding a Ripe Pear

When a pear yellows and yields to the touch at the neck, it is ripe, juicy, and ready to eat.

European pears are best when ripened off the tree. Pears left on the tree will not develop peak flavor or texture.

That means that when a pear reaches its mature size—and mature size depends upon the pear’s variety—it should come off of the tree green and hard.

Once off the tree a pear should ripen slowly. One of the best places this can happen is in your own kitchen. Slow room temperature ripening allows a pear’s sugars to develop.

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Five Pears

European pears are juicy and live up to their nickname “butter fruit.” A ripe pear is soft-fleshed and melts in your mouth.

Pear season runs from August through December in the northern hemisphere, February through June in the southern hemisphere.

There are five European pears that deserve your attention: ‘Bartlett’, ‘d’Anjou’, ‘Bosc’, ‘Comice’, and ‘Seckels’.

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Gravenstein Apple

Never mind that not all of the tomatoes are ripe. Now, the apple harvest is ready; the Gravenstein apple harvest, that is.

The Gravenstein apple is one of the earliest—if not the first—apple to ripen in the Northern Hemisphere each year. It comes to harvest as early as late July and early August, a good month or two ahead of most fall-harvest apples.

Considered one of the best all-around apples, the Gravenstein has a crisp, slightly acidy, tart-sweet flavor and is juicy with a full apple aroma. The Gravenstein—which has been in cultivation for at least 350 years—just might be the perfect embodiment of a delicious “old-fashioned” apple.

The Gravenstein is not only tasty for eating out of hand but is excellent for baking and cooking. Use the Gravenstein to make the season’s first apple pies, sauce, and cider.

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Winter Apple Varieties

Late season or winter apples are great for cooking and are also the best keepers. Most will last through the winter until early spring if chilled at just above 32°F (0°C).

Choose apples with tight, smooth, unblemished skin with good color for the variety. Apples should be firm to hard. The scent should be full and fresh. Avoid fruit that is slightly soft, the flesh could be mealy and mushy. To test the degree of ripeness, give the apple a flick close to the stalk—a dull sound indicates ripeness, a hollow sound is a sign of over-ripeness.

Taste is always more important than looks when it comes to apples. Get to know the varieties that grow in your region. Taste several to discover which ones you favor.

Here are some of the winter apples you will find at the farm market this week:

Arkansas Black: from Benton County, Arkansas; very dark color; crisp, juicy, slightly acid; good for eating out of hand, for desserts and applesauce; good storage keeper.

Ashmead’s Kernel: heirloom that is highly regarded in the UK; yellow with orange-brown blush; great flavor fresh or juiced—intense nutlike flavor with a balance of sweet and tart; tart when tree ripe, mellows with storage.

Baldwin: from Wilmington, Massachusetts since 1740; bright red and streaked with yellow; sweet-tart with sharp full flavor; juicy; crisp texture; great for munching, baking pies, cider, and applesauce; good to store for winter eating.

Black Twig: heirloom found only at farmers markets; dark red, almost purple; hard, juicy, fragrant; golden flesh and grassy, intense flavor; great for eating out of hand.

Braeburn: from New Zealand; medium size, mottled red and yellow skin and orange red over yellow; crisp, sweet-tart flavor, aromatic, firm texture; stores well for up to12 months; eating out of hand, applesauce, pies, baking.

Brown Russet: heirloom before 1870; very late harvest; with patches of green and red; good fresh, stored, or use for sweet apple cider.

Cortland: from Geneva, New York since 1915; large, round, smooth, shiny red with flat ends; fine-grained very white juicy flesh, crisp, fragrant, sweet; flesh resists browning; fresh eating, perfect in salads, good for cooking and oven-baking, remains firm when baked, perfect for pies, desserts, applesauce. Does not store well.

Cox’s Orange Pippin’: from Bucks, England about 1830; found in farmers markets in U.S.; skin is clear yellow with orange and red stripes; crisp juicy, excellent flavor; for eating out of hand, applesauce, or blended with other varieties for pies; good keeper.

Enterprise: medium size, red blush; firm, sweet; keeps well.

Esopus Spitzenburg: from Esopus in Ulster County, New York since 1790; medium to large, bright red with yellow dots; crisp, sweet tender pale golden flesh; rich complex flavor, tangy and spicy; choice for dessert, good all-around.

Fuji: cross between Ralls Janet and Red Delicious; esteemed in Japan and China; introduced into the U.S. from Japan in 1980s; medium to large, green to yellow with under color blushed with red; flesh yellow green with red strips; firm, crisp, juicy, fragrantly sweet, excellent honey-like flavor; stores well; use in applesauce blends, eat out of hand; too hard for pies but holds texture well when baked.

Golden Russet: unknown origin before 1870; hard to find outside of farmers’ markets; small or medium size and round; skin russeted redish-brown and golden; flesh is firm and yellow; flavor rich and aromatic; excellent eating out of hand, cooking and making fresh cider; keeps well in storage.

Gold Rush: medium size, yellow; dessert quality, excellent fresh or for baking; best after storage.

Idared: from Idaho since 1942; large, dark red with greenish-yellow spots; firm, juicy, fragrant, tangy-tart flavor, aromatic flesh; all purpose, excellent baked, remains firm when cooked or baked; for applesauce; keeps well.

Melrose: from Ohio, the official apple of Ohio; cross between a Jonathan and a Delicious; medium to large, round; skin yellow with bright red blush; white flesh, mildly tart, aromatic; good for storage, good dessert apple.

Mutsu (Crispin): developed in Japan as Mutsu; renamed Crispin in Europe and America; large, round, harder than Golden Delicious; pale yellow skin with light red blush; cream colored flesh, crunchy, moderately sweet to tangy; eat out of hand, excellent in pies and for dessert; long storage life.

Newtown Pippin’ (Yellow Pippin’, Yellow Newtown): developed in the Borough of Queens, New York before the American Revolution; large; skin is pale green and soft yellow with occasional red streak; crisp, faint citrus scent and complex sweet and tart taste; excellent for cooking, pies and applesauce.

Northern Spy (Red Spy): from East Bloomfield, New York about 1800; skin bruises easily so seen usually in farmers’ markets; large, round shape with pale yellow pink to red blushed skin; tender, fine-grained flesh; juicy, sprightly flavor, aromatic; excellent dessert, baking, and cooking apple; eating out of hand and applesauce.

Pink Lady: crisp fall nights bring the bright pink color to the skin; sweetly tart taste with hints of kiwi and raspberry; for snacking and baking.

Rhode Island Greening: yellow-green grassy colored skin; distinctive sweet-tart spicy flesh, sometimes sour and hard; for eating out of hand, pies, applesauce; intensifies in flavor when cooked.

Rome: from Rome Township, Ohio; older than the Rome Beauty; large, round, yellow-to green skinned with mottled red overtones; crunchy texture and tangy flavor; best as a baked apple; mealy and flavorless when stored too long.

Rome Beauty (Red Rome): from Ohio; medium to extra large, round, smooth red, tough skin; firm greenish-white flesh; juicy, crisp, slightly tart, firm; outstanding for baking, keeps its shape with sweet flavor; use for whole baked apples; fair for eating out of hand; season from September to early November, holds until June.

Sierra Beauty: intense sweet and tart flavor, crisp and juicy.

Stayman (sometimes mistakenly called Winesap): cross between Red Delicious and Winesap; grown mainly in the southeastern United States; rich red color with green undertones, russet dots; fine-grained, firm flesh, juicy with lively, complex flavor; all purpose, excellent cooking apple.

Tydeman’s Late Orange: full flavor around Christmas; excellent for storage.

Winesap: small, bright red sin with areas that look almost purple; fine grained, firm , juicy with lively, slightly fermented winey flavor; good eating out of hand, good for applesauce and pies, apple cider; stores into June.

York or York Imperial: from York County, Pennsylvania since the 1800s; off-center, lopsided shape; light red or pinkish skin dotted with yellow; yellowish flesh, crisp, moderately juicy, mildly sweet; good for drying, cooking, or baking; add to pies or applesauce.

Winter Apples

Have you noticed fresh, local apples at the farm market in the past couple of weeks? Fresh, local apples at the end of December? Apples that have not traveled half way around the world?

What’s up?

Well, the answer is simple.

There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples but not all of them come to harvest at the same time. In the course of a year, there are actually three apple harvests: an early-season harvest, a mid-season harvest, and a late-season harvest.

The harvest for early-season apple varieties begins in July and peaks in August and September. The harvest for mid-season apples begins in August and peaks in September and October, and the harvest for late-season apples begins in September and peaks in October and November--and sometimes runs right into December.

The apples you are finding at the farm market now are late-season apples.

Continue reading "Winter Apples" »

Pears

Taste pears. There will be one that is just right for you.

There are more than 5,000 varieties of pears. Of course, it is unlikely that you will ever be in the presence of more than a half-dozen varieties at once—even at the farm market. But, nonetheless, the taste of a pear can linger in your subconscious palate, and after you have done your share of tasting around, you will no doubt remember your favorite.

The pear harvest, in most regions, came to a close a month or two ago, but here’s the catch, now is the best time to find the tastiest pears at your market. Why? Because most pears do not ripen well on the tree but instead gain sweetness after they are harvested and as their starch converts into sugar.

The process of sweetening up pears can take place on your cool kitchen counter or it can go forward in refrigerated cold storage. It’s probably the case now that the pears you select this week at the market or farm stand have been gaining sweetness in a cooled warehouse since late in the summer. Ask your grower to know for sure

There are several species of pears, but generally pears are divided into two groups or classes: those that originated in Asia and those that originated in Europe. The difference: European pear trees generally require more days of winter chill than Asian pears in order to be productive, and Asian pears will often ripen right on the tree, unlike European pears.

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