Persimmons

 I had never seen a persimmon before we moved to California.  At least not the orange kind.  We had some decorative trees around our house in the Dallas area called Texas persimmons, but the only one who wanted to eat them was an opossum that showed up one night!   (Another story!)

Yesterday I went out and took some pictures of persimmons growing nearby in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

 There are two kinds of persimmons:

These are Hachiyas.   They are globe shaped.  They need to be exposed to cold before you can eat them.  They are good for making bread, cookies, and puddings.  If you freeze them, you can just defrost them and they will be soft and ready to use.

This is a tree full of Fuyu persimmons.  It looks like the tree is dead, but it isn't.  The fruit stays on the tree after the leaves have all fallen off.

 They look quite like odd orange ornaments!

Fuyu persimmons are flatter and look somewhat like orange tomatoes.  They can be eaten like an apple while they are still firm, but you must peel them first.

Fuyu persimmons are the type I bought recently and I use in one of our very favorite autumn dinner salads.

 Here's the recipe and a picture story to go with it.  We divide the recipe below into two large bowls and eat it as a main course.  With a light soup  it makes a nice meal.  It could also be divided in 4 servings as a starter salad.

Frisee, Persimmons and red onion

 with pomegranate dressing and 

warm goat cheese

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 or two cloves garlic finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped basil

salt and pepper to taste

4 - 6 ounces soft goat cheese

1/2 cup or more finely chopped walnuts,

2 or 3 heads frisee lettuce, washed and cut 

4 fuyu persimmons

1/2 small red onion, sliced thin

Peel, slice, and chunk persimmons.

(I only used four of these, the fifth went back to the fruit bowl)

I had soaked the frisee in a sink of cold water for a couple of hours to refresh it. This seems to plump it up a bit.

Cut frisse, discarding any very dark green or discolored stems.

Prepare Goat Cheese Balls:

Divide goat cheese into 12 portions

sprinkle with pepper

form into balls and spray with pam or brush with olive oil

roll in finely chopped walnuts

place on foil lines tray

Preheat oven to 375

Make dressing

put Pomegranate juice, garlic,olive oil,brown sugar,

 basil, and a bit of salt and pepper

into a jar or small bowl.  Mix or shake.

Assemble

Put half of the frisee and half of the persimmons in each bowl  

divide dressing between them and toss to coat

I did not picture the sliced red onion because I  put it in Craig's salad at the table.  If you can eat raw onions it adds yet another flavor and is quite nice.

Warm Goat Cheese

When you are ready to serve the salad, 

pop the tray of goat cheese into the 375 degree oven for about 3 minutes. 

 Let it warm, but not melt.

Divide it between the two salads.

Add onions if desired.

Serve with a nice white wine

So,  thats what I do with persimmons.  It may seem like a lot of work and some pretty exotic ingredients, but the taste is well worth it.  Each element adds something very special.  Frisee is a very bitter lettuce.  It looks like it has had a very bad perm!  The first time I had it I didn't like it at all.  But in this recipe it really "works."

The goat cheese is bring everything together and is really yummy.

Before I sign off for the night, I must say welcome to a couple of new followers.  If you have read this far, this is my longest post ever!   don't do food very often.