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Friday, December 3, 2010

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.





  















7 comments:

  1. That salad looks and sounds quite tasty! Don't think I'll ever have that list of ingredients in the rig, though. :)

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  2. Looks like a yummy salad! Except for that lettuce ~ I've never been able to develop a taste for it yet...think I'd have to use the old standard of iceberg.

    Thanks so much for sharing!!! The trees look interesting too!

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  3. Mmmmm. That looks really good. Not sure I can find all the ingredients here in this rural county, which is probably as limited as Judy & Emma's rig! Perhaps a trip to Albuquerque will be necessary.

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  4. Interesting! Never knew that persimmons grow on a small tree & that you have them in the Santa Cruz area.
    The salad looks "scrumpdedelicious"!

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  5. I had never heard of that lettuce but that salad looks and sounds wonderful.

    I love persimmons and we actually have quite a few trees on our property but I think they are wild persimmons and must be related to the ones you had in Dallas, only I don't think anyone eats them!

    I'm enjoying seeing the area where you live and seeing what kinds of wonderful produce you are finding.

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  6. Merikay, You're a gourmet cook! Do you hire yourself out?!?!

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  7. I've never heard of that lettuce, either, but the salad looks delicious!

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