From Denny: Persimmons. Look forward to these every year when they are in season? Just when you start to forget they exist, then, suddenly they show up in the grocery store. Pretty much the story of our lives as there is so much abundance around us in the harvest time. That sends you hurriedly searching yet again for a great persimmon recipe. So, you end up here at this food blog, right? :)
Seriously, these great recipes were recently featured in our local newspaper by an avid persimmon grower with a beautiful persimmon tree in her Louisiana yard, offering great advice on growing and cooking persimmons. One tree yields a lot of yummy tasty treats to enjoy baking into awesome goodness! This year her persimmon tree almost broke her record; it produced over 1,500 persimmons.
After a record amount one year, the persimmon tree will take a break next year and produce less. After harvest, prune the house high tree because you will want it to branch out as much as possible. Pruning is what keeps a tree producing a lot and prolongs its life for many years. It's often difficult to reach the fruit at the top of tree so just leave it as food for your neighborhood birds. They will be sure to thank you!...
Celebrate Chocolate every day as a holiday!
Know much about persimmons? Here are a few fun trivia facts to enjoy:
* the persimmon is native to China
* the persimmon is most widely cultivated in Japan
* in most countries the persimmon is known as the "kaki"
* Persimmons were quite popular during American Revolutionary times as the colonists discovered the fruit from the local Native Americans. Just check out the earliest White House cookbook from Martha Washington. Of course, those recipes are difficult to use because they do not contain exact measurements but it's a fun read anyway to see what were the food and entertaining trends of the time.
* America's Native Americans, the Algonquin (a large populous and loose confederation of many tribes located in the regions of New York state, Ontario, Canada all the way down to eastern Kentucky - yes, I had a minor in anthropology at college.), are responsible for the word "persimmon." The Algonquin were quite fond of the fruit, collecting it totally ripe after it fell to the ground and enjoying it immediately. They also dried the ripe fruit into bricks to create vitamin rich nutrition for the long winter.
* Nutritional value of persimmons: great source of fiber like most fruit, contain vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium and manganese.
* Calorie count is 118 calories per fruit
* Persimmons are a great source for yellow food in your diet. Yellow, orange and red foods help color your skin a healthy glow. That's what a lot of people, as they age, forget to include in their diets. The end result is gray, dull looking skin, along with that gray or white hair, that makes a person look far older than their years. These foods also help nourish the skin so much it holds back skin wrinkling. (Not smoking is also helpful if you want your skin to look good.)
* Do NOT eat a persimmon before it fully ripens. Why? Wow, is that thing totally too sour! It is so sour it will send a shiver down your spine, screw up your face into contortions and cause your mouth to only whistle - forget about being able to talk.
* If you are lucky enough to have a persimmon tree in your yard then pick the persimmons when they are orange and still firm. The fruit can ripen off the tree at room temperature. Grocery stores will sell the fruit this way as it is easier to transport the fruit before it fully ripens.
* How do you know when a persimmon is ready to eat? (That is always my question when I am unfamiliar with a fruit and am not sure about how and when to purchase it.) Touch the persimmon to see if it has the softness of a ripe peach. You can even hold it up to the light to see if it is almost transparent. Yep, ready to toss into your mouth for total enjoyment!
* What can you do with the overripe persimmons? Remove the stems and squeeze out the pulp. Freeze and use throughout the year. You can use persimmons as an exchange for oil in many recipes. You use 1-1/2 times the amount of oil amount that was used in the recipe. Persimmons can be used for any fruit called for in your recipe like you would substitute mashed yams.
However, here is one warning against getting too enthusiastic with using the persimmon pulp to substitute for oil. Don't use the persimmon pulp to substitute for BOTH the oil AND the fruit pulp called for in the recipe. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and it will overwhelm your recipe. It can overwhelm the recipe by making it too watery. So, be sure to just use another fruit for the pulp and the persimmon for the oil exchange.
Check out my chocolate design on various gift products. Lots of humorous designs, patterned designs for home furnishings and inspirational items too. Proceeds from my
Denny Lyon Gifts (at Cafe Press) go to charities working with homeless female military veterans.
Was inspired to start up this store after viewing on NBC News about the 5,000 plus homeless female military veterans that were the result of sexual assault and rape in the military. I was so shocked
I just had to do something so decided to contribute my artwork, photography, creativity and humor to design for this store that has taken almost two years to create in my spare time. Thinking of branching out to contribute also to PTSD charities too. Thanks for taking a look at the store!
From: Glenda Barras, “I relish the sweet, creamy texture of a soft, plump persimmon on a crisp afternoon in October” when most persimmons ripen here in Louisiana.
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps. baking soda
2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 tsps. cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 cup pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil two (9-inch) loaf pans.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.
3. Blend in the oil, eggs and persimmon pulp. Add pecans.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
Persimmon Cake
From: Glenda Barras
Makes: 1 (10-inch) tube cake
Ingredients:
1 spice cake mix
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup persimmon pulp
Directions:
1. Beat together cakes mix, water, vegetable oil and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
2. Blend in persimmon pulp.
3. Pour into greased tube pan. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 1 hour or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let sit for about 10 minutes and remove from pan.
Persimmon Buttermilk Pudding
“The all new all purpose Joy of cooking”
From the “All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. This is a soft, sweet pudding with an irresistible old-fashioned flavor. Be sure to use very ripe, mushy persimmons.
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
4 to 6 very ripe large persimmons
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1 1/2 tsps. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
Whipped cream for serving, if desired
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a shallow 3-quart baking dish.
2. Cut persimmons in half lengthwise. Remove the pits. Then scrape the pulp free from the skins with a teaspoon. Purée the pulp in a blender or food processor. If it looks stringy, force it though a sieve with the back of a spoon. Measure 11/2 cups of pulp.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Then whisk in the 11/2 cups of persimmon pulp.
4. Whisk in the buttermilk and melted butter.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the persimmon mixture and whisk together until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake in a water bath until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.
8. Serve the pudding warm or cold with whipped cream, if desired.
