Persimmon Bars

Persimmons are definitely one of those fruits that are hit or miss for a lot of people. I love them but tend to go for the crisp, non-astringent varieties. These are the ones you see at the market that are firm, ready to eat right away and don't come with a sign that says "Extremely delicate when ripe, please do not handle!". The astringent persimmon, on the other hand, will give you quite a shock if you eat it before it is soft. Taking a bite of moss is the closest I can liken to eating an unripened hachiya persimmon. In other words, not good. I'm also not a huge fan of their texture once they are ripe (slightly like what comes out of your nose during flu season), so you can imagine my reaction to my Granny bringing a whole box of them with her from Salinas. But since I hate to waste food and like a bit of a baking challenge (and since my Granny's friend grew them herself) I tackled this slimy "true berry."

My attempt to make a persimmon jam failed miserably. When it started to congeal and slightly resemble brain I knew my family would not be happy about putting it on their toast. Water from the persimmon separated from the pulp and made a strange soup that I then tried to strain. Needless to say this ended up in the compost. My second attempt, however, went over amazingly well.

Along with a box of persimmons, my grandmother also brought recipes with her and after a few healthy ingredient substitutes, when the pan came out of the oven the thought of orange brain never even crossed my mind. 

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Persimmon Bars

Next time I will substitute the whole wheat flour for an almond meal, gluten-free flour mix (brown rice flour perhaps). To make persimmon pulp, blend persimmons in a food processor until there are no lumps, approximately 30 seconds. Five persimmons yielded 1-1/2 cups of pulp.

1-1/2 cup persimmon pulp 

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup maple syrup

1-3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup chopped almonds

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. 

In medium bowl combine persimmon pulp and baking soda, mix well then add dates and maple syrup. 

In separate bowl combine remaining ingredients and add slowly to wet ingredients. Spread onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire racks.

Limoncello

This year my family decided, or to be more accurate, I decided to do homemade gifts for Christmas. Since most of us are broke, especially at this time of year, I figured our wallets could use a break and our imaginations could use a little dusting. As part of my homemade stocking stuffers for the adults in my family I decided to put lemons to work and make a really nice (if I do say so myself) honey limoncello.

I am also excited to say that this recipe is 100% local! The vodka is Hangar One, made at St. George Spirits in Alameda, the meyer lemons are from the Lake Merritt Farmer's market and the honey is from the Montclair farmer's market. Let me also say that had I not been so focused on Thanksgiving and running around like a crazy person I would have foraged for the lemons because lemon trees are literally everywhere. They are really one of the most welcome signs of winter here in the Bay Area. 

I adapted this recipe from a pretty standard Limoncello one and since I didn't want to use cane sugar (it is neither local nor has any health benefits) so I also borrowed a bit from this Ginger Honey Liqueur recipe. The result is a really smooth, not too sweet, lovely liqueur. And I know it's a bit too late to give this as a Christmas gift but there is just enough time to make this for New Year's so get to foraging, the lemons will thank you.


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Local Honey Limoncello

11 meyer lemons

750 ml good quality vodka

14 oz mild flavored honey

16 oz water

Peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler. Remove the pith with a sharp paring knife (the pith will make the liqueur bitter if it's not removed). Pour the vodka into a large pitcher and add the lemon peel. Cover and store at room temperature for five days to a week.

Combine water and honey in a medium saucepan and heat until the honey dissolves and a thin syrup is made. Add honey simple syrup to pitcher of vodka and store in fridge overnight. Strain mixture and pour into cork topped bottles. Store in fridge or freezer.

Yields 48 oz

Brooklyn Egg Casserole

When I decided to go back to Brooklyn for Thanksgiving, my boyfriend informed me that I would be in town just in time to say goodbye to his best friend, Mike, before he moved to Minnesota. Since their favorite thing to do is play and watch soccer together, what could be better than having a post-soccer playing/soccer watching brunch with a few other footballer friends?

My first visit to the Grand Army Plaza farmer's market in three months was more than slightly disappointing (what? no organic fruit anywhere!). The two organic produce stands had slim pickings and without the Park Slope Food Co-Op to help supplement what the farmer's market lacked I was fairly limited in my veggie selection. What NYC does have no shortage of are potatoes and I knew some sort of potato egg dish was in order. Especially after a morning of running around the pitch.

Also, to my delight, my vegetable garden that sat in neglect since August was bursting with kale! Apparently, my boyfriend has a green thumb he has been hiding from me for years. 

The beauty of these types of dishes is that they can be adjusted to any season. In Spring, I would go for an asparagus version, in Summer I might use tomatoes and peppers, Winter would include cubes of kabocha squash, the options are limitless. 

After a good game of pick-up soccer we all squeezed into the apartment to watch the Liverpool game while I made the most of the four square foot counter space (I'm not kidding, I measured it). Paired with a wonderful baked oatmeal dish courtesy of Heidi Swanson's new book, Super Natural Everyday, the dish was a huge hit and I had enough ingredients to make a meat version, too. 

Everyone left with full bellies and I left with a new found respect for late fall Brooklyn farmers markets. It was definitely a bittersweet day as we said goodbye to a friend. And although New York may have lost one wonderful Jamaican to Minnesota, Liverpool won that day.

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Potato-Mushroom Casserole

This recipe made two pans of casserole so I was able to have a sausage and vegetarian version. To get just one pan's worth use 6-8 eggs and you will get a dish chock full of goodies but light on the egg.

2-Tbsp olive oil or ghee (cocnut oil would work, too) plus some for greasing pan

6-medium sized heirloom potatoes, sliced

3/4 lb maitaki mushrooms, chopped

3-medium sized yellow onions, sliced

1-tsp salt

2-cloves garlic, minced

3-small shallots, miced

1-small bunch Tuscan kale, shredded

5-oz goat cheese

1 dozen eggs, beaten

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9-inch baking dish. Saute olive oil and onions in cast-iron skillet for five minutes. Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are almost cooked through, about ten minutes. Add salt. Add mushrooms, garlic and shallots and cook just until you can smell garlic. Turn burner off and add kale.

Pour half of mixture into greased pan and keep other half in skillet. Add half the beaten eggs to skillet and other half to dish. Dot pans with goat cheese. Cook for twenty minutes or until set.

Serves 12-14

Almond Butter

Oh, almond butter how you tempt me. I first discovered you years ago on the shelf of a grocery store with no real understanding of how you came to be there. I even found you in your "raw" form begging me to try you, but for $13.00 a jar and a shrinking budget, I knew something had to give. I cut you out of my life for a while justifying this by telling myself that local almonds are non-existent in New York and not worth the carbon footprint. But then I moved back to California...