Fruit In Skills
Page 7
Quick Tip: Freeze Citrus Zest
Lemon, orange, and other citrus zest is a favorite around here; we use it to brighten everything from pasta to cakes and salads. With the abundance of citrus this time of year, it’s an ideal time to freeze zest for later. Lately, any time we’re about to use a lemon, lime, grapefruit, or orange for juice or segments, we take a few seconds to zest it first and pop that in the freezer.
Jan 30, 2012
Barhi Dates: The Fruit That Tastes Like Butterscotch Candy
When you stop to sample dates at the farmers market and the man selling them has a protective hand over a small piece of cardboard hiding two baskets of small, round dates which, when you ask him how they taste, he describes as “butterscotch candy,” you go home with those dates, obviously. He wouldn’t lift up the cardboard to give you a taste before you handed over your cash, but he is right: these dates taste like butterscotch candy.
Jan 20, 2012
How to Store Autumn Fruits
Pears and apples and quince! Figs and persimmons and pomegranates! Grapes and kiwi and fresh dates! Some of the most delicious fruits come to us in the autumn. It can be confusing to figure out how to store them, as every fruit has different requirements. Some ripen on the tree, some afterwards. Some need refrigeration, some don’t. Read on for our guide on how to store autumn fruits.
Oct 18, 2011
My Favorite Way to Seed a Pomegranate
If you’ve ever whacked a cut open pomegranate with a wooden spoon or fumbled around with it under water, then you know extracting those lovely seeds (also called arils) is a messy endeavor. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Read on for my favorite way to extract the arils from a pomegranate! Pomegranates are a beautiful fall-to-winter fruit, delicious and full of antioxidants, too.
Oct 17, 2011
What Is This Armenian Mystery Fruit?
While visiting with a friend’s elderly father, we spotted some unusual, boxy-shaped citrus growing in his yard. He plucked one of the fruits and gave it to us … but we still don’t know what it is!Our friend’s dad explained that he used to eat this fruit in his homeland of Armenia but couldn’t find it in the United States, so he grew the tree from a seed sent by a friend back home.
Sep 23, 2011
Seasonal Spotlight: Pink Pearl Apples
These Pink Pearl apples made me gasp when I saw them in San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Market last week. I was so excited I almost overturned the display! Like little ambassadors of fall, this forgotten heirloom variety is hard to find these days. Don’t know Pink Pearls? Read on for more about these little jewels.Pink Pearls are delicious eating apples. Their vibrant, deep pink flesh is crisp, juicy and has an excellent sweet/tart ratio.
Aug 30, 2011
Strong and Sour: Calamansi Lemons
Check out these tiny little lemons! Don’t be fooled by their sweet appearance, though. These diminutive citrus fruits are packing a seriously sour punch.I spotted these particular calamansi lemons at the Mountain View Farmers Market south of San Francisco. At first, I thought they were mandarin oranges or perhaps kumquats. They have the same shape and look as mandarin oranges, but with the coloring and thin skin of a kumquat.It turns out that I wasn’t that far off base.
Aug 30, 2011
Skip the Mince: Try Thinly Slicing Your Garlic
Love garlic? Skip the mince.Mincing is great for infusing an entire dish with garlicky goodness without actually overwhelming the other flavors. But sometimes? Well, we want a hit of the real stuff.That’s when you should think about ignoring what the recipe says and leaving your garlic in big healthy slices. Do you ever do this?When you leave the garlic in slices rather than mincing it down to a pulp, you still get a garlic-infused dish. But you also get the occasional bite of pure garlic.
Aug 10, 2011
Quick Tip: Freeze & Thaw Tomatoes to Remove Skins
Going through the process of boiling water and poaching tomatoes just to remove their skins has always felt labor-intensive and rather annoying to me. Happily, I recently learned that freezing tomatoes can accomplish the same end!This is yet another small yet mind-blowing tip from David Tanis and his book Heart of the Artichoke. He describes freezing bags of whole fresh tomatoes for quick tomato sauces and soups all year round, and actually prefers this to canning.
Jul 27, 2011
Try This: Dried Watermelon
A few weeks ago we were hanging out with Kate Payne of The Hip Girl’s Guide To Homemaking when she asked, “Hey, would you like some watermelon jerky?” Watermelon jerky?! We took a bite and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.Whether you call it jerky or leather or dried watermelon or dehydrated watermelon, this was a surprisingly enjoyable treat.
Jul 22, 2011
Waste Not! Refrigerator Jam From Leftover Pie Filling
We had a major pie-fest at our house over the weekend. Not only do I have enough pie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week, but I ended up with a few cups of leftover filling that just didn’t make it into a crust. The solution? Make jam!Normally, I’d just mix leftover fruit into my morning yogurt or spoon it over a bowl of ice cream. But pie fillings usually have a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to help them set during baking.
Jul 7, 2011
What’s the Best Way to Remove the Pit From an Avocado?
As round as an egg and too slippery to grasp, avocado pits are persnickety little devils. Have you found a reliable way to remove the pits from avocados? The most reliable way that we’ve found is to first slice the avocado in half lengthwise and then firmly strike the pit with the heel of a chef’s knife. The knife lodges a few millimeters into the pit, so we can gently twist the pit to dislodge it and then lift it out.
Jun 15, 2011
Mango In the Rice Bin: What’s Going On Here?
While visiting family, I made a curious discovery in the kitchen: mangoes in the rice bin! Can you guess why?No, it’s not some strange way to make Mango with Sticky Rice. As my aunt explained, it’s an ages-old technique to speed up the ripening process! Whenever she has green mangoes, she buries them in the rice bin (not on top as in the photo above) and within a day or two they’re ready to eat.
Jun 13, 2011
Kiwi Push Pops! The Most Fun Way to Eat a Kiwi
A friend who studied abroad in Australia showed me this trick years ago. It makes eating a kiwi portable, mess-free, and best of all, extremely fun. It puts a smile on my face every time.Just slice the kiwi in half and then carefully run a paring knife (or even a butter knife) just under the skin around the circumference. Slice almost all the way down to the bottom without actually breaking through.
Jun 1, 2011
To Pick Out the Best Lemons and Limes? Squeeze the Citrus
Normally, squeezing the fruit while you shop is a big no-no. But when it comes to picking the best citrus, sometimes you have to bend the rules.The juiciest lemons and limes are always going to be the ones that give a little when you squeeze them. These softer citrus fruits will have less pith, and therefore more juice, than their less-pliant companions. They’re also much easier to juice and use in cooking or baking.
Apr 25, 2011
Ingredient Spotlight: White Sapote
Have you ever had a white sapote? A few of them came in our CSA box and although we’ve tasted one before at the farmers’ market, this is the first time we have had them at home.Sapote is a name given to several different fruits; here we’re talking about the white sapote (Casimiroa edulis), which is native to Mexico and Central America. In the United States, you might find this apple-sized fruit in California, Florida, and Hawaii.
Feb 23, 2011
Help! How Do You Control Onion Skin Clutter?
Onions are one of our favorite vegetables to eat…and least favorite to prep. Their papery, flaky skin just seems to get everywhere. The same goes for garlic, for that matter! We’ve figured out a few strategies over the years for dealing with it, but we’d love to hear yours.
Feb 16, 2011
How Dorie Greenspan Keeps Her Salad Greens Fresh
We’ve devised many clever and inventive ways for keeping our salad greens fresh from Monday to Friday, all with varying degrees of success. But this method from Dorie Greenspan might just take the cake.Dorie prefers to keep her washed and dried greens in a plastic bag, but here’s the twist: before sealing it up, she blows a little puff of air into the bag. She says that the carbon dioxide from your breath will keep the greens green all week long!
Feb 15, 2011
Try This: Grilled Lemon Vinaigrette
A basic lemon vinaigrette is standard in our household but we just discovered a way to make it even better: grilling the lemon! Try this with Meyer lemons, regular lemons, or other citrus for a sweeter, more concentrated flavor.We came across this tip in a recent post at Sunset’s One-Block Diet blog and then found similar examples at Food & Wine and Food52. We just use our grill pan but you can, of course, use an outdoor grill or even a broiler.
Feb 14, 2011
Seasonal Spotlight: White Guavas
Here in Southern California citrus is the dominant fruit of winter, but you might also find another treat popping up in your backyard, market basket, or CSA box: guavas! These Mexican white guavas don’t have the brilliant color of their pink cousins but they’re wonderfully fragrant and sweet. Over 100 guava varieties grow in places like Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, California, and Florida.
Feb 7, 2011
Food Trend Prediction: Finger Limes
We’d never heard of finger limes before a few months ago, but now we’re seeing them pop up all over the place. Which seems appropriate since they’re also known as “citrus pop rocks”!The pulp inside these skinny citrus fruits is made of hundreds of tiny balls of juice, edible bubbles that literally burst between your teeth. How cool is that?Also called citrus caviar, finger limes are native to the rainforest regions of Australia.
Jan 13, 2011
Cooking Basics: How to Zest a Lemon
a microplaneI’m right handed, so I hold the microplane in my left hand and the lemon in my right. Brush the lemon over the microplane from the top of the lemon to the bottom. Use a gentle rocking motion, taking off just the top layer of skin. Rotate the lemon between each stroke so you get new surface area every time until you’ve gone all the way around the lemon.The other way is to use a traditional zester, as in the picture above.
Nov 3, 2010
What Can I Do With Fresh Dates?
Q: I am an adventuresome eater, willing to try anything once. I see fresh dates, sold on sticks, and have no clue what to do with them, how to eat them — I do have to say I tried sneaking one and biting into it and it was horrid — same pruning effect as eating an unripe persimmon — which if you have never had the misfortune — is akin to eating chalk.Do you know what to do with fresh dates? They look so beautiful on their stalks.
Oct 7, 2010
Jicaletas: Flavored Jicama On A Stick
When you’re contemplating an afternoon snack that really hits the spot, is jicama ever on your list? Sure we eat it on salads, but what about covered in seasonings and skewered like last night’s kabobs? It’s traditional street food in Mexico, and there’s no reason you can’t partake!Jicaletas are a tasty treat, and yet they are something that hasn’t really gained much popularity in the US.
Sep 15, 2010
Best Way To Keep Greens Fresh? The Bath Towel Method
Some friends of ours are salad eaters of the sort we can only aspire to be. Every week, they prepare their own mixes of arugula, red oak leaf, boston bibb, romaine, and even chard – a massive production taking up all their kitchen counters. When it comes to keeping those greens fresh, they’ve developed an unusual technique.After methodically trying everything from vented plastic containers to layers of paper towels, our friends finally landed on a method that uses large bath towels.
Sep 13, 2010
The Best Way to Avoid Bitter Eggplant
Some recipes advocate salting eggplant before cooking. Others swear cutting out the inner core of seeds will do the trick. Among all the advice, both scientific and folkloric, we’ve really only come across one tip that works every single time.Quite simply: buy eggplants as fresh as possible and use them right away.The older an eggplant gets, meaning the more time that’s passed since harvesting, the more bitter it becomes.
Sep 1, 2010
Purple Power: Cool Ways to Use Pomegranate Juice
Pomegranate juice is so tart that it makes our mouths pucker just thinking about it. We’ve also stained more than one shirt with an errant splash of the stuff. So why do we keep it around? Because there’s just so much it can do!It’s a little hard to write this post without coming off sounding like an ad for POM, but their pomegranate juice is one of the most widely available products in stores. POM can also be credited for making the juice mainstream.
Aug 6, 2010
Quick Tip: How to Roast Eggplant on the Stove Top
We’re deep into a baba ganoush love affair at the moment, helped by the fact that eggplants are finally starting to appear at the farmers market. We like ours with a bit of smokiness to it, but without a grill, we’ve had to improvise. Here’s how we’ve been doing it on the stove top.You first prick each eggplant with a knife or a fork and then lay it directly over the flames on your gas stove top.
Jul 26, 2010
Naked Peaches! How to Boil and Peel Them in a FlashSmitten Kitchen
We love naked fruit around here. We’ve discussed naked lemons at length, and now we’re talking naked peaches. Oh, the indecency. But this method of skinning peaches from Smitten Kitchen is too easy. You’ll get to the cobbler (or the crumble) with less work.We’re a little embarrassed that we’ve never done this with peaches. We’re always pitting, slicing, peeling. Pitting, slicing, peeling.
Jul 22, 2010
Sweet and Mild: What’s the Deal with Cipollini Onions?
We’ve been seeing more and more of these little guys recently and we couldn’t be happier. Cipollini onions (pronounced chip-oh-lee-knee) were once a rare treat only to be found at fancy restaurants and the occasional gourmet market. We’re glad they’re finally getting their due attention…Now what exactly are they?Their name literally means “little onion” in Italian, and indeed they are!
Jul 9, 2010
A Roundup of Cucumbers
When most people think of cucumbers, they probably think of the dark green, waxy oblong English cucumbers that are so ubiquitous at American supermarkets. But there’s more than one kind of cucumber out there — from yellow to green, and twisty to round!Cucumbers originated in India. They were cultivated by the early Indians, the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. Technically and botanically a fruit, they are marketed and consumed as a vegetable — just like eggplant and tomatoes.
Jul 8, 2010
Quick Tip: How to Wash a Big Load of Greens
Want a quick and easy way to wash all the chard, kale, and salad greens you’ll be picking up at the farmer’s market in the next few months? Look no further than your kitchen sink.Just fill your sink with water and then give those greens a few good swishes. Leafy greens will actually float on the top of the water, so dirt sinks to the bottom of the sink while the greens stay on top. We usually let the greens sit in the water for a few minutes so the grit has a chance to settle.
Jul 2, 2010
5 Uses For Sour Orange Juice
Earlier this week we made Messy Moroccan Chicken Wings and one of the ingredients that makes them finger lickin’ delicious is sour orange juice. Some might call it bitter orange, bigarade, or Seville orange, but no matter which one you choose, it’s a staple in our house! Bitter orange juice comes from a specific type of orange (you can read more about it here) and it’s a smaller orange with thick skin that gets a little wrinkled with deep pores.
Jun 10, 2010
What’s the Difference? New vs. Fingerling Potatoes
New potatoes, another teeny tiny vegetableNew PotatoesThese are immature potatoes that get thinned out early in the season order to make room for the rest of the potatoes to mature. New potatoes aren’t a variety by themselves, but are simply the baby version of any potato a farmer grows. In fact, those being sold as “baby” potatoes are the same as new potatoes, or slightly more mature.
May 28, 2010
What Can I Do With Mandarin (Rangpur) Limes?
Q: I recently moved into a new house and discovered that my lemon tree is also a mandarin lime tree. In fact, there are more limes than lemons.What can I do with lots and lots of mandarin limes? They taste like very tart mandarin oranges, but are tiny — maybe 1/3 the size of a clementine.Sent by ArynEditor: Aryn, as you probably already know, mandarin limes (also known as Rangpur limes) are not very much like true limes.
May 11, 2010
How To Slice a Bell Pepper
Bell peppers are one of our all-time favorite vegetables. They can be hollowed out and filled with rice stuffing. They can be cut into strips and dipped in dressing for a quick afternoon snack. Or they can be diced and used in any stir-fry, frittata, or pasta sauce. This method works well for prepping any bell pepper for any dish you want, but it’s certainly not the only way! How do you slice your peppers?
Apr 14, 2010
Food Science: Why Vegetables Sometimes Won’t Soften!
Have you ever cooked something – like, a minestrone soup or a curry with a lot of vinegar – and noticed that the vegetables stay firm and hard even after long cooking? It’s not the vegetables or your cooking skills, it’s the amount of acidic liquids in the cooking liquid!As you’ve no doubt observed in your everyday cooking, vegetables normally soften as they cook.
Mar 26, 2010
What Can I Do With My Naked Lemons?
Q: Longing for spring, I decided to make a classic Italian Limoncello. I got the recipe from Francis Mayes’ book In Tuscany. The recipe calls for the peels of 8 lemons. So now I have a pile of naked lemons, and I’m looking for something to do with them.I already have a small jar of lemon juice from a few lemons last week, and I’m looking for something more original.
Mar 3, 2010
Raw to Sweet: How to Change the Intensity of Onions
Unlike garlic, changing the intensity of onion is less a matter of how much you use or how you cut it and more a matter of how you cook it. If you’ve always thought that onions taste too sharp and astringent, we urge you to give them another chance!Cooking onions depends on two things: time and heat. Mince them up or double the amount, the flavor will still come down to how long and how hot you cook them.
Feb 1, 2010
5 Ways to Use Dried Citrus Peels
One of our New Year’s resolutions is to find more ways to use kitchen scraps, and with all the Cara Cara oranges, Kishu mandarins, and other citrus fruits we’ve been eating, we now have plenty of dried peels saved. Here are some of the ways we use them. Let us know if you have any tips, too.Last winter, we made a list of 5 Good Uses for Your Citrus Peels, which included both fresh and dried peels.
Jan 14, 2010
Ingredient Spotlight: Ginkgo Nuts
Perhaps you’ve seen these trees with the beautiful fan-shaped leaves in your neighborhood or in a local park. The female members of these trees produce an edible nut; unfortunately, the fruit enclosing the nut smells really bad. Their fragrance deters most people from trying them, much like the durian fruit. Once the fruit is removed, inside lurks a nut that looks like a closed pistachio. Beneath the shell is a glossy kernel that ranges from golden amber to bright jade in color.
Jan 12, 2010
What’s the Best Way To Bake With Fresh Cranberries? Good Questions
Q: I see a lot of recipes for muffins and other baked goods which call for sweetened dried cranberries. I would like to substitute fresh cranberries whenever possible.Any suggestions for the best way to pull this off? Thanks!Sent by AmyEditor: Amy, we see no reason why you couldn’t substitute fresh cranberries for dried!You’ll probably want to use about 1 cup of fresh cranberries for every 1/2 cup of dried cranberries called for in the recipe.
Dec 28, 2009
Sprouted Spaghetti Squash: Is It OK To Eat?
We got quite a surprise when we split open this spaghetti squash – inside were sprouted seeds! Has this ever happened to you? Did you eat it?First of all, we knew our squash was a little old when we cut it open. In addition to the sprouts, it appeared dried out. But was it edible? After reading several conflicting opinions online, we decided to just try it for ourselves. Not a fun experience – the flesh and sprouts were alarmingly bitter.
Dec 15, 2009
Tip: Save the Beet Greens!
Beets are in season right now, and all the produce markets are proudly displaying beets of all colors. Here’s a tip: when you’re washing and peeling the beets, and you trim off the green leafy tops, don’t toss them away! The greens and the stems are edible, and make a great substitute for any green such as spinach, swiss chard, and bok choy. They can be steamed, sauteed, braised, added to soups, and eaten raw. They’re yummy and full of vitamins, so don’t waste them!
Dec 8, 2009
Look! Pimento Peppers
At the farmer’s market in San Rafael a few weeks ago, I was delighted to make an unique discovery. These might look like red bell peppers at first glance, but look closely at the bottoms; they’re pointy, giving the pepper a heart shape. These are pimento peppers.Yes, these are the same peppers that are used to stuff olives with. It’s not common to find them in raw form in the US, but the seeds are readily available through garden catalogs if you’d like to grow your own.
Nov 17, 2009
Have You Ever Tried a Pawpaw? Here’s How They Taste
Have you ever tried a pawpaw? They’re right at the end of their growing season, but in some parts of the Midwest you can still find them at farmers markets. They are a fruit native to the United States, but they don’t ship well and they’re quite different than the more familiar Midwest crops of apples and pumpkins. We have been so curious about these Ohio fruits, hidden in plain sight, so we finally tracked some down. The pawpaw is a rather ugly fruit.
Oct 29, 2009
A Roundup Of Some Japanese Citrus Fruit
For such a small island nation, Japan has a surprisingly wide variety of citrus fruit. I saw some of them when I traveled in Japan last winter. Sadly, we don’t get most of them here in the US, and I wish we did! It’s so interesting to see such variety. Some of these varieties are used in flavoring tea and alcohol, others are used in marmalades, and some are eaten raw. I just love the green-skinned, orange-fleshed aomikan tangerine – it’s so pretty!
Oct 14, 2009
8 Tips for Blueberry Picking
Last weekend, I took a drive to the Indiana/Michigan border along the southern tip of Lake Michigan in search of blueberries. This is serious fruit country. In addition to 15 pounds of blueberries, I picked up a few tips. Call ahead – Make sure the farm you plan to visit has blueberries (or whatever fruit you’re looking for) available for picking. If you call multiple farms, you can also compare prices.
Jul 29, 2009
How to Cut Cauliflower
Cauliflower was one of the first vegetables we actually liked as kids, and we’re still eating them today! Despite their rather impenetrable-seeming appearance, cauliflowers are actually pretty easy to break down into bite-sized florets. Here’s how we do it:First of all, we usually wash cauliflower after cutting it. There are so many nooks and crannies that we think it’s easier to get any grit washed out once it’s broken into pieces.
Jul 9, 2009
Food Science: Why Mashed Potatoes and Blenders Don’t Mix
When we’re making a big batch of mashed potatoes, it’s awfully tempting to just throw them in the blender instead of going to the trouble of mashing them by hand. If you’ve ever actually done this, you’re probably jumping out of your seat and waving your hands in alarm right now. What’s the fuss? Well, here’s the scoop:Pureeing your potatoes in a blender or food processor seems like a good idea at first.
Jul 7, 2009
Basic Technique: How to Prepare Chard (Or Any Other Leafy Green!)
Facing a big pile of leafy green chard and knowing you have to somehow get it sliced it into bite-sized ribbons can feel a bit daunting. But it’s really a lot easier than you might think! Here’s how we do it:First things first, give your chard a good rinse in the sink. Even greens bought at the grocery store can carry a lot of grit and dirt in the leaves. We usually fill up the sink with warm (not hot) water and give the chard a good swish.
Jun 10, 2009
Quick Tip: How to Clean Morel Mushrooms
Morels are one of our favorite mushrooms of all time, and they’re in season right now! Since they’re harvested from the wild, morels come with a fair amount of grit and all those little nooks and crannies can be hard to clean. Here’s how we do it…There’s a lot of debate about whether morels should be rinsed under water, dry-brushed with a paper towel, or soaked in salted water remove the grit.
Apr 21, 2009
Good Question: What Can I Do With Loquats?
Look at the beautiful loquats in this photo from reader Camilla. She is wondering what to do with all this fruit on her tree. What do I do with loquats? I just moved to Southern California, and while I love the other fruit trees in my yard which I could identify, I spent a few weeks just trying to find out what the loquats were and now I’ve no idea what to do with them besides watching the squirrels and birds fight over the fallen fruit. Camilla, lucky you!
Apr 21, 2009
Blanching Veggies with the Lid On or Off: Does It Make a Difference?
In culinary school, it was drilled into us that the lid must be left off to avoid mushy, brown vegetables. Their explanation that acids trapped in the covered pot would turn the vegetables brown made enough scientific sense that we never thought to question it. Well, it’s a good thing we have Cook’s Illustrated…Never ones to accept a kitchen myth at face value, the team at Cook’s Illustrated blanched a series of vegetables with the lid both on an off.
Apr 8, 2009
Food Science: Artichokes and Sweetness
Did you know that artichokes can make other foods taste sweet? We’ve never noticed this ourselves, but an article in the March issue of Saveur Magazine mentioned the fact in relation to pairing artichokes and wine. Now we can’t wait to get our hands on some fresh spring artichokes to see for ourselves!The article explains that artichokes naturally contain an acid called cynarin.
Mar 31, 2009
Plant Spotlight: Ponderosa Lemons
We spotted these giant ponderosa lemons at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show last weekend and nearly squealed with delight.A lemon tree? That can grow in Chicago? Well maybe, maybe not.Ponderosa lemons are considered a lemon-citron hybrid and average 2 to 4 pounds, although they’re sometimes called “5 Pound Lemons.” The peel is thick, bumpy and round, with no pointed tip.They are less hardy than other lemon varieties but grow well in containers.
Mar 11, 2009
Good Question: What Can I Do With Morello Cherries?
Katherine has a jar of cherries and needs some help using them up! Want to help?I was at Trader Joe’s this weekend and on impulse I bought a jar of Dark Morello Cherries in Light Syrup. What do I do with these? The ingredients are: cherries, water, sugar and glucose syrup. Maybe in a sauce for meat or tempeh? Could I flambé them? Help!Katherine, these cherries are very easy to use. First of all, you can eat them straight out of the jar with a spoon; we highly recommend that.
Jan 23, 2009
Seasonal Spotlight: Rangpur Limes
No, that’s not an orange; it’s a lime. An orange-colored lime! It’s a rangpur lime, which is a hybrid of a mandarin orange and a lemon.While not a true lime, the Rangpur lime is highly acidic and is a wonderful substitute for regular limes due to its lime-like zestiness and its orange-like juiciness. The flavor of the lime is said to taste a little bit smoky.Originally from India, the Rangpur lime found its way to the US in the 19th century.
Jan 6, 2009
Quick Tip: The Best Way to Store Mushrooms
Mushrooms aren’t exactly the hardiest of ingredients! Once home, they can become slimy and develop brown spots within just a few days. If we can’t use them all right away, we try to do whatever we can to eek out just a little more life from our mushrooms. Here’s how…Lots of theories seem to exist about the best way to store mushrooms: in a paper bag, wrapped in damp paper towels, in a sealed container… And we’ve tried them all at one time or another!
Dec 8, 2008
How Do You Slice an Apple?
We’re not going to claim there’s a right way and a wrong way. But we’re all slicing a lot of apples these days (and will be for months), so we’re wondering how our method compares to yours. See step-by-step photos, below…First we slice it in half, then into quarters.Then, to get out the core, we slice diagonally along the inside of each quarter.
Nov 11, 2008
Seasonal Spotlight: Prickly Pear Fruit
The fruit of the prickly pear cactus, also called tuna in Spanish, has been a staple of Native American and Central American cuisine for centuries. The plant has been introduced to southern Europe as well, where it is also considered a delicacy.Prickly pear cactus fruits ripen in the late summer and early fall. Pears with reddish orange to purple skin are considered to be the sweetest. Green and white pears can be eaten too.
Oct 10, 2008
In Season: Italian Prune Plums
What are those little baby-fist-sized plums that have been in the markets for the last month? They’re called Italian Prune Plums and I adore them. Sometimes also called Empress Plums, they are the European-style plum (Prunica domestica) – small, dense, egg-shaped fruit with blue or purple skin, freestone pits (they separate easily from the flesh) and yellow flesh. These are the plums that are made into prunes.
Sep 10, 2008
Help! Our Jam is Too Hard!
We’ve been in a confessional mood lately, offering up photos of our inedible cooking disasters… Here’s another misstep, although the problem this time isn’t with the taste. This jam is absolutely delicious — just not quite right in its consistency. What did we do wrong? We had some almost-overripe fruit to use up — peaches and yellow plums, specifically — and decided to cook it down with some sugar and minced ginger to make refrigerator jam.
Aug 6, 2008
Tip: Drying Fruits And Vegetables In The Car
Summer’s full bounty of fruits and vegetables is peaking and we can’t eat everything fast enough. We’ve been canning and pickling so we can preserve these wonderful flavors and nutrients to enjoy in the winter months ahead. We’re also drying.Drying fruits and vegetables is incredibly easy. It can be done with a dehydrator which you can purchase from Amazon or other kitchen supply stores, but we lack the counter space for yet another appliance.
Jul 25, 2008
Seasonal Spotlight: Fresh Garbanzo Beans
A friend of ours who purchases supplies for a culinary school slipped us a few of these fresh, green beauties the other day. We felt like we were “in” on some clandestine culinary transaction!Breaking open the pod revealed two perfect garbanzo beans nestled snugly against each other. We ate them right there, popping one and then the other into our mouth with glee.They have a clean grassy taste, very similar to fresh peas.
May 9, 2008
Tip: How To Use Frozen Edamame
A reader emailed us to ask about using up frozen edamame. Her dilemma? What to do with them besides making a puréed dip. We have several ideas, and most of them start with the microwave… Frozen, shelled edamame are becoming easier to find at the average grocery store, which is good — they are so healthy and versatile. We do often purée them into a hummus made with edamame instead of chickpeas, but they work well in any dish where you might normally use beans or peas.
Apr 16, 2008
What’s the Deal With: Pepino Melons
Pepino melons are not really melons; they are the fruit of a South American evergreen and actually related to the tomato and the eggplant. Sometimes they are called tree melons, or melon pears. They have been cropping up in the grocery store lately and we were intrigued by the beautiful stripes and teardrop shape. The melon is about the size of a hand, almond-shaped and firm. It will usually have beautiful purple streaks on a yellow skin.
Nov 5, 2007
What’s the Deal With: Cape Gooseberries
The first time we saw a Cape gooseberry, it was on someone’s blog, and it looked like a perfect yellow egg yolk encased in paper leaves. We really thought someone took a photo of an egg yolk. It wasn’t, of course – it was a Cape gooseberry. Cape gooseberries are native to South America, and they’re closely related to the tomatilla – which makes sense, since they look like tiny tomatillas, swaddled in tissue leaves.
Oct 22, 2007