Grilled Cantaloupe and Peach Salad

I love grilled fruit.  Grilling brings out the sweetness and really intensifies the flavors.  You don't have to grill fruit for very long (in fact, too long and they'll get too mushy).  This salad, that I made at my Blooming Glen Farm demo, is a nice mix of flavors and textures.

I used lettuce at the farm since spinach and arugula weren't available and it was great.  But the spinach and arugula add even more variety to the flavors.

GRILLED CANTALOUPE AND PEACH SALAD (adapted from Cooking Light magazine)
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3-4 ripe peaches, pitted
3 Tbsp lime juice
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 tsp garlic, minced
1/8 tsp kosher salt
3 cups baby arugula, about 3 oz
3 cups baby spinach, about 3 oz
1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cantaloupe, seeded and cut into 6 wedges
3 Tbsp walnuts, chopped and toasted

• Preheat grill to medium-high.  Clean and oil the grate.
• Place peaches, cut-side down, on grill.  Grill for 2-3 min or until starting to get grill marks and flesh is starting to soften.
• Rub more oil on grill grates and place cantaloupe slices on grill for about 1-2 min per side, or until starting to get grill marks and flesh is starting to soften.
• In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, lime juice, honey, oil, garlic and salt.
• Combine arugula, spinach, celery, onion and pepper in a large serving bowl.  Remove melon from rind and dice into bite-sized pieces.  Dice peaches as well.  Toss with greens.  Drizzle with dressing to taste.

Miracle Berries

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Over the holiday, my son, Jake, watched Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original with Gene Wilder) for the first time.  He thought it was good--if not a bit confusing at times. 

On Christmas Day, I experienced something that seemed like it came from the Wonka factory.  My brother-in-law, Bake, saw something on TV about Miracle Berries.  They are berries that are native to Western Africa and have a strange effect on your taste buds.

The claim is that these berries take away your ability to taste sour and bitter.  So Bake went on line and bought these pills that are made from the berries.  You suck on them and for about a half-hour, you can't taste sour or bitter.

I was the guinea pig, I guess.  No one else tried it, but I was game.  I just prayed that it wasn't half a year instead of a half and hour.

Miracle Berries in their raw form.

So I sucked on this little pill until it dissolved and then they started feeding me stuff.

The first thing was to try sour citrus (Bake came prepared).  I was skeptical--until I put the lemon in my mouth.  A very bizarre experience.  The lemon tasted like extremely sweet lemonade.  Not a trace of sour.  It was a little too sweet for me, but didn't taste too bad.  The lime was next and I didn't care for that very much--although lime is one of my favorite flavors.  It was sweet, but not as much as the lemon.  And the actual flavor of the lime seemed to be changed for the worse.  The grapefruit tasted like grapefruit that had a pile of sugar sprinkled on top of it. 

Next it was on to various things in my parents' fridge.

The pickle tasted very sweet--not sure I would have guessed it was a pickle if I didn't know it.  I don't like coffee at all, but I tried it for the sake of science.  I could handle that coffee since it basically tasted like water with the slightest coffee flavor at the end.  Dijon mustard tasted a little spicy and quite sweet.  Not too bad.  Ketchup was like licking a mouthful of red sugar.  Blech.

Apparently, the rage is to buy these pills and have tasting parties--where you get together with friends and just taste all sorts of things while under the spell of the Miracle Berry.  After trying it, I must admit that I'm kind of intrigued about what other things might taste like--beer, hot sauce, radish, horseradish, onion, etc.  So when's the party, Bake? 

There is a lot on line about this strange fruit--just search "Miracle Berry" and read more about it.  Then see if you can resist ordering some!

Fruit & Veggies

Yet another study shows that most Americans don't eat the amount of fruits and vegetables that we should.  Most people, according to the survey, eat less than half of what the recommendations are.  The typical person eats about 1 cup of vegetables a day and just under a half cup of fruits.  (I would have thought it was the other way around.)  This, by the way, includes not-as-healthy veggies like potatoes (not French fries). 

Young children and their parents seem to be getting the idea--their intake of fruits and veggies are climbing.  But teens and the elderly tend to eat less. 

This information comes from a USA Today article that does a good idea of explaining about how it's actually fairly easy to eat the recommended amount of these foods.  One suggestion is to fill at least half your plate with fruits and veggies. 

Also, one of the experts quoted in the article says:

[E]very little bit counts: raisins in cereal, frozen berries in smoothies, vegetables in soup, tomato sauce on spaghetti, beans in chili, veggies on sandwiches, 100% fruit juices.

In general, one cup of raw or cooked vegetables or vegetable juice, or two cups of raw leafy greens, counts as one cup from the vegetable group. One cup (or one piece) of fruit or 100% fruit juice, or half a cup of dried fruit, is considered one cup from the fruit group. So if you eat an apple or banana, that counts as one cup of fruit for the day; a medium side salad could equal about one cup of vegetables.

My suggestion: Join a CSA!  Since we've joined Blooming Glen Farm, we eat way more veggies than we ever have before.  And there's not much better than fresh produce grown within a mile of home.  Or go to farmers' markets and buy local fruits--it's almost peach time!

Oh, by the way.  If you read the article, scroll down to the comments.  Some are incredibly idiotic and entertaining.

Dekopon

Does anyone know what a dekopon is?  Isn't it a kid's game from Japan?  No, it's a brand of paint, right?  Wait, I think my uncle was diagnosed with dekopon a few years ago.

Actually, it's a fruit.  And by all accounts, it's pretty much the most delicious citrus fruit around.  It's a hybrid fruit developed in Japan in 1972 and has been celebrated by the people of that country ever since.  For the first time, it's available in this country--where it's been cultivated, in California.

The delectable fruit is large, seedless, has a peel that comes off easier than a Clementine and has a distinctive bump at the stem end.  The membranes dividing the sections are extremely thin, so there's nothing chewy about it.  It has virtually no pith (the bitter white part between the skin and sections in citrus fruits.

The flavor is the perfect balance of sweet and acid.  It's intensely "orange-y" and, according to some, the sugars coat the mouth like eating a piece of candy. 

Unfortunately, unless you live in Japan or California, we're not going to get dekopons at their best.  Like most fruits, storage, packaging and shipping cause damage to the texture and flavor of dekopons.  But from the way some people rave about them, it might be worth taking a trip!

For some more info, check out this article from the LA Times and this one from a blog called "Nichi Bei".

Where's the Beef?

In a recent New York Times article, Mark Bittman wrote:

The grill, as everyone knows, is the best place to cook a steak, but that doesn’t mean you have to cook a steak every time you fire up the grill.       

Very true.  I mean, a really good grilled steak is hard to beat.  But you can do so much more on a grill than just meat and poultry.  All kinds of veggies are great when mixed with the smoky goodness that comes from grilling.

If you read my last post, you would have gotten a great recipe for a grilled veggie salad.  Marinated veggies with those yummy black char marks.  Mmmm...

Although people don't think of doing it very often, grilling fruit can be a wonderful way of bringing out the subtle flavors of fruits like peaches, bananas, pineapple, melons and more.  This weekend I made a Grilled Pineapple-Banana Fool (a parfait-type dessert layering the grilled fruit tossed with a little honey and sweetened whipped cream). 

Grilled fruits aren't just for desserts, though.  Sprinkle pineapple slices with salt, pepper and something spicy (like cayenne) and grill them to use as a side dish for grilled fish or pork.  The possibilities are as endless as your creativity!

Read more about grilling meaty veggies in Bittman's article.  Then get the grill fired up!

Dragon Fruit

Have you tried dragon fruit yet? 

This fruit, also called pitaya or pitahaya, is cropping up in all sorts of applications these days--from sauces to vodka to tea, among other things. 

This is the fruit of a cactus "tree" and is cultivated mostly in Vietnam and Central and South America.  There are some farmers who are growing it domestically, mostly in Southern California, but it's not the easiest thing to grow.

Because they are native to hot regions, the flower of this cactus blooms at night so it isn't burned by the hot sun.  So it must be pollinated at night--otherwise the flower will fall off and not form any fruit.  Bats and moths take care of the pollination in it's native lands, but here in the US, pollination often must be done by hand by the farmer--a time-intensive and tedious process.

Still, dragon fruit is showing up in many high-end grocery stores.  It's fairly expensive because it is delicate and shipping without bruising it is difficult. 

The look of the fruit--usually red on the outside, but also can be yellow--would make you think you're in for a real taste treat.  The name doesn't hurt either.  The reality is, though, that the fruit is rather mild with a taste that is hard to describe.  Some say that it is a bit like kiwi or strawberry or pear or melon.  The fruit must be peeled before eating the inside (usually white, but sometimes pink, speckled with black seeds). 

Let me know if you've tried dragon fruit.  I'd love to hear how you describe it's flavor.  For more information, read this article from the New York Times.

Mysteries of the Grapefruit

A sweaty boy pondering the
mysteries of grapefruit.

So last night we were eating dinner and having been drinking grapefruit juice, Jake asked a logical question:

"Why are they called grapefruit?  They don't look like grapes.  They aren't the same color as grapes.  They don't taste like grapes."

I honestly have never really thought about it before.  I mean, a grapefruit is a grapefruit, right?  Why is a banana called a banana?

Anyway, the reason apparently is based on how grapefruits grow on trees.  They often grow in clusters that remind you of a bunch of grapes.  Some say that it comes from the look of immature grapefruits that are green and look more like grapes than when they're ripe.

So there you have it, Jake.  Any more questions?

Oh, by the way, "banana" is from the Arabic word for "fingers."

Are You Eating Your Fruits & Veggies?

We're supposed to eat 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables to maintain a healthy diet.  Are you doing that?  Chances are, you're not.  And neither are most of the people you know.

According to a study noted in an NPR story, only 32.5% of adults are achieving that level of fruit intake and just 26.3% are eating that amount of veggies.  Yikes.

As you know, a diet with plenty of fruits and veggies helps to combat obesity, heart disease, stroke and maybe cancer.  Let's try to do better, huh?

Feeling a Little Fruity

Even though we're in the last day of August--and are heading into fall--fruit still abounds.  Melons are a little harder to come across these days (I found some nice ones at Bolton's Farm Market in Silverdale--as well as some of the most delicious blackberries I've ever had).  Peaches are still available for a while and, of course, local pears and apples are starting to grace our markets.

On Sunday, I did an appetizer party and 3 of the dishes I did were using fruit.  I thought I'd put the recipes out here so you can try them before fresh fruit isn't available.  They're incredibly easy and even more incredibly tasty.

Melon with Prosciutto (or Parmigiano-Reggiano) and Balsamic Reduction

INGREDIENTS
1 medium cantaloupe, seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks
8-10 slices of Prosciutto de Parma
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced

• Heat vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to a syrupy consistency. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, wrap melon chunks in pieces of prosciutto torn by hand. For non-meat eaters, grate cheese over melon chunks.
• Using a spoon, drizzle balsamic reduction over melon to taste. Garnish with mint.


Pears and Gorgonzola

INGREDIENTS
Pears, sliced to desired size
Gorgonzola cheese
Fresh thyme leaves, slightly chopped
Ground black pepper

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Place pear slices on sheet pan and top each with a small portion of the cheese.
• Place pan in oven until cheese just starts to melt—only a few minutes.
• Move pears to serving platter and garnish with thyme and pepper.


Grilled Peaches with Bourbon Honey

INGREDIENTS
6 peaches (ripe, but not too soft), halved & pitted
Vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup honey
¼ cup bourbon

• Brush the cut side of the peaches with veg oil. Season with nutmeg and pepper. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the honey and bourbon, stirring to blend.
• Grill peaches, 3-4 minutes, cut side down. Turn, baste with honey/bourbon mixtures and grill, skin side down, for another 5 minutes or just until soft on the outside.
• To serve, cut in wedges or cubes. Or keep halves intact and serve with a scoop of good ice cream on top. Also makes a great accompaniment to grilled fish or meat.