Buongiorno,
Fall is here and bright orange hues are ubiquitous on the stands. Pumpkin, squash, gourds of all kinds, persimmons,
beets, carrots, yams and yes, oranges. Gorgeous.
Last week I brought you a detailed overview of the available apples. This week it's Asian pears. Check out all your options -- don't know about you, but I was surprised at variety grown here in California.
Heads up: The post for the next dinner goes live on Tuesday.
ciao,
Marco Flavio
What I found this week:
Persimmons are getting there (see above). Still not as ripe as I like them, I say wait.
Asian pears in all flavors. Slice some into a salad with blue cheese and walnuts from the latest crop, or chill and bite right into their crisp pulp. I've not had any success cooking with them or poaching them, but if you do please report back.
Recipes from Epicurious.
Yali Asian pear. Crisp like an apple and very sweet. They substitute well for regular pears in recipes.
Hosui Asian pear. A large, juicy, sweet, low acid, bronze-skinned variety.
Kikusui Asian pear. A treat usually only available at farmers markets as it bruises very easily. The sweet yet tart taste is excellent -- definitely give these a try.
Olympic Asian pear. A large and roundish pear with a sweet juicy taste: the preferred Korean pear.
Shinseiki Asian pear. A mild-flavored pear with a delicately sweet taste.
Beautiful orange zucchini. They look and taste wonderful sautéed with the last tomatoes of the season.
Brussels sprouts. Spare me the disgusted faces. They are delicious when blanched then stir-fried in olive oil, garlic and hot pepper to get that nice caramelized spicy crust on them. Also tasty with balsamic syrup. Recipes from Allrecipes and Epicurious.
Chestnuts (and fresh walnuts) are here! I come from the chestnut-growing part of Italy: to me they are the ultimate sign of fall.
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