Slashfood

Thanksgiving Recipes - Pear & Ginger Cheesecake

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-24T13:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Dessert, Recipes, Fruit, Thanksgiving, Fall

Take Thanksgiving baking beyond apple or pumpkin pie. Opt for a fragrant, fruity ending with this pear and ginger-infused cheesecake.

Get this cheesecake recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Thanksgiving Recipes - Cranberry Relish

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-20T10:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Recipes, Fruit, Thanksgiving, Fall

Crystallized ginger and mandarin orange spiffy up traditional cranberry relish.

Get this cranberry recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Thanksgiving Recipes - Cranberry Sauce

Slashfood Editor — 2009-11-17T17:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Recipes, Fruit, Thanksgiving, Fall

Cranberry sauce is the yin to the Thanksgiving turkey's yang with its perfect flavor balance of sweet and tart.

Get this cranberry sauce recipe along with many others after the jump.

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Pomegranate Ice Kreme - Feast Your Eyes

Alexa Weibel — 2009-11-17T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Trends, Fall Flavors, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian/Vegan, Feast Your Eyes, Fall

Photo: norwichnuts, Flickr.

Although cranberries usually reign supreme around Thanksgiving, the ruby pomegranate seems to be stealing some of the classic berry's thunder this season -- and understandably so, with its unique tart, fruity edge.

Flickr user Norwichnuts created this vegan Pomegranate Ice Kreme by simply combining two juiced pomegranates, two cups creamer, one cup powdered sugar and an added layer of pomegranate jelly and freezing it in an ice-cream maker. The "kreme" appears remarkably luscious and creamy, despite its vegan preparation. Topping the simple dessert with glazed pecans adds a salty complexity, as well as interesting texture and crunch.

Do you enjoy pomegranate? Have you been integrating it into your holiday cooking? Divulge how you've been using the fruit this season in the comments.

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Happy National Guacamole Day!

Alexa Weibel — 2009-11-14T13:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Food Oddities, Did you know?, America, Holidays, Food News

Chipotle guacamole. Photo: rachel is coconut&lime, Flickr.

Happy National Guacamole Day! The culinary cosmos of guacamole and pickles may infrequently overlap, but at least today's national food holidays both celebrate zesty green condiments.

Though the lusciously creamy avocado mash is most often associated with summertime BBQs and beer, there's no reason you shouldn't be eager to make use of your mortars and pestles year-round. Check out our guacamole primer on Slashfood, or venture to AOL food for Rosa Mexicano's classic Guacamole en Molcajete recipe -- their trick is mashing the onion, jalapeno and cilantro into a paste for evenly distributed flavor -- though some consumers prefer their avocados hefty, and take pleasure in the zesty chunks of jalapeno, tomato, poblano peppers, green onion, etc.

What are your favorite guacamole additions? Share your secret ingredients after the jump.

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Peeling Pineapple - Tip of the Day

Alexa Weibel — 2009-11-10T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, How To, Tip of the Day

Don't be daunted by the pineapple's prickly shell -- peeling the fruit is easy in these simple steps.

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North Carolina Apple Growers Protest USDA Proposal

Hanna Raskin — 2009-11-06T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Farming, Fruit, Southern States

Photo: wonderferret, Flickr.

Growers in the nation's southernmost commercial apple-producing region are fighting a change in crop insurance law, which they claim could wipe out a 200-year-old industry.

Henderson County, N.C. -- a stretch of Southern Appalachia where the first apple trees were planted by a Loyalist on the run from the Revolutionary Army -- today generates about $24 million in annual apple revenue, representing 85 percent of the state's apple crop. But the region's 150-plus growers have been hard hit in recent years by calamities including frost, wind and hail.

"You name it, it's happened," sighs Agricultural Extension agent Marvin Owings.

Owings credits the Federal Crop Insurance Program, which reimburses growers for lost apples at a rate of $9.25 a bushel, with keeping area orchards solvent. He's worried a new proposal to significantly lower disaster payouts for lesser-grade apples could prove devastating.

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Tip of the Day - Making Your Own Dried Fruit

Sarah LeTrent — 2009-11-06T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Tip of the Day

Drying fruit is easy, mostly hands-off and yields a sweet and healthy snack.

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Citrus Growers Sweet on Remarkable New Mandarin

Hanna Raskin — 2009-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Southern States, New Products, Winter

Photo: sonictk, Flickr.

After spending more than two decades in development, a mandarin hybrid that some fruit experts are calling "the best thing they've ever eaten in the world of citrus" is now on the market, albeit in limited quantities.

"Oh man, it's dynamite," University of Florida plant breeder Fred Gmitter says of the Sugar Belle. "Spoken like a father, huh?"

When Gmitter joined the Florida faculty in 1985, he discovered his predecessor's experimental citrus groves had been destroyed. Only a block's worth of trees remained, and most of those were "ugly to look at and horrible to eat." But among the duds, he found a tree growing superb orange fruit. He and his colleagues used that tree to create the university's first-ever cultivar.

Since citrus breeding is slow going, the introduction of new varieties is relatively rare. But Peter Chaires, executive director of the company that holds licensing rights to the Sugar Belle, says the fruit could mark the start of a citrus golden age.

"This is the first one out of a long pipeline," Chaires says. "We have some interesting things coming, including an easy-peel mandarin. We'll see varieties for fresh consumption, varieties for the juice market and a lemon-lime hybrid."

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Tip of the Day - A Quick Lesson in Quince

Sarah LeTrent — 2009-10-27T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Tip of the Day, Fall

Fall is all about apples, but why not try baking with the "golden apple," quince?

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Glazed Apple Bars - Feast Your Eyes

Alexa Weibel — 2009-10-23T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Feast Your Eyes, Fall

Photo: Sweetnicks, Flickr.

These visibly sweet and sticky Glazed Apple Bars reinterpret the traditional apple pie in hand-held form. Crispy and crumbly, they taste delicious savored on their own or indulgently paired with vanilla-bean ice cream and topped with caramel, as blogger Sweetnicks relished them.

And the best part? The recipe uses only pantry staples, requiring but a few apples, flour, butter, vanilla, sugar, salt and cinnamon. So get baking, and celebrate fall with this luscious seasonal recipe.

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Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler

Slashfood Editor — 2009-10-20T17:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Comfort Food, Slow cooking, Fall, Winter

Photo: ImipolexG, Flickr

The mercury's dropping which means it's time to break out that trusty crock pot for set-it-and-forget-it cold weather cooking.

Move over pot roast -- did you ever think of making cobbler in a slow cooker? The ice cream on top might be worth the extra wintry chill down your spine. Try replacing the blueberries in this recipe with frozen or canned peaches.

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All About Apple Crisps

Slashfood Editor — 2009-10-19T11:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Comfort Food, Fall

Photo: bookgrl, Flickr

It's Apple pickin' season. So what to do with the orchard's abundance of apples? Simplify the iconic apple pie by making an apple crisp -- it's the flavor of fall without the fuss.

We rounded up a few of the best apple crisp recipes spied elsewhere on the Web..

Good Morning America offers a recipe for slow-cooked apple crisp in a crock pot.

"America's Test Kitchen" Host Chris Kimball upgrades this fall fruit favorite.

This apple crisp via The New York Times is topped with tortoni and macaroons.

The Washington Post dishes up lunchbox-friendly apple-crisps -- the "s" makes all the difference in interpretation.

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Pitahaya - Feast Your Eyes

Alexa Weibel — 2009-10-16T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Feast Your Eyes

Photo: Ana Carmen, Flickr.

Though at first glance one might assume these vibrant cups to be brimming with chopped melons and strawberries, upon further inspection they are actually pieces of pitahaya, or, as it's more commonly known stateside, dragon fruit.

Described as tart-sweet crosses between everything from kiwis to melons to pears, varieties of dragon fruit can range in color from pale to hot pink. Most frequently eaten chilled and chopped -- or scooped directly out of the skin, the fruit is also often used as flavoring for drinks and pastries. Native to Central and South America, the cacti-grown fruit provides fiber and copious amounts of vitamin C, and lowers blood glucose levels. Red-fleshed fruits even contain lycopene, a natural antioxidant known to fight cancer and other diseases.

According to popular legend in Asia, the fruit was purported to have been created by fire-breathing dragons, who would produce the fruit instantly at the end of their fire-breathing bouts. The fruit -- fit for a king -- was gifted to the emperor as a treasured item and sign of victory.

Though by no means a household name yet, the fruit is becoming increasingly available in the United States, from fresh bulbs at farmers' markets in Los Angeles and elsewhere, to dried varieties at Trader Joe's and other specialty-food stores.

Have you tried dragon fruit? Tell us in the comments where -- and in what forms -- you've encountered it.

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Black Widow Spider Found in Grapes by Toronto Man

Jennifer Lawinski — 2009-10-08T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, North America, Food News

Black widow spider. Photo: Ian Waldie, Getty Images.

Talk about sour grapes!

Toronto resident Brett James was reaching into his refrigerator to grab his wife a snack when he found a black widow spider lurking under the bag of grapes he'd purchased at the local Whole Foods Market, the Toronto Star reports. He thinks the poisonous spider came in with the grapes.

"When I lifted the bag, the spider was underneath, just sitting on top of another bag in the refrigerator," James tells Slashfood. "I wasn't sure exactly what it was, and I had heard stories before, so something was in the back of my head that it could be serious."

He lifted the spider out of the fridge on a paper towel and put it in a plastic container. After poking around on the Internet, he said he identified it as a black widow, a spider whose venom can cause muscle cramps, tremor and chest pain.

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Pear Butter - Feast Your Eyes

Alexa Weibel — 2009-10-01T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Condiments, Comfort Food, Feast Your Eyes, Fall

Photo: Rachel is Coconut&Lime, Flickr.

In this effortlessly elegant breakfast fix, pear butter replaces uninspired butter and jam. Warmly spiced with pear cider, ginger, allspice and cardamon, Coconut & Lime's concoction also works well wherever you'd usually dab butter (pancakes, waffles, muffins, etc.) -- and is even more versatile, deliciously swirled into the likes of yogurt, cottage cheese, hot cereal and more.

Cooked for 10 to 12 hours in a slow cooker, the condiment will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two months -- though we'd be surprised if it lasts half as long as its shelf life permits.

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Heavenly Honeycrisp - Feast Your Eyes

Emily Farris — 2009-09-25T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Feast Your Eyes, Fall

Honeycrisp apple. Photo: Happy in a Bag.

We've started watching the leaves change to all different shades of red, brown and yellow. Fall colors also abound in apples. But with all of the options out there, which variety is one to eat while watching the trees' brilliant transformations? Well, if you're is a fan of consuming crisp fruit in crisp weather, Honeycrisps are definitely the way to go.

Based on the status updates of food lovers all over Facebook, it seems many were lucky enough to get their hands on Honeycrisps over the weekend, including blogger Happy in Bag who managed to hold off biting into this one long enough to snap a picture.

[Via Happy in a Bag]

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Attack of the Conjoined Produce

Jennifer Lawinski — 2009-09-17T17:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit

Photo: Foodcourt.wordpress.com.

What's better than one average strawberry?

How about two ripe, juicy berries fused together to make one giant, Siamese strawberry? Or perhaps you were looking for young bananas in love, mutant melons or carrots that can tango.

Slashfood's sister site Urlesque scoured the Web and found an array of conjoined fruits and vegetables, from spooning bananas to two-eared corn.

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Autumn Apples - Feast Your Eyes

Alexa Weibel — 2009-09-14T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fruit, Feast Your Eyes, Fall

Crisp Autumn apples. Photo: A Million to One, Flickr.

Often overlooked and underrated in other seasons, apples as vibrant and crisp as these reign supreme every September. In these two complementing shots, one can't help but crave the inimitable crunch of an autumn apple. Fine-grained or sweet, sprightly or tangy, with hundreds of varieties -- from the juicy Acey Mac to the nutty Zabergau Reinette -- apples have flavors as variegated as their purposes.

And though we'll never pass up a traditional piece of gooey apple pie or a tart cup of apple cider, we poked around the Internet for more unique inspiration. With options as appealing as 101 Cookbook's Apple Zucchini Crostini, Martha Stewart's Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust, Michael Chiarello's Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, or -- for the truly ambitious -- Bon Appetit's Herb-Roasted Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy, we're hungering for apple-picking season.

For the season's ultimate farm-to-table experience, locate an orchard near you at allaboutapples.com.

[Via Flickr]

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Laser Labeling Coming Soon to Fruits, Vegetables

Sara Bonisteel — 2009-09-11T13:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Science, Vegetables, Fruit, Food News

New laser labels. Photo: ARS/USDA.

Goodbye sticky labels, hello tattooed fruit.

The FDA is expected to approve laser-etching of fruits and vegetables in the next month or so, paving the way for produce "tattooed" with product information to hit store shelves, an official with the USDA tells Slashfood.

"We figure maybe next month or the month after it will get FDA approval," says Jan Narciso, a research microbiologist with the USDA's Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory in Winter Haven, Fla.

But will these new labels affect the taste of your fruits and vegetables?

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