Persimmons
These small round or oval fruits, which ripen between September and the end of November, are sweet only when soft. Some varieties ripen before frost; some ripen after the first frost.
Remove caps and rinse. Put uncooked fruits in a food mill to separate the seeds from the pulp. Use the resulting smooth pulp in cookies, breads, ice cream and other desserts or sauces.
The pulp may be stored in airtight containers in the freezer for a year or longer, Tucker says.
The Tuckers have several favorite books from which they get their wild food recipes. The persimmon bread with hickory nuts comes from “Stalking the Wild Asparagus,” by Euell Gibbons. The persimmon ice cream is from Marily Kluger’s book “The Wild Flavor.” The black walnut pie is from Bradford Angier’s book “Feasting Free on Wild Edibles.”
You can adapt your favorite blueberry muffin or pancake recipe to a huckleberry recipe. Replace the blueberries with the huckleberries and add three or four extra tablespoons of sugar. Huckleberries are on the tart side.
Persimmon Cookies
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup persimmon pulp
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon round allspice
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup raisins
- Cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy; blend in egg. Stir in persimmon pulp.
- In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture to make a stiff dough. Add pecans and raisins.
- Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned in preheated 325-degree F oven. Cool on racks and store in an airtight container.
[Jackson Sun, Jackson, Tenn., 23 Sep 1987]
(Persimmons taste wonderful by themselves. I can’t wait to try these Persimmon Cookies!)
sounds very good and interesting..