If I had to explain why falling colored leaves makes me giddy, I’d be hard-pressed. Waking up one morning to a dogwood tree gone suddenly scarlet in the night — well, that’s pretty close to magic! A drive down the Midway or The Esplanade this time of year — something you want to remember forever. Best of all, the changing colors mark the beginning of the long cozy — one of our mild but noticeable winters featuring fires in the fireplace, sweaters, long dark nights, with good books and good-smelling pots simmering on the stove. In my list of things to be thankful for, living in a place with changing seasons would be near the top.
Thanksgiving is bearing down on us and the food magazines are stepping all over each other trying to create the most lavish Thanksgiving spreads. Thanksgiving is actually a pretty simple meal — roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, string beans and pie. Why it takes all day to prepare is a mystery I’ve yet to unravel. Maybe it’s the special cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, homemade rolls and jam, cranberry sauce, freshly ironed cloth napkins, florist-worthy centerpiece, family gossip and polished candlesticks that get us in trouble?
Delicious! Everything about Thanksgiving is delicious and rich and heavy and needing a bit of spark to lighten up. This spunky little salad is pretty, easy to make ahead, and features good things in season right now like persimmons, pomegranates, and apples. Just a quick refresher — as you remember there are two kinds of persimmons — the flat round ones or Fuyu that you can eat like an apple, and the acorn-shaped Hachiyas which are bitter and astringent until they are fully ripe and jelly-like. This recipe uses the Fuyu variety.
Autumn salad with persimmons and apples
The perfect balance of sweet, salty, creamy and crunchy — a zesty Thanksgiving reprieve from rich and heavy. Recipe from Kim at Insanely Good.
Ingredients:
• 5 ounces baby spinach or mixed baby greens
• Balsamic vinaigrette — homemade or store bought
• 1 Fuyu persimmon, thinly sliced into half-rounds
• 1 apple, thinly sliced into half-rounds
• ¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate arils
Directions: Dress the spinach to taste — whisk together a 1:1 ratio of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic with a little Dijon mustard for dressing. Top with persimmon, apple, goat cheese, pepitas and pomegranate.
I am lucky enough to have a Hachiya persimmon tree in the back yard. A consistent over-achiever we have to lop off branches every year to keep it from breaking with its huge crop. It’s beautiful all year, shading the chicken coop in the summer with tiny green persimmons just starting to develop, in the fall with leaves turning color and bright orange fruit, and in the winter with no leaves, just the surprising orange fruit hanging from bare branches. The fruit doesn’t really start to ripen until we’ve had a freeze or two, but you can pick it unripe and enjoy looking at it in bowls while it ripens.
How to eat a Hachiya persimmon? The best way to eat a soft, ripe Hachiya according to Martha Stewart is to freeze it for a few of hours (or overnight) until solid. Remove the fruit 15-20 minutes before you want to eat it. As the outside of the persimmon thaws slightly, a glittering coat of frost forms on the skin. Cut off its top off, and you’ll have instant persimmon sorbet! It is the easiest dinner party dessert ever, and it’s so dramatic in its simplicity.
To hasten ripening chef David Lebovitz suggests simply let them sit on your countertop until very soft. If they don’t ripen at the same time, you can store the puree in the refrigerator until the others have ripened. You can hasten the process by putting persimmons in a well-sealed container; adding an apple, which gives off a lot of ethylene gas, which will speed things up. Hachayias need to be squishy-soft and feel like a full water-balloon before using. Once ripe, the sweet jelly-like pulp can be spooned out and pureed through a blender, food processor or food mill, although some folks like to eat it as is or frozen. The pulp freezes beautifully, and in fact, I’ll often freeze some for late-winter use. Did you know the wood of the persimmon tree is prized by makers of fine golf clubs and is favored over other woods or man-made materials?
The following is a classic persimmon bread recipe from James Beard’s book, “Beard on Bread” published 30 years ago. It has been adapted by David Lebovitz below and uses Hachiya persimmons.
Persimmon bread
Using the higher amount of sugar will produce a moister and, of course, sweeter bread. I often use bourbon, as I like the flavor, but cognac and brandy work well, instead. I’m often asked about making this cake without the liquor and haven’t tried it, as the liquor is an integral flavor in the cake.
Ingredients:
• 3 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup Cognac or bourbon whiskey (see headnote)
• 2 cups persimmon puree, (from about 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)
• 2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
• 2 cups raisins, or diced dried fruits (such as apricots, cranberries, or dates)
Directions: Butter two loaf pans. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the first five dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree then the nuts and raisins.
Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Storage: Will keep for about a week, if well-wrapped, at room temperature. The persimmon bread take well to being frozen, too.
This is it folks — Chico’s rather spectacular version of fall. Get out there and rake some leaves, take some pictures, buy the dog a sweater and just have a good wallow in this most precious season!
