![]() Use the fruit solids to make chutney or preserves or compost them. Pour the shrub into clean glass bottles and store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for many weeks. To finish, set a large strainer over a deep bowl, line the strainer with two or three layers of cheesecloth, tip the shrub into it and let drain for about 30 minutes, stirring it now and then. Add the vinegar and refrigerate for at least three days and up to six days. Put the fruit, prepared according to the suggested combinations following the main recipe, into a large nonreactive container. Chill overnight before passing through a food mill. Add 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger, a tablespoon of lightly crushed white pepper and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Peel a large pineapple, cut it into quarters and cut the quarters into chunks.For an adult drink, add a jigger of absinthe to each serving. ![]() Combine with two peeled, seeded and chopped cucumbers and a handful of crushed spearmint leaves. Pass 4 cups of raspberries through a food mill, combine with 8 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice, add simple syrup to taste and chill for at least three hours.Remove the stems of strawberries, cut the berries in half, put them in a large container, stir in a tablespoon of lightly crushed black pepper and chill overnight before passing through a food mill.Cut white peaches and/or white nectarines in half, remove the pits, crush a handful of basil leaves, stir into the fruit, add the juice of two lemons and chill overnight before passing through a food mill.Cut Santa Rosa plums from their pits, mix with 2 teaspoons of lightly crushed cardamom pods and chill overnight before passing through a food mill.Cut watermelon into chunks, remove any seeds and add lime juice as needed.Alternately, fill tall glasses about half full with ice and add the agua fresca. To serve, pour the agua fresca into a large pitcher, fill to the top with ice and enjoy. If it tastes at all flat or bland, add citrus juice. Taste the mixture and, if it isn’t sweet enough for you, add simple syrup, ¼ cup at a time, until it tastes perfect. To serve, thin the fruit with enough water to create a consistency of homemade lemonade. ![]() Discard any solids left in the food mill and put the fruit puree, covered, in the refrigerator to chill for at least three hours. Set a food mill over a deep container and pass the fruit through it. ![]() Prepare the fruit according to the list of suggested combinations. Andy’s Produce Market in Sebastopol usually has an excellent selection of local fruit at this time of year as well. Imwalle Gardens in Santa Rosa also is a good source for local fruit and for reasonably priced lemons and limes. It’s always best shop at a farmers market nearest to where you live and to visit any farm stands near you, too. Our local melon season doesn’t really kick in until September. The exception is melons, most of which are coming from other parts of California. Overall, the best fruit is local - it’s harvested ripe and does not need to hold up for hundreds of miles. I also like to have plenty of fruit in the house, both to eat and drink. Sparkling water, watermelon, lemons, limes, cilantro, corn tortillas, good chips, good salsa, iceberg lettuce and cucumbers are all foods I consider essential when it’s hot and dry. That way, I can have certain things on hand and won’t need to go out, especially during the heat of the day. I always panic a bit when I hear such forecasts, though it’s helpful to know about the heat in advance. As I write this, the weather forecasts sound apocalyptic, with temperatures expected to rise to 130 degrees in Death Valley and days of excessive heat warnings locally.
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