No, we haven’t supersized our grapefruits for the Super Bowl. The gigantic fruits in produce that look like grapefruit are actually Pommelos. Similar in flavor to a grapefruit without the bitterness, they are fragrant to peel and have a flavor that is like biting into a grapefruit infused with rose water. Though ours come from California, varieties of the Pommelo (or Pomelo or Pummelo) are grown in the Phillipines, Vietnam, Thailand and India. Often the flesh of the fruit is served with a bowl of salt or a mixture of chili powder, salt and sugar for dipping.
Category: Fruit
A Date for Dessert?
The staff has been raving about the Del Real Medjool dates from California new to the produce case just for their taste. So we’re hesitant to ruin it for them by letting them know that ounce for ounce, dates have more potassium than bananas, are fiber-rich, fat- and sodium-free and packed with B-complex vitamins. These dates are sweet enough to make a delicious dessert on their own but we also have them in the pastry case stuffed with walnuts and dipped in chocolate. The sweet, rich date provides a luscious center – you won’t miss the caramel or ganache
Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
We love simple preparations that highlight fresh ingredients. We’ve also been looking for easy appetizers for Thanksgiving guests and found a winner recently on BrooklynPlated, a local food blog. Their fresh fig and goat cheese bruschettas couldn’t be easier. Simply slice a baguette, spread slices on a baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 (or broil briefly) until they brown slightly – this is our current favorite method of reusing day-old baguettes! Then remove from oven and top with a dollop of goat cheese and a dab of marmalade and top with a sliced fresh fig. We used a plum marmalade and Le Biquet goat cheese but the number of combinations are endless – the Valencay aged goat cheeses at the cheese counter are also looking great. With fresh fig season at an end (the ones we currently have come from Turkey), another option is to top the goat cheese with a dab of fig conserve – try the black fig we have from American Spoon.
Apple Sipping, Not Picking
Each week during the month of October in Brooklyn, we will be offering different tastes of apple-based spirits and seasonal cocktails. From Calvados to New Jersey’s Applejack brandy to New York’s own Core Vodka (made from, you guessed it, apples), we will have samples of spirits and cocktails to sip and an expert on hand to pass on mixology tips. All tastings are at the Brooklyn wine store at 765 Fulton from 5-7pm unless otherwise noted.
Friday, October 9: Laird’s applejack brandy from New Jersey
Thursday, October 15: Calvados apple brandy from France
Thursday, October 22: Core Vodka and Fuji Apple Brandy from New York
Thursday, October 29: Original Sin Cider (Tasting at Greene Grape Provisions, 753 Fulton Street)
Saturday, October 31: Halloween Surprise, To Be Announced
Apple and Peach Crumble
Now that it’s high fruit season, we thought you’d appreciate a reminder of the simple pleasure of a fruit crumble.
The joy our guests had in indulging in this dessert made us feel slightly guilty. We simply had a surplus of peaches and apples. We even had the kids mix the topping.
Ingredients
6 pieces of fruit (we used 3 apples, 3 peaches but you can also use pears, etc.)
1 1/2 cups flour
12 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
Cut fruit into 1″ sections or slices. Line buttered 9″ square pan with fruit slices. Combine flour, butter (cold, not room temperature), sugar in bowl. Combine by grinding with fingertips until consistency of coarse sand (or slightly lumpy). Sprinkle flour mixture on top of fruit and place into a 350F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.