Category Archives: Heirloom Fruits and Veggies

Easy Forelle Tart – Sweet Juicy Little Pears

 Forelle pears in a cereal bowl
Another little gem we received from the co-op were Forelle pears.  These little treasures are perfect treats as a snack or in lunches, edible centerpieces or dessert recipes.

The Forelle adapts well to most pear recipes, the sweet, smooth textured fruit is as beautiful as it is delicious.  Another heirloom fruit from the 1600’s it made it’s way from Germany to the United States in the 1800s through German immigrants.

Give this little treat a try; you’ll be glad you did!

  

 Easy Forelle Tart

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted according to package directions
4-6 Forelle pears, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons orange juice (fresh works great, about ½ an orange worth)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Lay the sheet of puff pastry on the prepared baking sheet. Arrange the pear slices on the puff pastry.  Leave approximately 1/4-inch uncovered around the edges to create a border (this is optional, it depends on how you plan to serve it).

Combine melted butter, orange juice and brown sugar.  Evenly drizzle the sugar mixture over the top of the pears. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pears are golden brown. Allow to cool before cutting.  A pizza cutter works great for slicing into bite size pieces.

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Romanesco – A Fractal Food

Whole Romanesco
Whole Romanesco

One of the great things about belonging to a food co-op is the wide variety of fruits and vegetables we get to try.  

With the latest offering through www.bountifulbaskets.org we had the opportunity to try a few new items, one was an heirloom vegetable from the 16thcentury called Romanesco, sometimes referred to as Romanesco Broccoli or Romanesco Cauliflower. 

This member of the cauliflower family is commonly served in Italy and has a very mild cauliflower taste with a hint of broccoli. 

Romanesco lends itself well to broccoli and cauliflower recipes and is very easy to prep for cooking because of the broccoli like stems on the florets.  Romanesco is high in vitamin C, fiber and carotenoids.  Served raw this vegetable makes a healthy and delicious finger food (as well as a great conversation piece). 

Chopped Romanesco

My family and I added it to our dinner vegetable tray with the usual dips.  It was a big hit with the entire group, everyone raved about the mild flavor and interesting shape. 

The shape is very unique, several people at the co-op pick-up site commented on how it looked like something from the old TV show Star Trek.  Each piece is a duplicate of the whole, repeating the pattern several times.  This creates a fractal pattern making it somewhat of an anomaly and popular among the math minded.

I would love to see any Romanesco recipes you may have. 

Thanks for sharing and I wish you adventurous and happy eating!

Kathy

 

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