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Category Archives: Fruit

Titillating Tomatoes

Posted on August 7, 2008 by foodgal 9 comments

When I leaf through the pages of the glorious looking new book, “The Heirloom Tomato, From Garden to Table” (Bloomsbury), I fairly blush.

I’m just going to come out and say it: This is tomato porn.

Rippling, curvy, plump, and with bodacious glistening seed sacks, tomatoes have never looked so utterly sensual as they do in this book written by gardener, seed savor and heirloom produce advocate, Amy Goldman, and photographed by the incomparable Victor Schrager, whose works have graced the Museum of Modern Art in New York.Â

Talk about tomato on tomato action; wait until you see these photos of half a dozen beefsteak tomatoes piled pyramid-style on top of one another, with each a different glorious color and size. It’s tomato as high art. It’s tomato as sex object. It’s tomato beauty you can’t stop staring at.

Thankfully, though, you don’t have to hide this book under your bed or pull it out only when nobody’s looking. This can proudly grace your coffee-table. And anybody who grows tomatoes _ even I, who can barely keep my plants alive half the time _ will lust after the beauties in this book.

Goldman produces hundreds of tomato varieties on her farm in New York’s Hudson Valley. She offers growing advice, as well as information on dozens of varieties, including what shape and color fruit they produce, what the flavor is like, what the texture is like, and what its origins are. Fifty-five recipes are included in the book, as well as more than 200 of those luscious photographs.

Cherry tomato focaccia. Photo by Victor Schrager. Recipe follows. Â

Yearning for more tomatoes? Head to Sutro’s at the Cliff House in San Francisco on Aug. 13 for a very special tomato dinner. Guest Chef Ron Siegel of the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room in San Francisco, and his pastry chef, Alexander Espiritu, will be on hand to create a four-course dinner that will showcase the organic, heirloom tomatoes grown by Cliff House General Manager Ralph Burgin on his family’s Sonoma farm. Think grilled skirt steak with tomato compote, and tomato tart tatin with yogurt mint sorbet.

The dinner is $55 a person ($80 with wine pairings). A portion of proceeds will benefit the non-profit Community Alliance with Family Farmers, which fosters family-scale agriculture.

Sutro’s Chef de Cuisine Brian O’Connor also will be featuring heirloom tomatoes in dishes on the daily summer menu in an “Ultomato” celebration.

At PlumpJack Cafe in San Francisco, Executive Chef Rick Edge gets into the tomato spirit, too, with a four-course tasting menu featuring lovely heirlooms. The tasting menu, $45 per person ($21 more with wine pairings), will run through the end of September or when the tomatoes run out. Dishes include seared day boat scallops with golden tomato vinaigrette, and tomato-braised Kurobuta pork shoulder.

Additionally, more than 52 San Francisco restaurants will be participating in “Heirloom Tomato Week” (which is actually longer than a week since it goes from Aug. 14-24). The restaurants will feature heirloom tomatoes in a la carte dishes or in tasting menus. Its their way of trying to help farmers who were impacted during the recent salmonella scare that mistakenly identified tomatoes as the culprit.

Every diner who pays with a Visa card also will receive a commemorative book with tomato recipes from the participating restaurants, which include Coi, Piperade, and Poleng Restaurant & Lounge. View a complete list here. Reservations are available on OpenTable.com.
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Unusual Apricots — But Hurry

Posted on June 27, 2008 by foodgal 10 comments

Wait, don’t touch that dial or keypad. There is nothing wrong with your eyes or this photo. Indeed, these apricots, with their yellow-green tinged skin, appear unripe. But don’t be fooled.

These are rare Angelcots, a hybrid of a Moroccan and an Iranian apricot. They’re being grown in this country on only two acres of farmland in Brentwood.

The velvety exterior is yellow when ripe, with sometimes a bit of a blush at the stem end. The flesh itself is creamy white. And the taste? Delicately honey sweet, and juicy beyond belief.

If you want to try them, you better hurry. I got my 1-pound container for $3.29 at my neighborhood Trader Joe’s in San Jose. The sign said they’re available only through about the end of June. Oops, gotta go. Need to run to Trader Joe’s to stock up on more.

Pie? Oh My!

Posted on June 10, 2008 by foodgal One comment

It’s cherry season, when Food Gal’s fancy turns to cherry pie. Not just any cherry pie, though, but the one made by C.J. Olson’s Cherries stand in Sunnyvale.

The fruit stand, which has been in the same location since 1899, has weathered a lot of changes over the decades, including development all around it. But one thing hasn’t changed: During cherry season, you’ll find sweet, juicy, fresh cherries sold at the stand in abundance May through August, and November through February.

Deborah Olson, fourth generation owner/manager of the fruit stand, is a trained pastry chef. Is it any wonder then that her Bing cherry pie is the stuff of dreams? It boasts a super flaky crust, and the filling is bursting with cherries without being cloyingly sweet. When a pie is this good, it’s almost a waste of time to try to make one better yourself.

A 6-inch pie is $11.99, and available for shipping year-round. The 8-inch version ($17.99) and 10-inch one ($21.99) are offered only at the fruit stand.

Your Chance To Try the Most Delicious Fruit Ever

Posted on June 2, 2008 by foodgal 9 comments

That’s what mangosteen has been called. Until this year, the only way to try the fresh tropical fruit was to travel to Southeast Asia, where it originated; or to get your hands on others grown in Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture once banned the importation of mangosteens and other fruits from Thailand because of the concern that they might harbor fruit flies that could infect citrus trees in the United States. Thailand, though, agreed to irradiate its shipments (a method that kills pests with radiation). The first shipments now have arrived in the United States, just at the peak harvest season of the fruit.

You’ll pay a dear price for them, too. At 99 Ranch markets, the tangerine- to orange-sized fruit with a dark purple exterior are $8.99 a pound. And finding them is not always easy, either. At 99 Ranch in Cupertino last week, I came up empty-handed. But my trip to the 99 Ranch on Hostetter Road in San Jose a few days later netted me the goods.

So are they really the most amazing fruit you’ll ever taste? I was dubious. I had tried frozen mangosteens in the shell from an Asian market, and wasn’t impressed. I also had tried a mangosteen juice beverage that was just ghastly.

Strawberry Shortcakes For Breakfast

Posted on May 14, 2008 by foodgal 8 comments

You only live once, so why not indulge? Especially since I’ve made this treat a little more virtuous.

Instead of the usual calorie-laden whipped cream filling, I’ve used thick, non-fat Greek yogurt in its place. Yes, the shortcakes still have some cream and butter in the dough. There’s not much getting around that. But yogurt is packed with active cultures that reportedly aid digestion and boost the immune system. And fresh fruit always does a body good. I’ve added just the tiniest drizzle of honey to mellow the tartness of the Greek yogurt. You also canÂ stir in a tad with the sliced strawberries, if the fruit is not sweet enough.

Lastly, I’ve added a spoonful of diced crystallized ginger in with the strawberries. I could say I’ve added it for medicinal purposes. But those of you who know me too well will realize it’s there because I simply can’t get enough of its spicy sweet heat. For those of you who aren’t so partial to ginger, you can leave it out.

There you have it: fresh fruit, yogurt, and honey. That’s a pretty healthful breakfast. Throw in the biscuity shortcake and it’s still better for you than a lot of Sunday brunch fare.

So go ahead and enjoy one of these strawberry shortcakes for breakfast. Or anytime, in fact. The baked shortcakes can be frozen in a Zip-Lock bag, making it easy to serve one on short notice. Allow to thaw in the bag on the countertop for an hour, then warm shortcake in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

The shortcake recipe is from the June 2008 issue of Cuisine At Home magazine. The filling is my own simple concoction. Read more