Hi guys,
Persimmons are in season around here!
I am lucky.. I never buy persimmons. We have a friend who has two big persimmon trees and he is so kind to share some (a lot in fact) with us.
This means when they are in season I end up with many persimmon fruits to consume in a short time.
In time I collected & came up with some ideas not to waste any. I include them all under this post because they are basically very similar as you will see. They have almost the same recipe but used slightly different ways.. Anyhow.. here they come..
1) Persimmon Marmalade.We prepare this recipe with only 3 ingredients: Persimmons, lemon and chia seeds. It doesn't contain any added sugar.
Persimmons are very sweet when they are mature. They are packed with vitamins, antioxidants and fiber.
Our marmalade has also chia seeds which are an excellent source of Omega 3, protein and fiber.
It is
absolutely essential to have
very ripe persimmons in order to obtain the taste and the texture we desire. I can't emphasize enough.
Under-ripe persimmon fruits are astringent and unpalatable because of their high tannin content. As they mature the tannin gradually disappears and the fruit gets sweeter and more aromatic.
If you have immature fruits you need to allow them to ripe before to use. When they are ready the flesh will become completely soft, almost liquid.
Ingredients:500 g very ripe persimmons
20 g fresh lemon juice
50 g chia seeds
Preparation: Place persimmons and lemon juice in TM Bowl and mix for 10 seconds on Speed 5.
Add chia seeds. Mix for 10 seconds on Reverse / Speed 2-3.
Transfer it to jars. Refrigerate for a few hours before you serve. It makes a very nice spread over our toasted Whole Wheat Bread slices.
If you won't be able to consume all within a couple of days, put your marmalade in small jars and store them in the freezer.
A more practical solution would be to fill your marmalade into ice trays and store in the freezer as mono portion marmalade cubes.
2) Puree your very ripe persimmons in your Thermomix. You can add some fresh lemon juice if you wish to do so. Fill fruit puree into ice trays and keep them in the freezer. You can use frozen persimmon cubes in your
Smoothies . Since persimmon naturally has a high sugar content it will add sweetness in your smoothies without any need of added sugar.
3) If instead you choose to fill your persimmon puree & lemon juice mixture into your ice pop makers and then store them in the freezer, you will have some very delicious and healthy
ice pops. If you wish you can even add some chia seeds into the mixture to enrich their nutritional value.
4) This last recipe is for those of you who own a food dryer / dehydrator... We will prepare some
Dried Persimmon Rolls with Chocolate ... Besides a dehydrator you will need some very ripe persimmons, dark chocolate 70% and crushed walnuts.. It is hard to give the exact amount of ingredients for this one. We all have different trays of different dryers from different models.. I tried to explain as best as I can. I believe you manage
Puree persimmons in TM Bowl for 5 - 10 seconds on Speed 5. Cut some baking paper to fit the size of your trays. The paper should cover also the sides of your tray. (1 cm height would be more than enough) Spread persimmon puree evenly over the baking paper. The spread shouldn't be thicker than 5 mm. The one you see in the picture is around 3 mm.
Let it dry at 45 - 50ºC. I won't be able to tell you for how long. It will vary due to the brand and model of your dryer, the temperature you use, the number of the trays and the thickness of your spread. I'd say it'd be wiser to check every now and then mostly after the first 20 hours passed. It may take even 48 hours according to the thickness.
Cut dried persimmon puree into desired length and width of strips and gently remove the paper. I own quite a basic model round shaped dehydrator. So I obtain 12 almost triangle looking strips out of each tray instead of rectangular ones.
Place roughly broken chocolate pieces in TM Bowl and chop for 7 seconds on Speed 7. Clean the sides of TM Bowl with spatula and then warm at 50ºC on Speed 2-3 until it melts.
Spread melted chocolate over the strips. Place some crushed walnuts.
Roll and transfer into serving tray. (You may need to wait a little before you roll them as melted chocolate tends to leak out since it has a more liquid form when it is newly melted).
Enjoy
Photos: http://thermomixtarifdefterim.blogspot.it/2016/10/persimmon-marmalade.html