Fruit in Food

Here in India, summer’s gone, taking with it the mangos. But the rains have brought in a variety of fruit that can be fun to use in interesting recipes. Here’s a selection of recipes that will help you make the most of the season’s fruits.

Quick Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

4-6 cups sliced peaches
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter or margarine
cinnamon

Method

Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on sliced peaches.  Toss to mix. Place in shallow casserole dish.  Mix sugar, flour, and egg to a crumb-like texture. Pour over peaches.  Melt margarine and drizzle over crumb topping.   Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until top turns slightly brown and crusty.   Serve hot or cold, plain or with ice cream.
Serves 6-8.

Honey-nut Fruit Salad

Ingredients

6 cups fresh fruit in bite-size pieces
Use any fruits you wish or select from among these good choices:

Fresh peaches, halved or quartered
Pears

Seedless grapes, whole
Apricots, seeded and quartered
Cherries, whole
1 cup broken nuts

Honey-Lime Dressing

Juice of 3 fresh limes
Zest of 1 lime, grated
1/2 cup honey

Method

Combine the fruits in a large bowl. Mix together the ingredients of the dressing. Gently fold the nuts and dressing into the salad.

Honey Plum Jam

Ingredients

3 cups Pitted and coarsely chopped plums
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tb lemon juice
2 tb honey

Method

Combine the plums, sugar, water and lemon juice in saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat, but maintain boil. Stir and mash occasionally with back of spoon for about 15 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in honey. Allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate in tightly covered jars for up to 2 weeks.

Lychee Chicken

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 boneless,skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
1 cup orange juice
4 teaspoons sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried parsley leaves, crushed
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Salt and pepper
15 fresh lychees peeled and sectioned

Method

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 8 minutes or until browned on both sides and no longer pink in the center, turning after 4 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm.

2. Add orange juice, sugar, garlic and rosemary to skillet; bring to boil.

3. Combine cornstarch in water. Add to skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is clear and thickened. Season with     salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add lychees; heat thoroughly,stirring occasionally. Serve over chicken.

 Archive: Salads for all occasions