# The Best Fruit Uses



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Feb 8, 2020)

`I llike Pink Lady apples.  Why do I oike Pink Lady apples?  They have for me, the perfect gallamce of sour and sweet, with a strong apple flavor that is found from the skin to the core. They are crisp and juicy, and hold up well to cooking.   Other premium apples, such as honeycrisp are very popular, as are other new vaieties.  However, Honeycrisp apples have most of their flavor in hte skin, and the meat that directly touches the skin.  Once you get deeper, they become rather bland.  The same si true of many of the popular apples.

I have become more discerning of the foods I eat.  Texture, flavor, moisture content, all have become impotant to me, as does the nutritional content of the foods I enjoy.  I find that stone fruitss exhibit the same characteristics as apples.  The best flavor comes when eating the meat of the fruit with the skins.  Of course there are fruits where the skin is inedible.  But for those with edible skins, this is usually the case.

My  eldest daughter, some of you may remember her as Purple Aien Giraffe, uses the whole apple in her pies.  She peels the, cores them, cubes them.  But she has noticed the same characteristics as I have.  So, she takes the peelings and boils them in a small amount of water to extract the pectin, and then blends them, and uses the resultant slurry to add flavor, fiber, and pectin to the apple filling.  It makes the pie healthier, better flavored, and improves the filling testure.

As people, we tend to try and do things the easy way.  Before there were blenders, it nad sence to peel the fruit, and idscared the peellings befor cooking.  I mean, who wants to be eating cobler, and bite into a long strip of peach peel.  Nw however, with the help of food processors,and blenders, we can easily imulsify those peelings and capture all of their goodness.  

I propose that we should make use of the peelings.  It's the most nutritious part of thte fruit, and really ballances, and brings out the true character of the fruit.  Whether it be homemade apple butter, plum jame, or a brown betty, I believe using every edible part of the fruit will give superior, and truly gourmet  results.  A perfect example: that grated lemon, lime, or key lime zest adds wonderful flavor to many recipes. Would tomato peel enhance the flavor and quality of a sauce.  Yes, it is tough and chewy. Let the blender take care of that aspect and then add it back into the sauce.

So that's my hypothesis.  I am going to follow this mantra for the next little while, experimenting with my deserts, and cooked fruit recipes.

Shat do you think?

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## taxlady (Feb 8, 2020)

A friend of mine has one of those thingees that puree tomatoes and leaves behind the seeds and skins. She uses the puree for whatever, but saves the leftover skins and seeds. She dehydrates that and grinds it into tomato powder once it is dry. She says the tomato powder is a great flavour enhancer to lots of foods.


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## CWS4322 (Feb 8, 2020)

taxlady said:


> A friend of mine has one of those thingees that puree tomatoes and leaves behind the seeds and skins. She uses the puree for whatever, but saves the leftover skins and seeds. She dehydrates that and grinds it into tomato powder once it is dry. She says the tomato powder is a great flavour enhancer to lots of foods.


Don't know if I am that friend, but I do have not one, but two of those. One here in MN and the other one waiting for me in Ontario.

LOVE it. Obviously, or I wouldn't have bought another one to tide me over in MN. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tomato-S...=sem&msclkid=97cce6db95f213d20054b8e4b7d6f350


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## taxlady (Feb 8, 2020)

CWS4322 said:


> Don't know if I am that friend, but I do have not one, but two of those. One here in MN and the other one waiting for me in Ontario.
> 
> LOVE it. Obviously, or I wouldn't have bought another one to tide me over in MN.
> 
> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tomato-S...=sem&msclkid=97cce6db95f213d20054b8e4b7d6f350



Nope, a different friend. Do you also make tomato powder from the left over skins and seeds? 

I think the other friend's tomato thingee looks more like this:


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## WhateverYouWant (Feb 8, 2020)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> with the help of food processors,and blenders, we can easily imulsify those peelings and capture all of their goodness



Yeah, but it depends on your appliance. I have a VitaMix blender, and a KitchenAid food processor. In the past I have made tahini from toasted sesame seeds in the blender with butter smooth results. Last night, since I was using the FP for falafel, I decided to try and avoid washing the blender by doing the tahini in the FP as well... this was a mistake.

I rarely skin and seed veggies and fruits that don't require it, so it all just goes into the VitaMix. Even blackberries have no discernible evidence of seeds in the puree. Pears, apples, berries, tomatoes, and much more are great. But I now doubt that I would get the same results in a FP.

YMMV


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## CWS4322 (Feb 8, 2020)

taxlady said:


> Nope, a different friend. Do you also make tomato powder from the left over skins and seeds?
> 
> I think the other friend's tomato thingee looks more like this:


Ha-Ha, Taxy! Yes, I do. I run the tomatoes through 3-4 times and take the "pulp" and dehydrate it, grind it in the coffee grinder dedicated for spices.


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## RCJoe (Feb 13, 2020)

I cosign on consuming the skin of the fruit as well.  Much of the nutrition is located there.  When I'm at a Wendy's and order a baked potato,  I ask for a packet of Ranch Dressing to use on the Potato skin as I eat it.  

It's entertaining for me to watch the expressions of the little kids faces who may be seated near by.  (Mommie !  Look what that man's doing !!  Don't stare honey....it's impolite....he's probably one of those crazy health people ya see on Dr. Oz)  

At one time I had a small orchard and had plenty of fruit to cook with.  I got into dehydrating the fruit, making fruit leather's, (great way to use skin and all as a puree), pies, cobblers, dumplings, rumtopf, mincemeat, brandied pears, pear honey, etc.

I had a Damson Plumb that I had only thought good for making jelly/jam with....until I made a Damson Plumb pie.  Something everyone should try a slice of if they get a chance .


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## pepperhead212 (Feb 13, 2020)

Isn't that thingee just another version of the old food mills?  I have a food mill, but haven't used it since I got my V Mix, which grinds the skins and seeds up so fine that nothing strains out.


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## taxlady (Feb 13, 2020)

pepperhead212 said:


> Isn't that thingee just another version of the old food mills?  I have a food mill, but haven't used it since I got my V Mix, which grinds the skins and seeds up so fine that nothing strains out.



I think it is specialized for tomato and it's more efficient than an old fashioned food mill, for what it does. I'm pretty sure it costs a lot less than a Vitamix.


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## GotGarlic (Feb 20, 2020)

AntHill5 said:


> I'm going to make this on Friday evening!  Why are there no nut recipes in this section?  I guess we are observing No Nut February!  Yay!


If you're using the website, try expanding the date range in the search section. By default, the page only shows the last week of posts (this is from memory, so I could be off - look for a way to expand the dates shown).


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## taxlady (Feb 20, 2020)

GotGarlic said:


> If you're using the website, try expanding the date range in the search section. By default, the page only shows the last week of posts (this is from memory, so I could be off - look for a way to expand the dates shown).



When I search, it searches all dates. But, if I change the date range for a search and "Save Search Preferences", (I have done that by accident more than once.) it will show the same date range next time I search.


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