Fruit For Dinner

Fruit always makes a good dessert. After all there's nothing liked sliced apples and cheddar or a fruit compote or pie. However any fruit can be incorporated into the main course. The flavor gives a sweet taste but it's also earthy and unique. What's even better is that there are so many different fruits you can use to create a variety of different dishes.

Salads and fruits are a natural go to gether. Fruits add texture and crunch as well as color, making any tossed greens that much more appealing. Try adding sliced Bartlett pears to an arugula salad along with Assiago cheese and sliced almonds. For more bite try a Pecorino cheese that will compliment the pear's woody , sweet flavor. You can create a similar dish with apple but used a smoked Gruyere or cheddar and strips of cold grilled chicken.Another idea is a grape and chicken salad . The fruit's taste completes the meats. For all of these a simple vinaigrette dressing, using red wine or apple cider vinegar is the best. Stay away from anything too garlicky or too herbal otherwise it'll overpower the fruit's taste.

You can also use fruit sin roasted or cooked dinners. There's the famous duck a l'orange which doesn't necessarily call for the entire fruit. Just the freshly squeezed juice and zest are used for this. You can also try cherries with duck too for a different spin.Another standard is pineapple with ham. The pineapple has always been used to cut down the protein enzymes in the meat however the extreme sweet and saltiness has been a favorite for generations, Prunes and plums also figure in roasts too. especially in beef. This combo can work well in North African tagines or even in just a simple meat loafs.

Fruit doesn't have to be just in dessert dishes. It can be a chief ingredient in a tasty salad or a flavorful roast. Aadd any kind you want , from apples to cherries from plums to oranges to create tasty and unique dishes that are sure to be enjoyed.

Basque Cuisine

Along the bay of Biscay there lies a region called The Basque . It belongs to France and Spain, mostly to Spain. It's an ancient kingdom, Some think it could even be the lost city of Atlantis. It not onlyhas an ancient language and an ancient cuisine as well.

The region is lucky to have the Bay of Biscay on its northern side and the fertile Spanish Ebro Valley to the south. The area is rich in tomatoes and capsicum peppers and both are used quite liberally in the cuisine. Seafood and grilled meats are also served, roaste d over a charcoal fire. The Basques are also known for a kind of tapas called txikiteo that features highly spiced hams and seafood. Cheese is also very big in the region , usually made from goat's milk . Quince jam is spread over it and it is eaten without bread.


The Basques area is also known for its' deep red cherries. Restaurants as well as homes serve a cherry soup. These are pitted and then poached in a light syrup . Creme fraiche, fresh cream or vanilla ice cream is added to give the soup some body. The Basques also make special cakes as well most loaded with crema or other fruits..

This ancient and mysterious region has some good dishes . They are not full of mystery like the land, and the languag . It's just simple good taste mixed with the local produce..

The Bing Cherry - The Perfect Fruit

Everyone associates summer fruits as peaches or watermelon but there's another one it;'s also sweet and juicy and fun to eat. What is it? The Bing cherry The season is here to enjoy them. have them plain after a barbecue or pitted and sliced over vanilla ice cream.

The season for these is usually June or July but I've only recently noticed them in my local A&P. They come from the Pacific Northwest where they were first cultivated in the 1870's. Their "inventor " (if that;s the right word for him) was Seth Lewelling and his foreman, a man only known as Ah Bing.It was Bing, a Manchurian immigrant, who cultivated them and perhaps even invented this hybrid cross. Bing cherries are plump and firm when ripe but can spoil easily. Try to eat them within a couple of days of buying otherwise you'll have dry rotty, cherries in the fridge. Their skins are also delicate and they can burst almost upon touching They are helpful in lessening arthritis and gout pains. A cup is only fifty seven calories. Bing cherries as are very low in sodium but high in Vitamins A and C. They're the perfect snack if you're fighting off a summer cold or sniffles.

Bing cherries are a good dessert or snack just by themselves (although be careful, too many of them can cause a wicked stomach ache). They have a sweetness that just seems to envelope the mouth and leave a lovely aftertaste.I always feel that they should be left on their own and not paired with anything else. However you can mix pitted and sliced ones into your vanilla ice cream or use them in a decadent cherries jubilee. There's also Bing Cherry lemonade where they're crushed and added to fresh squeezed lemons , sugar syrup and ice water.They also are good cooked with duck, melding with the meats' sweet, gamy taste. Another use is sliced cherries in a melon or fruit salad, or even in a regular salad with chicken, and walnuts. You can also make a cherry vinegar adding a few Bings to red wine vinegar.


Take advantage of the short seasonthat produces htese amazing fruits. They're the perfect summer treat after a hearty barbecue or as a snack on a lazy hot afternoon. Enjoy one of the best fruits of the season.