Underripe fruit ideas
July 10, 2010 7:51 AM Subscribe
What can I do with flavorful-but-underripe nectarines?
They're ripe enough to eat out of hand, but quite crunchy. They have a good flavor, sort of tart-sweet.
I have the nectarines on hand right now, but I'm also interested in what to do with other kinds of underripe fruit, especially stone fruit. I'm hoping you all have ideas beyond fruit crisp/cobbler/pie.
They're ripe enough to eat out of hand, but quite crunchy. They have a good flavor, sort of tart-sweet.
I have the nectarines on hand right now, but I'm also interested in what to do with other kinds of underripe fruit, especially stone fruit. I'm hoping you all have ideas beyond fruit crisp/cobbler/pie.
Stone fruit works really well in a crostata. I use Ina Garten's dough> Slice the fruit, arrange it in slightly overlapping, attractive patterns, sprinkle with appropriate spices, or appropriate soft cheeses, or a basic crumb topping. Serve it with ice cream for dessert or coffee for breakfast.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:02 AM on July 10, 2010
posted by crush-onastick at 8:02 AM on July 10, 2010
Best answer: Apparently I can't stop talking about it: Teresa Neilsen Hayden's Peppered Nectarine Salad.
posted by libraryhead at 8:14 AM on July 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by libraryhead at 8:14 AM on July 10, 2010 [3 favorites]
Like rhartong, I like to use the grill in the summer (is it summer where you are?), but some stone fruit is small enough to slip through the grate. Solution? Stone fruit in a pouch! [self-link.] It's sweet and juicy and great served over ice cream or granita, over simple cakes, on its own with cookies, or with biscuits and cream as a dolled-up shortcake.
posted by Elsa at 8:23 AM on July 10, 2010
posted by Elsa at 8:23 AM on July 10, 2010
I infused some under-ripe apricots in vodka (~5 sliced average-sized in ~600mL, left alone 2 weeks). They were still very sour, and the resulting vodka tasted kinda like sweet-tarts. If you already like the flavor of yours, I imagine it would be wonderful with soda or adding kick to a bellini.
Did the same thing with a couple pounds of sliced and pitted Ranier cherries... yumm.
posted by ista at 8:44 AM on July 10, 2010
Did the same thing with a couple pounds of sliced and pitted Ranier cherries... yumm.
posted by ista at 8:44 AM on July 10, 2010
The best jam I ever made was with slightly underripe peaches simmered in a crockpot - it had an extra tang to it. I'm pretty sure the recipe was from this cookbook.
posted by Flannery Culp at 8:50 AM on July 10, 2010
posted by Flannery Culp at 8:50 AM on July 10, 2010
Nectarine salsa for grilled pork chops!
4 nectarines, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup rice vinegar or lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1/2 cup salad oil
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss. Allow to sit for a few minutes for the flavours to mingle, and serve over grilled pork chops.
posted by LN at 9:22 AM on July 10, 2010
4 nectarines, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup rice vinegar or lime juice
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1/2 cup salad oil
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss. Allow to sit for a few minutes for the flavours to mingle, and serve over grilled pork chops.
posted by LN at 9:22 AM on July 10, 2010
Nectarine Basil Lemonade. Probably one of the best beverages on the planet and I'm a beverage whore so that's saying a lot.
posted by evilbeck at 9:42 AM on July 10, 2010
posted by evilbeck at 9:42 AM on July 10, 2010
They would make amazing jam -- underripe nectarines are higher in pectin, too.
posted by desuetude at 11:40 AM on July 10, 2010
posted by desuetude at 11:40 AM on July 10, 2010
I would grill them. Just cut in half and remove the stone. Brush with butter/brown sugar/cinnamon and place the halves on the grill cut side down, then flip, brush the tops again, and cook until nicely grilled and caramelized.
Serve with homemade ice cream. I think we made brown sugar/sour cream ice cream with grilled nectarines one time.
posted by gingerbeer at 12:56 PM on July 10, 2010
Serve with homemade ice cream. I think we made brown sugar/sour cream ice cream with grilled nectarines one time.
posted by gingerbeer at 12:56 PM on July 10, 2010
Best answer: Slightly underripe fruit is perfect for making jam.
Put 4 cups chopped fruit into a non-reactive pan with 3C sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until done. Done means that when you put a small spoon of it on a plate in the fridge it will gel up. Pour into sterile canning jars and seal. When cool, this is ready to eat. From a food safety point of view, you can water-bath process it to completely kill anything living in it, at the cost of some flavor. It will keep about a year.
If it doesn't gel completely - that's ok - put it on pancakes or waffles.
If I were making nectarine jam, I'd also add a little bit of clove and a handful of berries - tart is better. A quick squeeze of lemon juice when you cook stone fruit will help keep the color bright.
posted by plinth at 3:13 PM on July 10, 2010
Put 4 cups chopped fruit into a non-reactive pan with 3C sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until done. Done means that when you put a small spoon of it on a plate in the fridge it will gel up. Pour into sterile canning jars and seal. When cool, this is ready to eat. From a food safety point of view, you can water-bath process it to completely kill anything living in it, at the cost of some flavor. It will keep about a year.
If it doesn't gel completely - that's ok - put it on pancakes or waffles.
If I were making nectarine jam, I'd also add a little bit of clove and a handful of berries - tart is better. A quick squeeze of lemon juice when you cook stone fruit will help keep the color bright.
posted by plinth at 3:13 PM on July 10, 2010
Just making sure you know this--for crunchy nectarines and peaches I always let them sit for a few days in a not-refrigerator-temperature place in a paper bag (sometimes with an apple). Oftentimes they'll soften up nicely.
posted by that girl at 5:52 PM on July 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by that girl at 5:52 PM on July 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Salad! Yes! I usually do it with pears (because I can't help myself eating the nectarines and peaches) but crunchy pear + soft crumbly cheese + rocket + lemon or balsamic dressing = tasty tasty salad. I would pair the nectarines with a soft and not powerful cheese (possibly even bocconcini) and a lemon based dressing. Possibly bacon or anchovies as well, but I love nectarines so much that I wouldn't want them smothered by anything.
posted by geek anachronism at 6:00 PM on July 10, 2010
posted by geek anachronism at 6:00 PM on July 10, 2010
Best answer: A trick to enhance the flavor of stone fruits is to use amaretto. This works for jams/jellies; fruit salad concoctions and preserves. I love under ripe nectarines and a simply mix chunks of the nectarines with amaretto and accompany with short bread.
posted by jadepearl at 6:33 PM on July 10, 2010
posted by jadepearl at 6:33 PM on July 10, 2010
Marillenknödel. Sub nectarines for the apricots and when they're cooked, sprinkle with sugar to taste. This was my grandmother's go-to slightly underripe summer stone fruit recipe.
posted by eleanna at 10:12 PM on July 10, 2010
posted by eleanna at 10:12 PM on July 10, 2010
The nectarines (and peaches, pears, plums, pluots, and other stone fruit) I get from the CSA and at the farmers' market is almost always underripe. A few days in a brown paper bag on the counter ripens them up nicely.
Also, some nectarines are meant to be crisp (not to my taste, I find, but some like them). Are yours one of those varieties, perhaps?
posted by Lexica at 10:19 PM on July 10, 2010
Also, some nectarines are meant to be crisp (not to my taste, I find, but some like them). Are yours one of those varieties, perhaps?
posted by Lexica at 10:19 PM on July 10, 2010
Best answer: Just for your information, there are some nectarines that stay fairly firm, softening only a little bit, when they're ripe. Those that stay firm are called "non-melting" types, and those that soften a lot are, you guessed it, "melting" types. There's a little chart on this page (full disclosure: I wrote it) that details the changes stone fruit goes through as it ripens.
posted by jocelmeow at 8:39 AM on July 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jocelmeow at 8:39 AM on July 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Guacamole - don't use tomatoes use the nectarines
posted by Not Supplied at 11:23 AM on July 11, 2010
posted by Not Supplied at 11:23 AM on July 11, 2010
Hmm... You could make a nectarine crumble and serve it with some good vanilla ice cream, or just caramelize them in a pan with some butter and brown sugar and serve with pecans and whipped cream. You could also make a clafoutis.
Enjoy! Nectarines are awesome.
posted by kuju at 2:33 PM on July 12, 2010
Enjoy! Nectarines are awesome.
posted by kuju at 2:33 PM on July 12, 2010
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posted by rhartong at 7:56 AM on July 10, 2010 [2 favorites]