Dehydrate Your Persimmons For Winter Storage

Dried persimmons make a great snack.

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Fuju Persimmons
We have two Fuju persimmon trees and this year both of them really produced. The thing I love about Fuju persimmons is that you can eat them firm, like an apple or pear. They aren't as good when they get too soft so when that happens, I dehydrate them. Dried persimmons make a wonderful snack.

You can see that we had way too many to eat.
And this is after  we gave lots of them away!

Dehydrating Persimmons
I like to peel mine but many people leave the skin on.
Place the peeled and sliced persimmons on the non-stick teflon dehydrator sheets. If you leave the skin on, you can just cut them horizontally in circles. I like mine peeled and cut into thin wedges as seen in the picture below.

Spread the persimmons on your dehydrator's teflon sheets on the trays. 
Place the trays in your dehydrator. 
We have a 5-tray Excalibur Dehydrator which we really like.

Dehydrating temperature will depend on what's important to you. If you want them to be "raw", and retain their living enzymes, you can dehydrate them at 115 degrees F. This will take 24 hours. You can cut the time if you raise the temperature to 125 or higher.

Dry at 115 to 125 until they are somewhat dry on top and start to pull up from the teflon sheets (about 10 hours). At that point, turn them over, remove the teflon sheets and place the persimmons directly on the mesh sheets. Dry another 10 to 12 hours until they are dry but still a bit pliable. 

Remove when dry but still a bit pliable.

Store in an airtight container.

Serve with an assortment of nuts when guests come. Or put this nut/fruit assortment in your kid's lunchbox or take to work as a midday snack!

A healthy snack.

Fuju Persimmon And Pomegranate Relish Perfect For Thanksgiving!

This simple and colorful side dish is vegan and gluten free.

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Getting the Menu Together
Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away so I'm finalizing my menu. I've got a full house this year so I'm trying to pick recipes that are delicious, simple, and that can either be prepped or made ahead. 

Since my persimmon tree finally blessed me with over 4 dozen fuyu persimmons, I will definitely serve them in at least one dish. They pair beautifully with pomegranates, so I'm thinking of making this simple raw vegan relish. 

Persimmons and pomegranates pair
beautifully and reflect the colors of fall.

A lot of people avoid pomegranates because they think they are difficult to clean. I know I avoided them for years until I figured out how to clean them. It's really pretty simple with the trick being that you have to do it with the fruit submerged in a bowl of water. Check out my post on How To Clean a Pomegranate. 

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Fuju Persimmon and Pomegranate Relish
Raw Vegan, Gluten and Dairy Fee
[makes 8 (1/4-cup) servings

Ingredients
2 cups pomegranate arils
2 persimmons, finely diced (2 cups)
1 jalalpeno, finely diced (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds*
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice

* make sure you ask ahead if any of your guests have a nut allergy.

Directions
Toss all ingredients together and serve. It can also be stirred into freshly made cranberry sauce.

Nutrition
Per serving (with pecans): 114 calories, 5.5 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 69 mg omega-3 and 1,456 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 2 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 4 g dietary fiber, and 2 mg sodium.

Per serving (without nuts): 67 calories, 1 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 mg omega-3 and 51 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 1 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 2 mg sodium.


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For more Thanksgiving recipes and menu ideas, download my ebook, Health Begins in the Kitchen: Delicious and Easy Vegan Recipes and Seasonal Food Plan.

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How Can A Tree Have Both Fuju And Hachiya Persimmons?

Fuju (smooth pointy ones on the left) and Hachiya (the one with ridges on the right) persimmons on the same branch?

The Persimmon Saga Continues
Last Christmas, when I posted my recipe for Chia Hachiya Vegan Eggnog, I told you the story about my persimmon tree.

In 2010 I planted what I thought was a fuyu persimmon tree. It didn't grow very well and, in fact, it took 4 long years to get ONE lousy persimmon. And it wasn't even the right persimmon. It was a hachiya. I was pretty upset with the nursery for selling me the wrong tree, especially when I lost 4 years of growing time. 

I went and bought another fuyu tree. I know it will take years to get anything but I'm determined to grow fuyu persimmons, one of my favorite fruits. 

This year the tree is doing quite well. In fact I can count about 36 persimmons beginning to ripen! To my surprise, they are large fuyu persimmons. All except for a few at the end of a single branch. That branch has both types of persimmons.

Can Someone Explain This?
I've had fruit trees in the past that had several types of fruits grafted onto a single rootstock. Once I had a tree with lemons oranges, and pomelos. But they were on their own unique branches. I have no idea how a single branch could have two types of fruit.

So this is not a blog post but a plea for someone to help explain this. So if you are a master gardener or botanist out there who can shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Meanwhile I anxiously await the ripening of my persimmons!

Chia Hachiya Vegan Eggnog2014 Virtual Vegan PotluckRipen A Hichiya Persimmon Overnight!

No eggs, no dairy - just creamy eggnog goodness!

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Welcome to the 2014 Virtual Vegan Potluck!
Bloggers from all over the world are participating once again to bring you delicious vegan recipes - from appetizers to desserts. You will be able to click to through to their recipes later on but first, let me share my mine.

Hachiya Persimmons
This recipe starts with a funny story - well, maybe not-so-funny story. 

Four years ago I planted what I thought was a fuyu persimmon tree. It hasn't done very well. In fact I haven't gotten a single persimmon on it - until this year. I got ONE. Yes, after four long years I got one stinkin' persimmon. I didn't even notice it until every leaf fell off the tree and then, there it was. A big hachiya persimmon. I waited all this time only to discover that the nursery sold me the wrong persimmon tree!

My entire harvest!

Ripen a Hachiya Overnight!
The reason I didn't like hachiya persimmons that much was because they took so long to ripen and lose their astringency. But I recently discovered that they can easily ripen overnight if you put them in the freezer! Who knew? 

Freeze overnight or longer and defrost.
If you have the time, let them sit out an extra day
after defrosting to ripen even more.

Slice and scoop out ripened fruit. 

Friends with Persimmon Trees are the Best Kind
My friends Bill and Lauren have been supplying me with fuyu persimmons while I've been patiently waiting for my tree to produce. My friends Ray and Rory have lots of hachiyas that I have never been that interested in because I didn't know the freezer trick. But now I'm thrilled about getting hachiyas from them and they have generously given me several boxes of them. His tree gets almost 1,000 persimmons on a good year!

Thanks Ray and Rory!

The Best Recipes are Accidents
Now that I am mother to many hachiyas, I've been wondering what to do with them. One day I made a smoothie with almond milk, cinnamon, chia seeds, and a juicy persimmon and my husband said, "this tastes like eggnog!" It sure did. To be certain, I threw a shot of bourbon in it, sprinkled it with nutmeg and it was wonderful. I was so excited because I LOVE EGGNOG but can't have dairy. And, I HATE CALORIES. Even the vegan eggnogs in the store are crazy high in calories.

So I have been playing around with this recipe all week and I think I've finally perfected it. 

Chia Hachiya Eggnog Ingredients

By the way, this eggnog has only 185 calories and 3 grams of fat, even with a shot of Maker's Mark. Regular eggnog, with a shot of whiskey, has over 400 calories and 19 grams of fat! 

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Chia Hachiya Eggnog
Vegan, Gluten Free (if using a gluten-free alcohol or omitting alcohol)
[makes 6 (1-cup) servings]
Requires a good blender

Plan ahead one day to freeze persimmons and a few hours to defrost and soak chia seeds.

INGREDIENTS
2 large hachiya persimmons
4 cups Silk vanilla almond milk (or other non-dairy vanilla, sweetened milk)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg plus some to sprinkle
2 packets stevia, or to taste 
Tiny pinch of salt
6 ounces (3/4 cup) Maker's Mark whiskey (optional)*

* Maker's Mark does not claim to be gluten free because they use red winter wheat used as a flavoring grain that gives it its special taste. However, the bourbon is double-distilled which supposedly strips the gluten from the wheat. Use your own discretion given your particular sensitivity to gluten. For a gluten-free alcoholic eggnog, substitute rum, which is generally gluten free. If gluten is not a problem, I highly recommend adding Maker's Mark.

DIRECTIONS
The night before, or sooner, place the hachiya persimmons in the freezer. 

Take them out of the freezer to defrost. Meanwhile, sprinkle chia seeds into the vanilla almond milk and stir vigorously until they are well separated. Do this several times over the course of 10 minutes to make sure they don't clump together. Set aside for an hour or more while the persimmons are just defrosted enough to cut. 

Slice the top off the persimmons and then cut each vertically in four pieces, cutting away the inner, fibrous center vein that tends to be astringent.

Scoop out the flesh and place in the blender, discarding the skin. 

Stir up the milk and chia seeds and add them to the blender along with the cinnamon, 1/8th teaspoon of the nutmeg, stevia and salt. Blend until smooth.

Pour into glasses and stir an ounce (2 tablespoons) of Maker's Mark (or other bourbon) or rum into each glass (optional). Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve. 

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Per serving (without alcohol) 116 calories, 3 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 594 mg omega-3 and 219 mg omega-6 fatty acids**, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 23 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 108 mg sodium.


Per serving (with a shot of Maker's Mark) 185 calories, 3 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 594 mg omega-3 and 219 mg omega-6 fatty acids**, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 23 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 108 mg sodium.

** Omega fatty acids do not include contribution from almond milk since that information is not available.

OK, now for the rest of the Virtual Vegan Potluck Recipes!

LINK TO PREVIOUS VIRTUAL POT LUCK RECIPE

LINK TO NEXT VIRTUAL POTLUCK RECIPE

LINK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POTLUCK

Fuyu Persimmons - What Are They And How Do You Eat Them? How They Are Different From Hachiya Persimmons.

Fuyu persimmons became one of my favorite fruits once I learned how to eat them!

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What a Treat!
My friend Chris came over the other night and surprised me with a big bag of fuyu persimmons from her tree. I absolutely love these little fruits and planted a fuyu persimmon tree in my backyard almost 2 years ago. Unfortunately I have not yet gotten a single fruit. I hear that it can take up to 5 years. I wanted to buy some the other day but they were charging $1.50 each! The best bet is to find an Asian market like the one I shopped in last year in San Francisco that was selling them for only 50 cents a piece. But having a friend like Chris who brings you ones from her tree is actually even better!

Fuyu persimmons are shaped like a tomato

It's Not a Hachiya!
I'm dedicating a post to this subject because of the big mistake I made many years ago. Hopefully I can prevent this from happening to you. 
When I was growing up, my father used to bring home these large, oblong persimmons. Today I know that they were "hachiyas" but back then they were just "persimmons" because I was unaware that any other type existed. He would set these out on the counter and patiently waited until they "ripened". Actually, it was more like waiting for them to turn to mush! 
At the exact moment when they are a soft, liquidy gel, they become this wonderful, sweet and creamy  fruit. However, if you eat them a minute sooner, they are extremely astringent and tart. Most people bake with them but me and my dad just ate the sweet, smooth pulp with a spoon. 
So the first time I bought Fuyu persimmons, I set them out on my counter and waited for them to turn to mush. I waited and waited only to watch them rot. I couldn't image why they never ripened!
One day at work, I noticed a table of women passing around a sliced persimmon. The slices were hard like an apple and I wondered how they could stand to eat that astringent, unripe piece of fruit! They offered me a slice and I was shocked to discover this crisp, sweet delicacy wasn't astringent at all! I then learned that this was a Fuyu, not a Hachiya persimmon and that they are meant to be eaten when they are crisp, like an apple.That was a wonderful day in my life! 

Hachiya persimmons are oblong (not short and squatty like a Fuyu) and must not be eaten until extremely ripe , soft and mushy.

High in Fiber
Persimmons in general are very high in fiber providing about 6 grams per fruit. I write a lot about fiber and I will write more in the future as it is one of the most important things missing from the American diet. There has long been agreement that fiber is beneficial in preventing heart disease and diabetes. And, of course, everyone knows that it keeps you going, so to speak. Although I think it's obvious, the jury was still out on fiber preventing colorectal cancer. Well, recently the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) has upgraded their findings and now report that high fiber foods protect against colorectal cancer. They recommend women eat 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day and men should consume 30 to 38 grams daily. So eating fruits like persimmons (and pears, which are another high fiber fruit) is a good way to get your daily requirement.


Simplicity in Preparation
My favorite way to prepare fuyu persimmons is just to peel, slice and eat them. They also make a wonderful ingredient for a raw, fall fruit salad. Dice them up and add to diced apples and pomegranate seeds for a crunchy and colorful treat!

There's not much you can do to improve the flavor of this wonderful fruit. My favorite way to enjoy a fuyu persimmon is to just peel, slice and eat!