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fruit preserves Yet because fresh, ripe berries are perishable, often the bestberry desserts are those prepared at home. And a visit to a farmersmarket or a really good produce market featuring locally grownfruit reminds us that strawberries are supposed to be red inside,not white, tender rather than hard, and sweet without being dustedwith sugar. Short of growing your own, few berry experiences rival the joy ofbuying aromatic berries from the farmers market. Their perfumefills the car as you drive home; they're so different from thescentless, cold, underripe berries you often get at thesupermarket. Once you get the berries home, you have a wide array of choices ofhow to use them. It's hard to find a dessert that isn't enhanced bya berry of some sort, whether it's cheesecake, ice cream or buttercake. In most cases, the best principle for preparing berrieshappens to be the easiest on the cook: Leave them alone, and keep them away from the heat. Fresh berries arefantastic as a medley of berries, or combined with other summerfruit such as peaches, nectarines, apricots and melons. When I lived in Paris, good restaurants offered berries as dessertwhen they were in season. It might be a bowl of plain raspberriesor wild strawberries, with no sugar needed, or accompanied byChantilly cream — lightly sweetened whipped cream flavoredwith pure vanilla. Leaving berries raw serves not only to preserve their fine flavorand delicate texture. It also conserves their healthful propertiesas well. According to Dana Jacobi, author of The Essential Best Foods Cookbook, heat ''destroys valuable enzymes and some vitamins'' of berries.Jacobi sings the praises of the nutritious attributes ofblueberries, and notes that other berries also have ''multiplebenefits thanks to the array of nutrients . . . nature packs intothem.'' Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews, authors of Superfoods Rx, also tout the benefits of berries and recommend eating 1 to 2 cupsof any fresh, frozen or dried berries every day. At least once during the berry season, most of us like to enjoy theall-American favorite, strawberry pie. My favorite is a form ofFrench tart, which features raw berries set directly in a buttery,sweetened crust or atop a thin layer of creamy custard filling, andembellished only with a thin jelly glaze. Although some Americansbake strawberries in old-fashioned two-crust pies, most haveadopted the Gallic preference for showcasing strawberries in asingle pastry crust. The berries are mixed or topped with a lightlycooked filling thickened with cornstarch, which may include somecooked berries, and the pie is crowned with a generous flourish ofwhipped cream. Berry sauce is another cook's treasure. Raspberry sauce is aclassic partner for vanilla ice cream, but any berry sauce iswonderful served this way. I also love berry sauce spooned overplain cakes or added to fruit salads as an ultra-luscious dressing. Opinions vary on how to prepare berry sauce. The French techniqueis simply to puree and sweeten the raw berries without adding athickener. Many Americans go for a cornstarch-thickened sauce madewith lightly cooked berries. Blueberries make a flavorful saucewhen lightly cooked, as do very firm, tart blackberries. Frozen berries of all sorts make great sauces and also workbeautifully in recipes that call for cooking berries. Prattrecommends always keeping some on hand to add to hot oatmeal or towhip into a smoothie with yogurt, bananas, ice and soy milk ornonfat milk. When using frozen berries that are sweetened, reducethe amount of sugar in your recipe. Berry jams, jellies and spreads are great alternatives to whitesugar for sweetening berry sauces, as they intensify the flavor ofthe fruit. Jacobi suggests making an easy, luscious blueberry iceby whirling frozen blueberries with blueberry fruit spread in afood processor. Clear raspberry brandy, known as framboise, and other berryliqueurs are excellent in sauces, fruit salads and syrups fordabbing on cakes. They help to turn berries paired with plain cake(such as ladyfingers, angel food, pound cake or sponge cake) into afestive dessert. All you do is moisten the cake layers or sliceswith a bit of berry brandy or juice, then top them with freshberries. For further embellishment, add berry sauce or strainedberry jam and whipped cream. Or choose vanilla or berry yogurt as alighter topping. Layer the elements in a glass to make a quickparfait, or in an attractive bowl to make an impromptu trifle. If you like strawberry coffee cake, blueberry cookies or raspberrymuffins, dried berries are the best bet. They have the advantage ofcontributing concentrated fruit flavor to baked goods withoutdiluting the batter. Think of dried berries as a pleasingalternative to raisins.Berries have a place in savory dishes as well. For example, Berryvinegars contribute a flavorful accent to salads of delicate greensand to sauces for duck and other birds, and a few fresh berriesmake a fine adornment for such dishes. I prefer tart fruit likeraspberries or blackberries for pairing with poultry, as well asdried berries used like raisins in sweet and sour dishes. Bring cream and milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan overmedium-high heat. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolkmixture. Return to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whiskingconstantly, until mixture is very thick and nearly comes to a boil.Remove from heat. Transfer to a shallow bowl; dab with a smallpiece of butter to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to roomtemperature. Melt white chocolate in a medium bowl over nearly simmering water,stirring occasionally. Stir until smooth. Remove from water; letcool. Whisk into pastry cream. Cover and refrigerate at least 2hours. Up to a few hours before serving, spread white chocolate filling inbaked tart shell. Top with strawberries, pointing upward, arrangedclose together. Heat preserves in a small saucepan over low heat until hot but notboiling. Strain into a small bowl, pressing on pieces. Using apastry brush, gently brush preserves on strawberries, brushing eachberry individually. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve tartwithin 4 hours so pastry remains crisp. In a food processor, process sugar with salt and flour briefly toblend. Scatter butter pieces over mixture. Process using quickon/off pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour egg yolksevenly over mixture. Process using on/off pulses, scraping downoccasionally, until dough forms sticky crumbs that can easily bepressed together but does not come together in a ball. If crumbsare dry, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon water and process using on/offpulses until dough forms sticky crumbs. Add more water in same way,1/2 teaspoon at a time, if crumbs are still dry. Transfer dough to a work surface. Blend dough further by pushingabout 1/4 of it away from you and smearing it with the heel of yourhand against work surface. Continue with remaining dough in 3batches. Repeat if dough is not yet well blended. Using a rubberspatula, transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap dough andpush together. Shape dough in a flat disc. Refrigerate at least 6hours or up to 2 days. Butter a 9- to 91/2-inch tart pan with removable base. Let doughsoften 1 minute at room temperature. Set it on a cold, lightlyfloured surface. Knock dough firmly with a heavy rolling pinseveral times to flatten it. Roll out dough, flouring often andworking as quickly as possible, to a round about 1/4 inch thick andabout 111/2 inches in diameter. Roll dough loosely around rollingpin; unroll over pan. Gently ease dough into pan. If dough tears,use a piece of dough hanging over rim to patch it. Using your thumb, gently push down dough slightly at top edge ofpan, making top edge of shell thicker than rest of shell. Rollrolling pin across pan to cut off dough at edges. With your fingerand thumb, press to push up top edge of dough all around pan so itis about 1/4 inch higher than rim of pan. Refrigerate about 10minutes. Prick dough all over with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap;refrigerate 1 hour. (You can keep the tart shell, covered, 1 day inthe refrigerator; or you can freeze it.)
2008-06-05 11:00:16

apple fruits Farmers and other growers of cherries have found out these fruitsto be an ideal alternative to many cash crops. Cultivators say the fast-growing crop is giving them good returns,as production cost is much lower compared to nurturing an appleorchard. Moreover, the season for cherries falls much before the appleblossoms, allowing even the conventional farmers to experiment withit as a supplementary crop without compromising on the appleproduce. Cherry orchards are mushrooming across the State and manyunemployed youth have found employment as farm hands in packagingand marketing of the crop. Cherry growers in Kandyali near Narkanda in Shimla District are ahappy lot. They have reaped ample profits and benefits fromcherries. "It is providing employment and we get more benefit from the cherrythan other crops like apple. It comes in off season when we have nofruits here. We have no marketing problem in Shimla. So we givepreference to cherry instead of apples. We are getting rupees 120-150 per kilogram in the markets of Delhiand Shimla. Our cherries are being sent to Delhi via cars and we are sending itto Shimla also by cars and along with that we have to pay nocommission. We get benefits from that also. The labour hands arealso available since there is not season these days," said Jeet RamVerma, a Cherry grower. Women in the rural Shimla have taken to cherry farming as asupplement to their families' earnings. "This work is easy work for women and children. A box of appleweighs around 20 kilograms but the cherries' box weighs around akilogram. So it's an easy work for the women and children. DuringSundays, the children do the work with enthusiasm. As compared toapple trees, which demand much patience and care, the plants ofcherry start giving good fruits in three years time. The appleplant takes ten years before it yields fruit. We grow 20-25 treesof apples in one Bigha land whereas at least 35 Cherry shrubs canbe planted in the same area," said Durgu, a horticulturist ofcherries. Even Nepalese youth come to Shimla every year to get a good amountof money during the time of cherry. Farmers say with the initialresponse being good, the government must now step in withtechnological and marketing expertise to help them tap the cherrycrop commercially. In Himachal Pradesh, 2,000 hectares of land is under cherrycultivation. Last year, the State recorded production of 438 tonnesof cherries of which 420 tonnes were grown in Shimla region alone.
2008-06-04 10:35:18

pomegranate fruits Located in the Upper Galilee region of Israel, Ben-Dor Fruits sdevelopment division cultivates special, unique summer fruits. Inparticular, efforts focus on cultivation of flavor, special fleshcolor, interesting shapes, good size and shelf life. One of the special developments reaching the market right now isthe series of Plumegranate plums. In order to gain prominence inthe market and promote marketing of its produce, Ben-Dor Fruits hasdeveloped the Plumegranate plum varieties. The fruit ischaracterized by dark skin and deep scarlet flesh, similar to thatof a pomegranate hence the name. These varieties are the result of many years of development,focusing on parameters of external appearance, dark color andespecially a deep scarlet flesh. The purplish-scarlet and blackcolors and the general appearance of the plum are indeed veryimpressive and eye-catching. The series includes many varietieswhich ripen through out the summer fruits season. The Plumegranate series opens with the young, new variety, known bythe code name O-5-158, its fruits are large, measuring 55 mm indiameter, round and very dark. The next variety is Madlen variety,which is large with a flattened heart shape. Its brix level is highfor this season. The next important variety to ripen is the Plumegranate (A 11-129),from which the entire group draws its name. Its flavor is heavenlyand it is characterized by balanced sweetness and juiciness andmarvelous aroma. It is expected to harvest in mid-July. Once tastedthe demand for these fruits is constantly increasing.One of the end of the series wide range of varieties to date is theMark, which ripens in August. It is heart shaped and has anespecially appealing flavor. The special fruit from the company's orchards is now ripening andbeing exported through Agrexco, which markets it to select chainsin different places in the world. Like the pomegranate, the Plumegranate plum, because of its redflesh, has an especially high level of antioxidants 4 times thatof the pomegranate and is considered an especially healthy plum.Thus customers enjoy both delicious taste and good health.
2008-06-04 10:35:29