A great place to start is the newly released The Best American Recipes 2002-2003, edited by Fran McCullough, from Houghton Mifflin. For this selection of award-winning recipes the team combed through the year's magazines, books, newspapers, and websites. Many of these delicious, easy-to-make dishes feature fruits. An introductory chapter sums up the year's food trends in which lemons and other fruits play a part. Spicy margarita raisins would make a splash. For holiday brunches try the sesame-orange granola.
Some people who almost never bother baking prepare special holiday treats. A Sweet Quartet-Sugar, Almonds, Eggs, and Butter by Fran Gage, was published by North Point Press in time for the holidays. Gage thinks of these four ingredients as 'the DNA of desserts.' She owned the Patisserie Francaise, a bakery in San Francisco, for ten years. Along with the marvelous stories of each ingredient, she features some of her favorite recipes, some of which feature fruits.
Fruit lovers are bound to treasure Pennsylvania Apples-History and Culture by Kyle Nagurny from Stackpole Books. The author is executive director of the Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Board and author of Pennsylvania Heritage Cookbook. He begins with detailed descriptions of the major varieties and their uses along with a history of apple orchards in Pennsylvania. Visitors to Pennsylvania will find the lists of farmers' markets and festivals very useful. Some of the recipes are traditional Pennsylvania Dutch ones like schnitz un knepp (dried apples with dumplings). He includes all kinds of dishes, including stir-fries, beef stew, frittata, and mulligatawny soup.
Whatever the occasion, Sweet Simplicity-Jacques Pepin's Fruit Desserts from Bay Books has delightful recipes to suit your needs. These easy to prepare dishes are low calorie and less fattening than most desserts. Pepin, who is America's favorite French chef, arranged the recipes alphabetically by fruit. For Thanksgiving try Cranberry Souffle with Cranberry-Red Wine Sauce.
During this festive season we crave our comfort foods. This may vary from one ethnic group to another. Under the Bison Books imprint the University of Nebraska Press has published a comprehensive cookbook of Native American foods. American Indian Cooking-Recipes From the Southwest by Carolyn Niethammer includes 150 recipes, many of which feature fruits. Generally the foods are wild ones that can be gathered. She provides complete descriptions and drawings of each plant. These traditional recipes are a great way to celebrate America's diversity.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Connie Krochmal's Fruit Gardens topic, please visit the Discussions page.