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Volume III, No. 1, Fall 1975 |
VARIOUS VITTLES
Harvest in the Ozarks brings not only grains and a bounty of home grown vegetables, but also a variety of delicious fruits. Two types of native wild fruits that have found their way into many Ozarks recipes are persimmons and pawpaws. Persimmons are a small, round, yellow-orange fruit. When they are soft a~ wrinkled and look to be spoiled, their flavor is at its best. Pawpaws, the fruit of another small tree native to the Ozarks, bears a greenish-brown fruit with a banana-like flavor. The pawpaw is not available everywhere, but grows in more temperate climates where its semitropical fruit can flourish. Both of these fruits are best picked late in the fall, preferable after a frost when they are at the peak of flavor.
The following recipes using persimmons and pawpaws are old family recipes from my grandmother, Mrs. Imo Honssinger, and close relatives Mrs. Eula Wilson, and Mrs. Ilene Brown.
PERSIMMON BREAD
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 cup persimmon puree
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
First, make a puree by rubbing persimmon through a sieve or through a food mill. Measure oil in mixing bowl, add sugar and mix well. Then add eggs, persimmon puree, spices sifted with flour and lastly the raisins. Turn into three or four oiled pans, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake 45 minutes at 350° or until bread tests done.
PERSIMMON CAKE
2 cups chopped nuts
2 cups persimmon pulp
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 cup milk
2 cups raisins
2 cups sugar
3 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
Mix nuts, raisins, persimmon pulp, sugar, and oil. Sift dry ingredients, add to creamed mixture. Bake in an angel food cake pan that has been greased and floured at 350° for 30 minutes or until done.
PERSIMMON BARS
1/2 cup butter or oleo
2 eggs
1 cup persimmon pulp
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 cup raisins
Mix well in order given and put in 9 x 12 inch greased pan for about 20 minutes or until done. When cooled, frost with Brown Butter Frosting.
FROSTING
Brown 1/4 cup butter in heavy sauce pan until amber colored. Beat in 2 cups sifted powered sugar, 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, .1/8 teaspoons salt and 2 to 3 tablespoons light cream. Blend throughly and spread on cooled bars.
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Here are 2 variations of the popular Persimmon Pudding.
PERSIMMON PUDDING
1 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup persimmon pulp
2 Tbs. melted butter
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. soda
3/4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks beaten
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine and sift together all dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients, mix and pour into a baking dish. Bake at moderate temperature (350°) until done.
PERSIMMON PUDDING
1 pt. persimmon pulp
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbs. butter
1 pt. buttermilk
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
Mix buttermilk, pulp, sugar, egg, and butter. Add spices, soda, baking powder, sifted with flour. Pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch greased and floured pan. Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes. Serve with this sauce.
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. flour
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. butter
Pinch of salt
Mix in order and cook until clear.
Here is an unusual recipe for Pawpaw Jam.
PAWPAW JAM
Put 3 1/2 cups of pawpaw pulp and 1/2 cups of water in a large pan. Add juice of 1 lemon and 1 box of Surejell or Certo and bring to a boil. Then add 5 1/2 cups sugar and bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into sterilized glass jars. Cover with paraffin to seal. Serve with hot buttered biscuits for a real treat.
If you haven't tried any squash recipes yet you're in for a treat. Squash, unlike persimmons and paw paws, may be planted in your garden so you can be sure of having them ready for fall cooking. Squash can be fixed many flavorful ways to satisfy anyone's taste.
SQUASH PIE
2 scant cups of well cooked squash
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sweet cream
2 egg yolks
Cook this together, then add 1/2
tsp. each of allspice, cinnamon, and lemon extract. Add a pinch of salt. Mix and pour in a pan lined with rich pastry. Bake 10 minutes. Put on egg whites which have been beaten and brown.
FRIED SQUASH
2 medium crooked neck squashes(2 lbs.)
1/3 cup French dressing
1 cup cracker meal
2 Tbs. water
1 egg salt and pepper.
Wash squash and cut into 1/4 inch crosswise slices. Marinate 1 hour in French dressing. Beat egg with water. Sprinkle squash slices generously with salt and pepper. Roll in cracker meal, then in beaten egg, and again in cracker meal. Fry slowly in a little fat until golden brown on both sides and tender. Serve with tomato sauce or condensed tomato soup.
HAPPY COOKING!
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Copyright © 1981 BITTERSWEET, INC.
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