Dehydrated Persimmon Slices

We have this gorgeous persimmon tree in our backyard. The fruit of the hachiya variety is very astringent and makes your tongue feel furry if eaten straight off the tree. However, if you do something to them, they are quite tasty.

This year we did not have a very good yield because of a freak hail storm in October that dented the fruit causing them to rot faster than normal otherwise they hang like beautiful ornaments on the tree all winter long. I love this tree and this year I am learning that they are for more than making cookies, or looking pretty on the tree.

We had a few lone persimmons left on our tree that the birds hadn't decided to eat. However they weren't quite ripe enough to turn into puree. A friend told me to dehydrate them. So I did. Oh. My. Goodness! Such a great - dare I say it - genius idea. If you like dried apples or dried papaya, then you will most likely enjoy these.

 It is so very easy to dehydrate these. All you need is a trusty dehydrator and something to slice with. Really that pretty much is it. I sliced the fruit horizontally into slices about an 1/8 of an inch thick and placed the slices on the dehydrator trays. Don't they look so pretty?

I plugged the thing in and at the end of the day they looked like this.

The kids insisted I do this with more of them next year. I will do their bidding. These are so good, I wish I had more fruit on the tree.

Black Bean & Corn Quesadillas

We love quesadillas around here. Any excuse to eat melted cheese is welcome. When you make a plain cheese quesadilla with nothing else, it is so boring. And if you make it with a corn tortilla, it is even more boring. However if you add fun and exciting things like black beans or chicken or avocado or olives or… well I am sure you get the idea. One of our go to additions is black beans and corn.

 Here is what you need:

Tortillas one for each quesadilla, you can use any kind of tortilla you wish. If you use corn, be aware that they will break in half very easily when they are not heated.

Butter or margarine.

Grated cheese. I have cheddar in the picture but any combination of cheddar, jack, pepper jack, Colby or even mozzarella will do. I use about ¼ cup per quesadilla I think. I never measure, I just sprinkle, er um, pile it on.

Frozen corn about 2 cups

1 can of black beans drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon or so of taco seasoning (store bought or you can make your own.)

Here is what you do:

 In a bowl combine the black beans, frozen corn and the taco seasoning. Heat the mixture in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove just until the corn is no longer frozen; a minute or two in the microwave and probably about 5 on the stove. Spread a little butter on one side of the tortilla and place on the hot griddle or pan (about med high?) Whatever temp you would use for grilled cheese. On the Griddler (it’s like a Panini press), I set the temp to medium high. Sprinkle some cheese on the tortilla and then spoon a few table spoons of the bean/corn mixture on one side. Sprinkle a bit more cheese on top of that and then gently fold over the side that doesn’t have the mixture. Let it cook for a few minutes until it is golden brown and then flip.

The second side only needs a couple of minutes.
The quesadilla is done when the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden on both sides.
You can put these on a Panini press and get the lovely grill marks with no need to flip. Just prep and then close the grill. They cook in half the time and look cool with the marks.

We eat these with salsa and sometimes sour cream or guacamole or even refried beans.

Gluten Free Persimmon Cookies

We have a great persimmon tree in our backyard and we love baking with them, especially cookies. These cookies are moist and spread more than many persimmon cookie recipes I have found instead of staying like little cookie mounds. I like that you can eat them in more than just a bite or two. They are great plan or with a simple glaze spread on top.

I am still a novice when it comes to gluten free baking so I was extremely excited that they came out exactly as I was hoping.

Gluten Free Persimmon Cookies

Ingredient List:
1 ½ cup Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix (or other gluten free flour mix)
¼ tsp baking soda (if your flour mix doesn’t have baking soda in it, you will need to increase this to ½ tsp)
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 TBS butter
2 TBS applesauce
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup persimmon pulp
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS maple syrup

Preheat your oven to 350
In a medium bowl mix the butter, applesauce and sugars together.
Add the egg, persimmon pulp, vanilla extract, maple syrup, spices and baking soda. Mix until completely combined.
Stir in the baking mix.
Your mixture will seem a bit wet kind of like thick muffin batter. This is what you want. If it is too dry add more applesauce or persimmon. If it is too wet, add a little bit more baking mix.
Drop by small cookie scoop onto a parchment lined (these will stick to the pan without it) cookie sheet. Make sure to leave room for them to spread out a bit.
Cook for about 10 minutes. Since ovens vary you need to keep watch. The edges should be golden brown when they are ready.
Glaze the cookies when cool if your heart desires. Mine always does.