Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘Fancy toast’

Leftover Persimmon Chicken

Posted by terrepruitt on November 23, 2016

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitWith all that is going on I mentioned I might not be writing regularly, but I am going to try.  This might be considered a cheat because it is not an actual recipe.  But that is really how I cook anyway.  If you have read any of my blog posts that have recipes in them you probably know that I love leftovers.  Recently I made Persimmon Chicken.  We had it for a few days.  There was enough for us to have a piece of chicken for a couple of nights.  But the third night there was that odd piece left.  Whenever I have an odd piece of meat that is usually when I throw it in pasta, in a tortilla, or on a tortilla.  Well, I didn’t know how persimmon chicken would taste on a tortilla.  But then I thought, “Why wouldn’t it work?”  Well, I have to say, it worked and it was delicious!  The sweet of the persimmons with the saltiness of the cheese – very good!

You might remember that I went to a restaurant once and they served what I call Fancy Toast.  I was thinking of that when I put together our persimmon chicken tortillas.  Sweet and salty!

I had some leftover ricotta from the lasagna I recently made (that recipe is here).  I decided to use it.  I am always looking for ways to use what I have and not let things I used for one recipe go to waste. Here is what I did.

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Persimmon Chicken Tortilla

2 Flour Tortillas
1 cup of ricotta
1 cup of mozzarella
1 large piece of persimmon chicken
some of the persimmons that were cooked with the chicken
3 tablespoons of gorgonzola

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitPreheat oven to 350° F.  Cut up the chicken so you have little pieces.  Spread the ricotta on the tortillas, 1/2 cup each tortilla.  Then sprinkle 1/2 cup of the mozzarella on each tortilla.  Distribute the cut up chicken over each tortilla along with the persimmons.  Then top with the gorgonzola – about 1 1/2 tablespoon each.

Then bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes.  You are really only trying to melt the cheese, as the chicken is already cooked.  If you like your tortilla a little crisper, then bake it for longer.

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As happens more often than not, I was not planning on posting this on my blog.  And I didn’t take a picture of the preparation . . . but I think it is simple enough you can get the idea.  In the pictures I did take you can see the gorgonzola.

The salty blue cheese and the spiced fruit were a great combination.  The ricotta being somewhat flavorless just added great texture – a perfect creaminess.

It was really good.  Next time I make persimmon chicken I am going to make sure I have enough leftover to do this.  Plus I will make sure I have mozzarella, ricotta, and gorgonzola on hand.  Although a mild cheddar might due in place of the mozzarella.

What do you think?  Sound good to you?  What could we add to make it even better?

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Dancing With Persimmons

Posted by terrepruitt on November 13, 2014

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCAOk, not really, but Salsa is a dance.  In my post where I had asked what to make with all the winter fruits and veggies I said I had about seven persimmons and I did.  I didn’t know what to do with them and I know we are going to be get more in the next delivery.  I know I can always make Fancy Toast, but I wanted something else to do with them.  All I found when doing a quick search on the internet were cookies and cakes.  I wanted a savory persimmon recipe.  So I searched for “savory persimmon recipes” and I found one on the ad infested Organic Authority.  It is a persimmon salsa.  I thought, “Why not?”  So below is my version of Persimmon Salsa, which is not too much different from theirs.  I just cut up the persimmon smaller, used tablespoons instead of teaspoons, and used a different, milder, pepper.

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Persimmon SalsaDance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA

5 small Fuyu persimmons
2 tbsp minced shallots
1 tbsp PLUS 1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced fresh basil
2 tbsp minced fresh mint
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp minced Anaheim pepper
salt
pepper

Peel the persimmons and cut into tiny chunks.  Mix the shallots, lemon juice, basil, mint, ginger, and pepper in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Let the flavors meld together for at least two hours.  Then serve however you would like.

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCAMy idea was to let my hubby munch on it as an appetizer.  I wanted to serve it on crackers. That is why I cut up the persimmons really small.  If I were just going to plop in on some meat, I might not finely “chop” the persimmons.  Even though I thought I would have leftovers and would end up putting some of it on chicken (or perhaps pork), I thought I’d start small since its original purpose is to pile it onto crackers.

Next time I make it, I will pair it with some meat.   Instead of using it to flavor the meat during cooking, like I do with marinades, I will just use it raw as a topping.

I also think the next time I make it, I might use a little more pepper since he couldn’t taste the pepper at all.  Before the flavors all settled it wasn’t too hot.  I was careful to avoid the peppers though when I tasted it.  We will see.  My husband really liked it even though he didn’t experience any heat.

Anaheim peppers are supposedly less hot than the jalapenos that the original recipe called for.  I was going for “less hot.”

So now I have another type of relish, salsa to use during the holidays.  It can be used as an appetizer with crackers or used to add flavor to meat, just like the cranberry relish recipe I just posted. (click here to go to: A Quick And Yummy Way To Use Cranberries).  I normally try not to post recipes so close together, but I had Nia class this morning and have to rush off to yoga tonight.  I don’t know where the day went.  I had this post all typed up and ready to go. . . . so two recipe post close together!

I won’t be eating this salsa by the spoonful because of the peppers, but the cranberry relish . . . . no telling.

What are you doing with all of your persimmons?  Do you just eat them as you would an apple?  Do you have a favorite recipe?

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Winter Time Ideas

Posted by terrepruitt on November 1, 2014

It is winter time, although with the way the weather has been behaving the past few years I am not sure that nature knows how to respond.  Animals and plants do not have clocks and calendars, they react to their internal clocks and the way the weather is.  If it is warm they might not realize winter is on the way and they need to prepare.  If there is no water they might not be able to prepare.  If their homes or hunting grounds are being torn up because buildings or houses are being built they might even be at more of a loss.  But there are still a few fruits and veggies we might see during the winter.  Perhaps not all of nature is confused.  One is the delicata squash I recently mentioned.  A friend was over asking if we ate the skin.  She also mentioned winter squash and while I had heard the term before I never really paid attention.  It used to be in the same category to me as how things are classified.  I never paid attention to what is a winter squash and what is a summer squash.  I just buy what is in the store.  I have been receiving winter veggies and fruits in my delivery.  Perhaps more accurately described as fall fruits and veggies.  I have pomegranates, persimmons, and pears.  We have received chard, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and delicata squash.  What do you do with that stuff?

You know me.  If you have read one, you’ve read them all . . . I roast it.  Roasting is so easy.  It is easy, tasty, and time efficient.  Time really is the main reason why I love roasting.  Cut it up, oil it, garlic it, salt it and put it in the oven, then go do whatever it is you still need to do.  So easy.  But I can’t do that for everything.  Ok, with the squash I get “fancy”, I roast it THEN I stuff it, but c’mon . . . there has got to be other ways.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCATonight I made a stuffed pumpkin.  I didn’t have any ricotta so I used the Neufchâtel cheese I had left over from the chicken dish I made – documented in my post Leftover Rainbow Chard To The Rescue.  I think it might have even made it better.  I’m not sure.  I just didn’t want to buy a container of ricotta just for 2 ounces. So I just decided to use the Neufchâtel since I had bought 8 ounces of it and only used 2 ounces.  It was fine.

I do want to roast a pumpkin to make soup out of it, but what else do you do with all of these wonderful winter vegetables.  I have never gotten beyond my Fancy Toast when it comes to persimmons and I have about seven sitting on my counter right now.  What do you do with persimmons?  Can they be uses in a “salsa” or a chutney?

Can you use delicata squach for soup?  I also received some baby bok choy.  Read any of my posts?  If so, you know I LOOOOOOOVE baby bok choy.  It can be cooked and eaten by itself or added to just about anything.  YUM!!!!

I am just thinking you might have ideas that you could share.  Some tried and true, some favorite recipes that you might want to share.  I asked last year and I received a SPECTACULAR recipe I am going to share soon.  It is easy and yummy and one of those things you make that you just want to put on/in everything because it is so good.  You can eat it by itself.

So . . . what have you got?  What do you do with all of or any of this wonder winter produce we have?

 

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What Am I Putting On My Toast?

Posted by terrepruitt on December 28, 2013

Oh my!  You might have read my post about me getting to teach a Nia class in Santa Cruz.  Santa Cruz, for those of you that might not be familiar, is a beach town in California.  It is not very far from me, but I still don’t get over there often.  The place where Nia is held over there is lovely.  My student and I usually make a day of it when we go over the hill.  The last time we went we stopped and had breakfast at a place serving daily toast.  That started my fascination with what I call “Fancy Toast” – click here for the post on Fancy Toast.  I have tried it with pears and I like it much better with persimmons, which is funny because that was a substitution on the part of the restaurant owner.  But the persimmons have to be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ripe.  At the point where they are almost mushy and a little slippery to cut up.  Since I eat the Fancy Toast all the time — because I just happened to have had a few persimmons — I thought I would look into the nutritional value of persimmons.

The ones that I have been using are the flat-ish kind.  I hear they are the Asian persimmons.  According to a document from the California Department of Public Health a medium (168g) persimmon has 118 calories, only 3 of which are from fat.  With the following percentages of the government daily values:

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaTotal Fat:  0g      0%
Saturated Fat: 0g     0%
Trans Fat:  0g
Cholesterol: 0mg   0%
Sodium:  2mg   0%
Total Carbohydrate: 31g   10%
Dietary Fiber: 6g   24%
Sugars:  21g
Protein: 1g

Vitamin A 55% / Vitamin C 21% / Calcium 1% / Iron 1%

Persimmons have a lot of sugar and relatively no protein.  But a nice amount of fiber and a good amount of Vitamin C, but even better amount of Vitamin A.

Remember, also, that colorful fruit has carotenoids which provide the orange color in the fruits.  And the carotenoids act as antioxidants in your body, meaning they attack harmful free radicals that damage tissues throughout your body.

Most of the recipes I saw called for persimmon puree which is a combination of cooking and blending.  So I like the idea of putting them on my toast, I cut up the raw fruit and pile it on top, making it “fancy” or putting them raw into a salad.  I actually have not tried them in a salad because I have used them all on my toast!

There are two varieties, the Hachiya and the Fuyu.  The Hachiya is the taller of the two, with the Fuyu being more flat.  The Hachiya is used more for baking whereas the Fuyu is the one that people eat raw.  The document I mentioned states “The Fuyu was developed by breeding out the tannic acid from the Hachiya, making it more appealing to taste and easier to eat whole and raw.”

Have you tried making and eating the Fancy Toast?  What else do people do with persimmons?  Do you have a persimmon recipe?

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Fancy Toast

Posted by terrepruitt on November 26, 2013

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaI am beginning to bet you don’t believe me when I say I was not going to post a recipe and I do. I WAS going to post a picture of the first toast I made on my Facebook page, but then when I sat down and started eating it I changed my mind. Then my hubby made yummy noises the entire time he was eating it and it confirmed my “need” to post it on my blog and tell the whole story. In my last post I talked about my fabulous day in Santa Cruz after teaching a Nia class. I mentioned two restaurants. The one we love, Rebecca’s, is closed. I was very sad because it has really yummy food and is a very nice place to eat. But, I also recognized this as an opportunity to try a new place. Having other things to do I didn’t do any research, but my student did. Yay! She suggested River Cafe. It was on the way to where we were going. So we went there. They have a menu item called “The Daily Toast”. When we were there it was supposed to be Humboldt Fog*, Pears, walnuts, and the woman behind the counter said they would drizzle honey over it. Sounds good, huh?

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaI ordered that. A few moments later a woman came to our table and said she could not find the pears, but she said she had persimmons or jams. She suggested the jam, but I declined and requested the persimmons. I had some on my counter I didn’t know what to do with. I thought this would be a great way to experiment. Well, even though the persimmons weren’t ripe, they forgot the walnuts and the honey (as you can see in the first photo), it was still VERY good. So good that I wanted to try making it the next day.

We didn’t have any salty cheese so I decided not to. But then the NEXT day I decided who cares. I wanted to try it anyway. I asked my hubby if he wanted cheese toast. He said yes. Then I asked if he wanted regular cheese toast or an experiment. I have mentioned before he is pretty good about eating whatever, but he does have some food “dislikes” so when my experiment includes some of them I like to ask first.

Anyway, this turned out very yummy. It is easy to make but comes out – in my opinion – kinda fancy. I have noted the recipe as I made it, but, I think the idea of the River Cafe is better in regards to the cheese. A nice soft salty, flavorful cheese seems best, but I used what I had.

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Fancy Toast

2 pieces sliced sour dough
2 pieces wheat bread
slices of marbles Colby Jack (enough to cover all four pieces of bread)
one ripe persimmon
2 tsp of shredded parmesan cheese
a handful or two of chopped walnuts
honey (enough to drizzle over the toast)

Toast the bread, not all the way (at least with my toaster oven.  I have to leave it a little “undone” so it will be perfect after the cheese melts). Top the bread with the sliced cheese. Melt the cheese on the toast. While the bread is toasting and the cheese is melting peel and slice the persimmon. After the cheese has melted, place the persimmons on the toast, sprinkle the parmesan over the persimmons. Allow to warm a bit in the toaster oven/oven. Then sprinkle the walnuts on the toast. and drizzle the honey over the top.

Serve with a fork and knife!

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaI was thinking that this would be an easy type of toast to serve for brunch. Toasting the bread in the oven on a cookie sheet. I also thought it would be a nice toast to serve at a tea. Yum. I used the parmesan as the “salty” and it turned out pretty good. I was surprised my husband liked it so much. He is not fond of bread, especially toast. Not like me. He also doesn’t care for walnuts. So it is a testament to its yumminess that he loved it.

I loved it so much I had it again the next day!  (I forgot the parmesan.)

Well?  What do you think?  Sound yummy?

*Humboldt Fog is a specific type of cheese:  Cheesemaker Mary Keehn of Humboldt County, CA invented this cheese, so named for the Pacific mists, in the early 80’s.  (According to Wiki).

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