[1] Persimmons look like they might be related to tomatoes, but there is no relation. The two fruits branch off at the Order level (remember high school biology: Kingdom, Order, Family, Genus, Species).

[2] A persimmon-yogurt parfait. Pistachio nuts are a great pairing with persimmons. Here’s the recipe from Low Carb Maven (photo © Low Carb Maven).

[3] A beautiful persimmon salad with arugula and shaved parmesan. Here’s the recipe from Naturally Ella (photo © Naturally Ella).

[4] Poached persimmons with a pistachio garnish are a lovely seasonal dessert. Here’s the recipe from Bittersweet Blog (photo © Bittersweet Blog).

[5] Rice pudding with persimmons and pistachios, at Bestia Los Angeles (photo © Bestia).

[6] This is the easiest jam you can make. It’s ready in minutes. Here’s the recipe from Sweet & Savory Meals (photo © Sweet & Savory Meals).

It’s persimmon season—October is National Persimmon Month.

The Asian persimmon (Diospyros kaki—photo #1) is native to China, where it has been cultivated for centuries More than two thousand different cultivars exist in China alone.

The fruit is also known as the Oriental persimmon, Japanese persimmon, and kaki, among other names.

The fruit traveled to Japan and Korea where additional cultivars were developed*. The plant was introduced to California in the mid 1800s, where additional cultivars were also developed.

There are hundreds of varieties grown worldwide.

Their cultivars are grown in California, which grows some 20 varieties.

There is also an American persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, a smaller version of the fruit. Honey-flavored, they are not usually found in stores due to their short shelf life. Here’s more about them.

And like all persimmons, after they reach peak ripening, the flesh becomes mushy (and ready for smoothies and other recipes where the fruit is mashed).

If you’re looking for a fruit tree, both species of persimmons are fairly easy to grow.
 
 
HOW TO EAT PERSIMMONS

In addition to being an enjoyable fruit, persimmons can be used in many recipes. Check out this list.

Our favorite uses for persimmons are:

 
Before you buy a persimmon, you need to know that there are two general categories: astringent and non-astringent.

 
 
TYPES OF PERSIMMONS

Which should you choose? Here’s advice from Melissa’s Produce, which carries four of the most popular varieties.

See all four in the photo at the bottom of the article.

They have different optimal ripeness levels, so be sure you know which variety you’ve bought, and whether it should be very soft or firm to the touch.

 
In alphabetical order:
 
Cinnamon Persimmon

 
Fuyu Persimmon

 
Hachiya Persimmon

 
Sweet Pumpkin Persimmon

 

PERSIMMON HISTORY

Persimmons grow in temperate to tropical climates. Cultivation of Diospyros kaki began thousands of years ago in China and about 1,300 years ago in Japan.

It seems to be the only edible member of the Ebenaceae family, the other well-known member of which is ebony wood.

From 1870 to 1920, Japanese and Chinese cultivars were introduced to California by the USDA. They were once grown in the American Gulf States, but now only grown commercially in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

The Hachiya, a vigorous cultivar, is the largest one grown in California, followed by the Fuyu, which requires pollination to increase yield and improve color.

Today, the major producers are China (with 66% of world production), Japan, Brazil, Korea and Italy.

Other producers include Israel, U.S., New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Georgia, Egypt and Chile [source].
 
 
PERSIMMON RECIPES

*As agriculture developed thousands of years ago, farmers cross-bred varieties of plants and animals to improve certain features and eliminate others. Fruits were bred to be larger and more prolific; to be sweeter; to have a more pleasing color or texture; to survive in different environments and seasons; to resist insects and disease, to be more durable and last longer after harvesting, etc.
 


[7] Four types of persimmons (photo © Melissa’s Produce, which sells all four).

Will a peanut butter bacon cheeseburger catch up in popularity with the long-loved bacon cheeseburger?

This burger is topped with bacon, cheese and peanut butter!

It was developed to offer diners something new and different.

Chef John Franke, on behalf of the Boulder-based SRG Culinary Council, set out to develop some new approaches to classic burger garnishes.

One of the winners was this PB&B Burger (peanut butter and bacon).

The burger is comfort food; the added ingredients offer new palate excitement with a delicious combination of flavors—a combination that most home cooks would never think up on their own.
 
 
RECIPE: PEANUT BUTTER BACON CHEESEBURGER

The base of two beef patties goes onto a King’s Hawaiian hamburger bun, layering on:

 
Chef Franke makes his own blueberry jam from scratch, and it adds a unique and delightful flavor impact.

“The jam adds a tangy, cooling contrast against the peppery bacon and savory beef, and the peanut butter lends a softer flavor,” he says.

You don’t have to make jam from scratch. Just buy a good brand and counter the sweetness with some balsamic vinegar.

Or, buy fig jam, which is naturally less sweet.

Have fun with it!
 
 
By the way, a small drive-in burger stand in the Sedalia, Missouri, introduced a peanut butter–slathered hamburger at an early date—we just don’t know exactly when.

Known as the guberburger (for goober, a nickname for peanuts), The Wheel Inn topped a burger with peanut butter, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato.

The Wheel Inn was opened from the 1940s until 2007, when it had to close for a highway expansion project. Here’s more about it.
 
 
> HAMBURGER HISTORY
 
 
> PEANUT BUTTER HISTORY
 
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*We’re not fans of processed American cheese slices in any color. Upgrade the flavor with Cheddar, Gruyère, Jarlsberg or anything else!

[1] Two patties topped with a creative combination of five ingredients (photo © U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council).

[2] Creamy peanut butter is required here. Crunchy just doesn’t work with the texture (photo © P.B. & Co.).

[3] With blueberry jam on the burger as well, this is like a PB & J burger. Here’s the recipe for this two-ingredient blueberry jam (photo © A Pretty Life In The Suburbs).

[1] Comfort food: warm, creamy polenta topped with a fried egg and sautéed cherry tomatoes (photo © Good Eggs).

[2] Cherry tomatoes are sauteed into a jammy sauce, called “burst tomatoes” (photo © Barilla).

[3] Buy a box of polenta. You can use it at any meal of the day (photo © Delallo).

[4] An easy hack is to buy a tube of polenta, ready made. The difference is you’ll serve it sliced or diced, not in a creamy porridge form (photo © Ancient Harvest).

When was the last time you made polenta?

It’s such a warming comfort food, we’re surprised that we don’t make it more often. And it’s gluten-free*.

So for brunch this weekend, we’re making this yummy recipe from Good Eggs.
 
 
WHAT IS POLENTA

Polenta—which is both the Italian word for cornmeal and a cooked dish made from it—has become familiar in America through Italian and Continental restaurants.

But it’s not new to America. For the first two centuries on the continent, American diets contained much cornmeal: in bread, as breakfast porridge, as a side starch, and in other recipes.

Paradoxically, corn, which is native to the Americas, was shipped to Europe, where Italians turned it into polenta.

Back in the Americas, except for the Southern region, cornmeal was gradually replaced in American diets by refined wheat flour (note that while corn is a whole grain, milled polenta is not).
 
 
RECIPE: FRIED EGGS & POLENTA WITH BURST CHERRY TOMATOES

As with oatmeal, you can find instant polenta as well as long-cooking polenta.

You can also take a shortcut with this recipe by purchasing ready-made polenta in a roll form, and cooking slices instead of making porridge-style polenta from scratch.

Ingredients For 3 Servings

 
For The Basil Butter

*Polenta is naturally gluten-free (the only grains that do naturally contain gluten are barley, rye and wheat). Since so many other grains are processed in facilities that also handle these latter grains, however, some varieties of polenta may become contaminated with trace amounts of gluten. Some brands of polenta print “gluten-free” directly onto their product labels for easy identification. Others don’t.

If you’re looking for something to bake this weekend, how about Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread?

“This pumpkin bread is autumn in loaf form,” says Pete & Gerry’s, fourth-generation family farmers of organic eggs (see more about them below).

“Like any quick bread, it comes together in a flash and stays tender and moist right out of the oven and beyond.”

The recipe lets you choose any and all mix-in ingredients, from chocolate chips of any and all colors, nuts, crystallized ginger, toffee chips, whatever!

The recipe says “optional,” but we say they’re “necessary.”

Serve the pumpkin bread for brunch, coffee break, or dessert—with an optional scoop of ice cream.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN BREAD

This recipe makes two loaves. You can freeze the second loaf if you don’t plan to use it within a few days.

Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 75 minutes.

Ingredients For 2 Loves

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the oven rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease two 9” x 5” x 2.5” loaf pans, if using mix-ins. To make a plain loaf, 8” x 4” x 2.5” pans will work.

2. COMBINE all wet ingredients (pumpkin purée, melted butter, eggs, water, and vanilla) in a large bowl. Use a mixer on low speed until or whisk by hand until well blended. Then stir in both sugars until well combined.

3. MIX together in a separate bowl the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is well combined and smooth.

4. ADD the mix-ins, and stir until evenly distributed. Divide the mixture equally between the two loaf pans, and shake the pans to roughly level out the batter.

5. BAKE the loaves for 60-75 minutes, gently rotating the pans in the oven halfway through baking. The loaves are ready when the top cracks, the surface feels firm and set, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. (If the top begins to get too dark during baking, you can carefully tent it with foil to prevent further browning).

6. REMOVE the loaves from the oven, and allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes before turning them out on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
 
 
ABOUT PETE & GERRY’S ORGANIC EGGS

Should your eggs come from small family farms, or from faceless factory farms?

With the news coverage of recent years about the horrible lives lived by caged hens, or even “cage free” hens crammed onto barn floors, so crowded that they can’t move, we switched to humanely produced eggs.

Pete & Gerry’s have been selling high-quality organic eggs for more than 60 years.

As pioneers of humane and environmentally sustainable egg production, Pete & Gerry’s produced many of the first organic and free-range eggs available in supermarkets. They were the first Certified Humane egg farm in the country.

The hens, and their eggs, are free of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, GMO feed or animal byproducts. So these eggs not only taste good: They make you feel good. No hens were mistreated.
 
Discover more at PeteAndGerrys.com.
 
 
> CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF EGGS. How many have you had?

________________

*Be sure to use pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added seasonings.

You can substitute another oil—coconut, corn, grapeseed or vegetable—if you prefer.

[1] Add chocolate chips and anything else you like to this pumpkin bread (photo © Pete & Gerry’s Eggs).

[2] You can use dark, milk or white chocolate chips, or a combination (photo © Bella Baker).

[3] If you want to add nuts, our favorite for this recipes is pecans (photo © American Pecan Council).

[4] Don’t want mix-ins? Bake a plain loaf (photo © Levain Bakery).

[5] Want to dress up a plain loaf? Add a meringue topping (photo © Tartine Bakery).

[1] Who can resist cheese fries? (photo © Idaho Potato Commission)

[2] Crinkle-cut fries are baked from frozen fries (photo © Walmart).

[3] Sharp cheddar from Wisconsin (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).

October is National American Cheese Month*, so how about some cheese fries, made with a fine American Cheddar†?

You don’t even have to fry the potatoes!

This easy-to-make dish uses frozen, baked Grown In Idaho crinkle-cut fries.

Once they’re golden brown in the oven, top them with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, bacon, scallions, and sour cream (or ranch dressing).

Some want theirs with a big squirt of ketchup, others as is.

But you may want to make a double batch. These fries will quickly disappear.

In addition to National American Cheese Month, September is National Potato Month, April 20th is National Cheddar Fries Day, and National French Fry Day is celebrated annually on the second Friday in July.

Below:

> Cheese fries recipe with bacon and scallions.

> The history of cheese fries.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of French fries.

> The different types Of French fries: more than 40!

> The history of the potato.

> The different types of potatoes: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 30 potato holidays.

> The year’s 30 cheese holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: CHEESE FRIES WITH BACON & SCALLIONS

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F.

2. GREASE a rimmed baking sheet or a large cast-iron skillet with cooking spray. Spread out the crinkle-cut fries in an even layer on the sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crispy and golden brown.

3. SPRINKLE the fries evenly with the shredded cheese. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the bacon.

4. DRIZZLE with the sour cream or ranch dressing, then sprinkle with the sliced green onions. Serve immediately with ketchup on the side.

For something so recent, the origin of cheese fries is lost to history. What we do know is that the seem to have appeared in the U.S. after Cheez Whiz was introduced in 1952.

Yet Dictionary.com dates the phrase as “first recorded in 1970–75.” It’s hard to believe that it took 20 years to make it into print.

Snuffer’s in Dallas states their Cheddar fries were “first created in 1978.”

While good restaurants today will use good cheese for cheese fries:

 
When we see “cheese fries” on a menu, we inquire about the cheese. We want Cheddar, not American cheese, Cheez Whiz, or Velveeta.
 

[3] Bacon cheese fries with red chile peppers. Here’s the recipe (photo © Taste Of Home).
 
________________

*American cheese refers to any cheese made in the U.S., the least interesting is the processed, pasteurized “cheese product” (it doesn’t qualify are real cheese) popularized by Kraft.

†Cabot Cheddar is a great choice, and comes in 10 varieties, so you can layer on more flavors: Chipotle, Cracked Peppercorn, Everything Bagel, Garlic & Dill, Habanero, Horseradish, Hot Buffalo Wing, Smoky Bacon, Spicy Jack, and Tuscan. See them here.
 

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