Fruitful: Four Seasons of Fresh Fruit Recipes

by Brian Nicholson, Sarah Huck

Fruitful is a trip to the local orchard, overflowing with ripe, seasonal produce -- and it's not just desserts! From sweet to savory, including fresh juices, every chapter is devoted to the produce of the rhubarb, strawberries, apples, plums, apricots, peaches, quinces, pears, and more. This delectable cookbook showcases the bounty from New York's favorite orchard, illustrated with gorgeous full-color photography throughout -- but all of the fruit can be found wherever you live.

Pies and cobblers are only the beginning of four seasons of recipes celebrating Strawberry-Black Pepper Granita, Spicy Roast Chicken with Rhubarb Chutney, Scallop and Blueberry Ceviche, Grilled Peach, Shrimp, and Prosciutto Skewers, and Rustic Apricot and Raspberry Crostada offer a taste of the juicy dishes inside. And twenty-five recipes will come from fruit-loving chefs who count themselves among Red Jacket's devoted a few of the contributors include Dan Barber, Jonathan Waxman, Karen DeMasco, and Melissa Clark.

Whether it's a bushel of peaches or a bundle of rhubarb, you'll find plenty to dish up here.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, Cooking, Gardening

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 22, 2014

Reviews

[Ellen Spes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too fancy recipes

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always like seasonal cook books. Although this has some great seasonal classics I wanted something more.

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had 2 acres at my disposal I would definitely want to plant everything featured in this book. In fact, I spent my childhood summers at my grandfather's two and a half acre place in Idaho where he grew these fruits and had cows, goats, chickens, rabbits, geese, and pigs as well. The fruits he didn't grow I could have at my other grandfather's ranch in the San Juaquin Valley of California. How fortunate I was, and yet I didn't appreciate it at the time.

The author includes growing, selection, and storage tips for each fruit. There are variety charts for some of the fruits. The recipes are a "farmer's market shopper's" dream. How does "Freekeh Salad with Red Currants, Arugula, Golden Beets, and Feta" sound? Or "Salmon with Plum, Cucumber, and Mint Salad"? Or "Indian Summer Grape Creamsicles"? If the descriptions fail to entice you the color photographs certainly will.

Divided into seasons, the fruits include
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Currants
Gooseberries
Blackberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Cherries
Apricots
Peaches and Nectarines
Plums
Apples
Pears
Grapes
Quinces

There are also instructions for such processes as "macerating" fruit, grilling fruit, making perfect pies, pairing fruit and cheese, preserving fruit, making jams, jellies, sauces, and butters, freezing fruit, pickling fruits and making chutneys, and making infused and spirited preserves and juicing fruit.

Even if you are not able to grow-your-own, this comprehensive book will assist with selection and use of fruits through the year.

Here is a link to the Red Jacket Orchard, located in the Finger Lakes District of New York State. Click on the apple on the left to make the tool bar appear. https://redjacketorchards.com/about-r...

[Eirika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, chapters are by fruit type. Each chapter starting with a how to grow and how to store section before going into recipes.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very pretty and informative cookbook! Lots of background information about different varieties of fruit, which you don't always see in cookbooks.

[lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish there were more savory recipes for fruit, but I enjoyed this anyway. The information and tables they have on growing, varieties, and what to use when was invaluble.