Earlier in the year I was bragging to friends about a hickory tree I thought I had in my back yard. About a month or so ago the green hickory nuts turned into persimmons. Must be a bona fide miracle I guess. Now they are ripe and starting to drop off the tree. They don't taste great, but they aren't bad. Is there a good use for them in a recipe, or should I leave them for the squirrels?

If you do not want to make persimmon bread (they are at their best after a frost hits them) then set up your archery stand nearby.

A deer magnet.

The ripe ones that drop seldom see a second day on the ground.

Ripe ones are beginning to drop off of my trees here in middle Tennessee.

Lots of seeds, and a little pulp, but they are good eating.

Years ago when I lived in Calif. they used to make preserves and put lots of English walnut pieces and cinnamon in it. Delicious on hot biscuits.

If these are American persimmons, then I'm somewhat surprised they are even edible at this point. Typically they are quite astringent until the first frosts.

Frankly, IMO, you'd have to be pretty interested in persimmon cooking to use Am. persimmons. They are fairly small, and full of large seeds and reasonably tough skin which make them less than ideal for cooking IMO. However, if you want to try them, there are numerous recipes on allrecipe.com and others.

OTOH, japanese (Asian) persimmons are both excellent eating and large enough to work with for cooking uses.

I'm sure they are American persimmons. Some of the first I tasted were very astringent; as in permanently deform your mouth. The past week those that have dropped are mild. They have five flat seeds in each. I'm told the seeds can predict the upcoming winter (Farmer's Almanac).

The only thing I've used them for so far is on my breakfast cereal. They work in that environment.

I've only had them once and they were quite edible .Don't know what type but they were grown here in NY ,the Hudson Valley !!!

Must be a change in the weather coming, or it's just that time of the year. It's raining persimmons out back today. (We had no persimmons last year.)

They are my favorite fruit. You have to pick them when they are completely ripe and soft all the way through. Otherwise they will dry your mouth and feel like sand paper. You can pick them a little early and place them indoors as they ripen and soften they will become sweet with a pudding like texture. They will make excellent jam or with sweet pastry. Use them as any other fruit.

We just made a persimmon bread pudding last week that was pretty good, I'd suggest looking up a recipe for that.

I'm having a Hell of a time getting the seeds out of these things. I'm thinking about just popping them in my mouth, and spitting seeds as I come to them.

I can't help you with American or Asian persimmons.

My girls and I were at our lease in the TX hill country a few weeks ago. They picked a 5 gallon pail of the wild Mexican persimmons. It's been a bumper crop this year with all the rain.

The girls made jam with them and it's delicious. It was a simple recipe we found on the internet. You need to double the pectin that's required as it seems it's difficult to get a good gel with Mexican persimmons.

Learn something new everyday....I didn't even know there was a Mexican persimmon (Diospyros texana).

My brother mentioned persimmon bread to me. I found a couple of recipes for my wife; also one for persimmon bread pudding. We'll see what happens.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/persimmon-bread-i/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/persimmon-bread-ii/

http://kitchenetteblog.com/201...immon-bread-pudding/

Surprisingly, my brother said they had a florist from Houston buy persimmon branches from them once. The branches had lost their leaves but still held the fruit. He said they turned him down the next year because it was too much work for the money they made doing it.

I think deer like them.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
I think deer like them.

You better believe deer like the Mexican persimmons. Look at the deer droppings in late summer and they'll be full of the reddish triangular seeds. Same with pig and coon droppings.

They make great jelly, when ripe. When not ripe they are good to feed your enemy, but probably violate the Geneva Convention.

After hearing all the great endorsements, I'll stick with "I think deer like them."

Coons like them too,that is the seeds that you find in coon scat. It will make a so-so jam if you use the cheesecloth method but still not Smuckers by any means. On the other hand about 30-40 years ago I was invited to supper by an old black couple that had roast possum W/ persimmon sauce gravy. Actually it was quite good. Other than that I have found that my boys when they were young found those berries the perfect projectiles to rain upon ones brother.

Would someone post a picture of the "Mexican Persimmon"?

NC,

sounds good and I'm sure it was. Persimmons with all those little seeds and the small amount of fruit around them are just too much of a pain.

Kind of like a Monkey Orange, but those seem woth the trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
Would someone post a picture of the "Mexican Persimmon"?

Google Images has a bunch of pics. The fruit is blackish rather than orange.

quote:

Originally posted by mlfguns:
They are my favorite fruit. You have to pick them when they are completely ripe and soft all the way through. Otherwise they will dry your mouth and feel like sand paper. You can pick them a little early and place them indoors as they ripen and soften they will become sweet with a pudding like texture. They will make excellent jam or with sweet pastry. Use them as any other fruit.

+1 to that. Properly ripened persimmons are nature's gift to us.Asian persimmons are absolutely juicy and full of nectar!

Best-
Loclsley,R

I've been picking good ones up after they drop, and washing them, then just popping them in my mouth, and spit the seeds. haven't died yet. I found a couple of "good" recipes that I gave my wife. She ignored them, so I don't think I'm going to get to report on any other option.

Kensco,

same as monkey oranges except you wash them.