Asia’s Exotic Luxury Fruit

Japan is well known for their love affair with exotic and expensive high-end fruits.  Here’s a look at 8 of The Fruit Company‘s favorites:

1. Musk Melon

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The Musk Melon runs for $100-$400 apiece.  Considering that the melon gets its name from smell of its musky insides, we hope it’s a special kind of musk, the kind of musk you want to bottle and use as cologne.  Chances are it’s just a musk.  As for the fruit itself, it’s decidedly something special.  Grown in Tokyo, the Musk Melon is meticulously cultivated using devoted greenhouses that keep precise temperature for optimal melon harvesting.  Farmers limit the number of melons on the vine to three in order for the melons to receive the proper nutrients.  As the melons begin to develop, one of the three gets chosen (the chosen one?) and the others are removed from the vine so that this special musk melon, this musk melon to end all musk melons, can thrive.

The fruit’s color and taste are supposed to be enhanced versions of your average work-a-day melon.  The musk however, is that little something special. Read more

Summer Fruit Part 1

As purveyors of Gourmet Fruit Gifts, we know a ton about fruit.  We know how to grow it, pick it, store it, ship it and—as the skins, seeds, and pits in our trashcans show—eat it.  But we don’t know it all; we’re constantly learning new things and we wouldn’t have it any other way.  That’s why we’re introducing our newest feature “Will it Grill?” where we’ll grill different varieties of fruit to see whether we can and should fire up our grills.  Will we burn a fruit or two along the way?  Absolutely.  But for the sake of knowledge, and some sweet caramelized fruit goodness, we’ll give it a shot.  Let the grilling and discovery commence! Read more

Cherry Pork Tenderloin

Normally, Aaron (our E-commerce Manager) handles the recipes.  He’s cooked some tasty dishes in the past few months, and has done so with great aplomb.  Too much aplomb.  It’s time to put an end to his reign of “following the recipe” and “measuring things”.  With great fruit, great things are possible, even in the hands of someone like me.

As proficient as Aaron is, he doesn’t have the experience I bring with me, namely four years of college spent watching The Food Network and Top Chef—if cooking were a spectator sport, I’d be a legend.  Suffice it to say that I was ready for any challenge. Read more

For today’s article, we take a look at Monthly Fruit Clubs and arm you with the questions you should be asking to ensure that you not only choose the best plan, but the one that’s right for you. Read more

For the month of June, we’re focusing on the amazing apples we have in the Pacific Northwest.  We wanted to find a recipe as unique and flavorful as the apples themselves, and I think we found it!  This month, we made a Curry Salad filled with fresh apple, pineapple, and raisin.  The sweet and juicy apples complimented the savory curry chicken perfectly and made for a true summer salad treat.

The recipe calls for canned chicken and pineapple, but I opted for fresh sautéed chicken in a little olive oil and a fresh pineapple.  With apples this fresh, I didn’t want to risk it.  You can use several different apple varieties, depending on your preferred taste and texture. Tart apples like the Granny Smith or Pippin work great in salads and prevent savory dishes from being too sweet. I also like juicier apples like Jonagolds, Honeycrisps, and Pink Ladies, all of which hold their shape and provide a nice, crisp bite.  Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apples are great eaten as a snack, but they are a little too soft and sweet for a salad like this. Read more

We decided to do something a little different for our latest recipe post. While we have gathered quite a collection of fruit recipes over the years, seldom have we tried the recipes ourselves and commented on their taste, accuracy, and use of our favorite ingredient, fruit. As food connoisseurs and fruit experts, we feel it is our duty to provide insight on how to best use our fresh fruit. Plus it is a whole lot of fun!

This time around, we chose Baja Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa. This fun, fresh treat is a great way to start the summer. It was 75+ degrees in Hood River Oregon yesterday, so I am hoping the rain, ice, and snow are finished and summer is upon us. Even if you are not a fan of fish tacos or mango, I beg you to try this recipe. It is rich in flavor, but none of the ingredients are over powering. It is light, healthy, easy to make, and considering that the recipe makes 24 tacos, it costs about $1 per taco. Read more

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Make this cool dessert for a large group.

Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, cubed

Citrus Glaze
6 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cool water
1/4 teaspoons Orange Extract

Topping
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons Orange Extract
4 kiwifruit, peeled
13 fresh strawberries, halved Read more

Looking for a fun tasty thing to do with all those wonderful pears?  Why not try making a local favorite, Pear Honey!

Pear Honey

4 cups of pear sauce(puree)

4 Cups of sugar

1 Can(20 oz.) can Crushed Pineapple, Undrained.

Heat to boiling.  Pour into sterilized canning Jars and fill to ½ inch headspace.  Wipe rims and fit with lids and sealing rings.  Water bath for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

MMMMM…. a nice warm tasty treat to enjoy while the winter quietly settles upon us!  Try it out and see if you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:

2 apples

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons butter

Directions:

1. Core the apples, leaving the bottom intact. 

2. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon the sugar mixture into the apples and set a teaspoon (or more to your taste) of butter on top of each apple. Place the apples in a deep casserole dish and cover.

3. Microwave for 3 ½ to 4 minutes or until tender. Let the apples sit for a couple minutes before serving.