What to do with these beautiful green fruits...

Now as promised here are a few ideas on what to do with your feijoas. They are plentiful during late summer/early autumn, but don't last long unfortunately. The pulp scooped out of the skins freezes well - try it.

The following recipes all appear in the May 2011 issue of Healthy Food Guide NZ Magazine. http://www.healthyfood.co.nz

Feijoa Crumble

Oaty, fruity and just delicious.

SERVES 4

Hands-on time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Cost per serve: $2.40

600g feijoas

2 teaspoons brown sugar

½ cup water

Crumble

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flour

50g reduced fat spread
2 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ cup coconut thread

½ lemon, zest only

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 180oC. Scoop centres from feijoas into a small pot, add water and sugar, bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes until liquid has reduced. Set aside to cool.

2. In a medium sized bowl combine flour and oats, rub in spread until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through rest of ingredients.

3. Divide warm feijoas into 4 oven proof ramekins/bowls top with crumble mixture and place into oven for 25 until starting to brown. Serve hot with low-fat ice cream or yoghurt.

Feijoa Fool

Traditionally made with cream, this lower fat version is just delicious. Try with apple puree or fresh berries if you don't have access to feijoas.

SERVES 4

Time to make: 30 minutes

Cost per serve: $3.60

Feijoa Sauce

600g feijoas

2 teaspoons brown sugar

½ cup water

Fool

2 pottles Vanilla Fruche fromage frais (125g each)

1 & ½ cups low fat greek style yoghurt (we used Yoplait)

1 lemon, zest only

2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

1. Scoop centres from feijoas into small pot, add water and sugar, bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes until liquid has reduced. Pour into blender and whizz until smooth, place through a sieve so that you are left with a feijoa sauce.  Place in the refrigerator to chill.

2. In small bowl combine fruche, yoghurt and lemon zest.  Divide half of the yoghurt mixture among 4 small serving glasses, layer with feijoa sauce, then the last of the yoghurt on top. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and lemon zest.

Feijoa & Almond Cake

Moist and fruity, this cake really is one of my proudest finds! 

MAKES 12 SLICES

Hands-on time: 25 minutes

Cooking time:  45 minutes

Cost per slice: $0.90 cents

600g feijoas

2 teaspoons brown sugar

½ cup water

125g reduced fat spread

½ cup caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

1. Set oven to 180oC. Scoop centres from feijoas into small pot, add water and sugar, bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes until liquid has reduced. Mash with a fork to break up the fruit. Set aside to cool.

2. Grease and line a 21cm round cake tin. In a large bowl, cream the spread and sugar until light and fluffy, slowly adding the eggs and the rest of the ingredients, except almonds. Stir until combined.

3. Pour into prepared cake tin, scatter with sliced almonds and bake for 45 minutes until slightly brown on top and springy to touch. Serve warm with yoghurt.

Spiced Feijoa Smoothie

A quick and easy breakfast or mid-morning snack.

SERVES 1

Time to make: 5 minutes

Cost per serve: $3.30

3 feijoas, centres only

1 banana

1 tablespoon clear honey

250ml trim milk

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place all ingredients into blender, whizz for 30 seconds, pour into chilled glass and sprinkle with ground cinnamon if desired.

Feijoas, feijoas, feijoas...

Okay here goes, first blog post, a tad nervous to be honest. A small admission before I begin; I am passionate about food. Full stop. In fact I would go as far as to say I'm infatuated with it. Give me a cook book, cooking magazine, novel about food and I'm lost for hours. I can sit and watch the Food TV channel for days - it really is an obsession that needs to be taken into hand and what better way to do this than blogging my food passions/frustrations online.

Let's go!

Many people say that baking is a science and not an art....well I personally think it's a bit of both. Along my culinary journey I've had many a mess up in the kitchen, from burnt buns to exploding cupcakes, it's all a learning  experience that makes you glad that it happened and in years to come you can look back and laugh about it. 

Since moving to New Zealand I've had the strange but wonderful experience of trying new fruits and vegetables, many of which just aren't available in British supermarkets. One of my strangest finds is the Feijoa, it's really a love/hate affair to be honest. I couldn't touch the things for years and then 2 weeks ago whilst picking them at a friend's place in Matakana, well I can't get enough of them! 

Wikipedia wants to tell me that "The fruit, maturing in autumn, is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavor. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear gelatinous seed pulp and a firmer, slightly gritty, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit drops when ripe and at its fullest flavor, but may be picked from the tree prior to the drop to prevent bruising. The fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acca_sellowiana

Basically...it smells like perfume - honestly, it does! Am I selling it to you?! But it's an amazing perfume, The Chanel No. 5 of fruits. Anyway - it's a beautifully versatile fruit that loves baking, yes it's like me. So in the next few posts I shall be telling you what I've done with this beautiful green object. Until then, collect as many as you can from your neighbour's driveway and I'll tell you what to do with them this weekend!