I said a while back when I made Kimchi that I thought it needed improvement. It has now been in my refrigerator for a couple of months. It has improved with age without me doing anything more to it. I put it on a Turkey Sandwich and it was delicious. So, apparently, the longer you keep it in the refrigerator the better it gets.
CARAMBOLA – the scientific term for STAR FRUIT. A neighbor who has a Star Fruit tree brought me some of the fruit. I have experimented with making Star Fruit Bread, and was finally able to come up with a recipe that works.
Star Fruit can be used in many ways. To prepare it for use in fruit salads or even veggie salads – slice off the spines (thinly), cut off both ends and then slice the fruit into 1/4″ thick slices. You eat the skin – do not peel it. The fruit does have seeds that can be removed easily. When I put Star Fruit in smoothies I clean and prepare them the same way. Sometimes I take the seeds out and sometimes I don’t (only if I put it in a Smoothie). Star Fruit are also good in oriental dishes like Chow Mein and Wok dishes. As well, they can be used in cookies – but because you have to purée them for cookies, they take the place of any liquid in the recipe – similar to applesauce. Now to the BREAD.
I originally thought I could use my Mom’s banana bread recipe and substitute the bananas with the star fruit: this didn’t turn out to be as easy as I thought it would be as the mixture was too runny, requiring more flour – or so I thought. To get the mixture to the consistency I needed meant adjusting all the other ingredients as well. It was okay but still wasn’t right. The secret was in the FLOUR. So my mom’s Banana Bread recipe ended up being completely changed.
I took a completely different route…I did not use any processed white flour and a lot of sugar which most recipes call for. After many hit and misses I came up with the following recipe. I call it my – even though it can be eaten as a desert topped with ice cream or whipped cream –
CARAMBOLA BREAKFAST BREAD
Ingredients:
1 C Almond Meal
1/2 C Coconut flour
1/2 C Whole wheat flour ( I grind my own)
3/4 C Organic raw sugar
1/3 C Coconut oil
1/4 tsp. Sea salt
2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 eggs – slightly beaten
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp Pure vanilla Extract
2 C Star Fruit Puree (6-8 star fruit (Carambola)
Preparation:
1. Puree the star fruit to make 2 cups
2. Mix dry ingredients together – almond meal, coconut flour, wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon (can use All Spice as a cinnamon substitute).
3. In a small bowl mix oil with sugar. Beat eggs and add to the oil mixture, beat lightly. Add vanilla
4. Mix dry and wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Blend well.
5. Add the 2 cups of star fruit purée. Mix well.
6. Pour into a greased and floured bread pan (9″x 11″x 2″). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 Hour or until done. Because this is a fairly wet mixture I found it had to be baked the full 60 minutes (1 hr.). Let cool. It will be dark in color because of the almond flour and the wheat flour which are a dark color flour. It doesn’t rise above the pan like banana bread but is more flat. Remove from pan – continue to let it cool – slice and ENJOY!
It can be stored in the refrigerator, but it probably won’t last long as you will eat it up quickly. Mm GOOD!
A follow-up Blog will have my HOLIDAY NOG recipe.
Bon Appetite! and God Bless!
FYI-HEALTH TALK 