Persimmon Pie, Creole Comfort Food, Turkish Mussaka, Shell Pasta Salad, Apple Dessert Quesadillas

 Persimmon Pie
Persimmons are, in many places, a very under-rated fruit because people tend to pick them too soon and don't let the sweetness develop.  To avoid the rather stringent un-ripe taste, you want 'mushy-firm' fruit, with the skin not quite bursting ripe.  

There are tons of fancy persimmon custard and other recipes out there, but this simple “jam tart” is about as easy as it gets, and it showcases the fruit. When I was at our Farmers Market I could only get 5 ripe persimmons --  which made about 2-1/2 cups of pulp, so I added half a cup of unsweetened apple sauce to give me a nice full pie shell.

Notice there's not a lot of sugar or spice in this recipe. You want to taste the subtle flavor of persimmons, not bury it in sweet and spice.

2-1/2 cups pureed Ripe Persimmons – 4-6 fruit, topped, seeded and chopped with skin
½ cup unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 cup Sugar
Juice of half a Lemon
1 Egg, beaten
½ teaspoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Nutmeg or Mace

1/8 teaspoon Allspice
9” Pie Shell, homemade or store bought.

Blind-bake your crust so it won't get soggy

Combine the pureed persimmon with the sugar and spices and transfer to the par-baked crust.

Bake in a pre-heated 400F oven for about 45 minutes until set.

Cajun/Creole Comfort Food
All my own invention!  Sort of an upscale version of Macque Choux,  with hominy rather than kernal corn and salsa verde instead of cream or milk.

1 can White Hominy, drained
"some" Red Bell Pepper, diced
"some" Sweet  Onion, diced
"some" Celery, diced
"some" Salsa Verde
"some" Mushrooms, sliced
"some" Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoningtm or other Cajun/Creole spice blend, to taste

In a splash of oil or butter, saute the onion and bell pepper until the onion is translucent.  Add everything else, and maybe some water, and simmer until it's all heated through and fairly thick.  Serve with tortilla chips or tortillas.

Turkish Mussaka
Nearly everyone agrees, the basic concept of Mussaka or Moussaka came from the Ottoman invasions in the part of the world at the eastern end of the Med.  Nearly every culture there has some version of an eggplant (aubergine), onion and tomato 'stew', with as many version s there are cooks east of Rome and west of Moscow.  The common Greek version features a bechamel sauce topping, this Turkish version sticks to the basics -- roughly equal amounts of meat, eggplant and tomato, plus garlic and assorted spices.  Here's mine.

10-12 oz Eggplant, cubed -- any kind
10-12 oz Ground (minced) Meat.*  
3-5 cloves Garlic, minced
10-12 oz Fresh Tomato (I used a yellow and a dark red heirloom tomatoes
1 cup diced Peppers -- Poblano or Cubanelle would be perfect.  I had a Red Bell...
1 large Sweet White Onion, diced 
1 Tbsp ground Cumin
Aleppo or Hot Paprika to taste
1-1/2 cups Stock of your choice, or herbed water

The meat can be any combination of lamb and beef you want.  For us vegetarians I used Gardeintm brand ground beef flavored "veggie crumbles".

 With the tomatoes, you want some 'chunks' and some puree.  I cut each of my toms in half and pureed one half of each together, and diced the other two halves. and reserved both.

Fry the meat in a splash of oil with the garlic.  Remove from the skillet and reserve.  In the same skillet fry the eggplant in additional oil with a dash or to of Aleppo pepper or paprika.  Reserve.

Fry the onion with cumin until translucent.  Add the diced tomato.  Add the meat, tomato puree and diced peppers.  Add the stock, reduce the heat and simmer until thickened nicely.

  Serve with rice or another side veg and/or fresh bread.

Shell Pasta Salad
This is my take on one of my Mom's summer recipes.  Murphy only knows where she got the recipe originally, but I suspect the classic Red & White checked, ring-bound Betty Crocker Cookbook from at least 75 years ago...

She invariably used tuna, and hardboiled eggs in her riff on this classic.  Mine is just a little different.

That's pasta, radishes, celery, onion, red bell peppers and peas.  Fold them together and fold in "some" mayonnaise.  Dust with black pepper and paprika.

Chill several hours before serving

Apple Dessert Quesadillas
It's Fall, even here in Southwest Florida.  The perfect time for a perfectly simple Apple dessert. 
Make a batch of stewed apples from your favorite fruit.  Use them for sugar dusted quesadilla filling!

3-4 medium Apples - variety, skin on or off, slices or chunks it's all up to you.
2-3 Tbsp Butter or Oliviotm
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar or white sugar with a tsp of treacle or molasses
1 tsp Lemon Juice
Optional crumbled Cheddar cheese

In a largish pot, melt the butter/Olivio and toss in the rest of the ingredients.  Stir and simmer for 6-8 minutes until the apples are tender and the sauce is thickened.  Reserve.

Cinnamon Sugar = 1 Tbsp + 1/8 Tbsp mixed.

On a griddle or large skillet, bring the temperature to medium and dry-fry a large tortilla.  When the first side is starts to brown a bit, flip the tortilla and spread "some" stewed apples on half, and sprinkle "some" cinnamon-sugar on the other half 

Optionally add some crumbled cheddar  to the filling.  Fold the sugar side on top of the apples and cook for another minute or so, flipping to brown both sides.   Transfer to a warm plate and repeat as needed...