Thursday, October 21, 2010

Persimmon Martini

It couldn’t have been better coordinated. Just after reading about persimmons in the latest issue of Edible Austin, we received persimmons in our CSA. A persimmon bundt cake with Italian cream cheese frosting was mentioned along with a salad with toasted walnuts and a persimmon flan. Everything sounded delicious and I’m hanging on to that bundt cake recipe, but I immediately zeroed in on the persimmon martini with fresh ginger, lemon, and a vanilla bean. The cocktail recipe was written with a juicer in mind, and I don’t own one. I pureed the persimmon flesh with lemon juice and grated ginger rather than juicing them. However you do it, the flavors will be fantastic. This cocktail is perfectly suited to the fall season, and I’m already thinking of other ways to combine these well-matched ingredients.

I started by scooping the very ripe flesh from four persimmons and picking out the seeds. That went into a food processor with lemon juice, freshly grated ginger, seeds scraped from half a vanilla bean, and a little honey. It was processed until smooth, and then it was stirred with ice and vodka in a cocktail pitcher until well chilled. The ice was strained as the martinis were poured into glasses. If you use a juicer, your fruit mixture will be thinner and should work fine in a cocktail shaker. I learned the hard way that my puree didn’t pour well through the shaker’s strainer. Hence, I transferred it to a pitcher. Once in glasses, the martinis were garnished with half a vanilla bean.

The vanilla warms up the persimmon flavor, and the ginger and lemon add zing. As soon as I tasted this concoction, I imagined it would make a delicious sorbet or maybe a pudding. Or, I might simmer it until it’s thickened and pour it over ice cream. Maybe I should mix a few more martinis and see what other ideas come to mind.



27 comments:

  1. A delightful drink! That combo is just divine.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. this looks fantastic, something I would definitely want to try! great flavor...and what a gorgeous color!

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  3. Oh my gosh I saw those recipes and am so glad you tried the martinis. Aren't they the most gorgeous drinks? You did a fantastic job improvising without a juicer. I happen to be lucky enough to have a huge persimmon tree in my front yard. I have been slowly picking them, letting them ripen, and collecting pulp to make either bread or cake with. I'll definitely post whatever I end up doing - thanks for sharing the tinis:)

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  4. Sounds fantastic! The ginger sounds like a nice addition.

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  5. Beautiful drink, Lisa... I also think ginger is a perfect addition

    I also don't have a juicer here, left it behind, but brought the food processor. Now all I need is to find the persimmons

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  6. My husband and i love persimmons. This cocktail looks fabulous. What a great idea and can't wait to make it!

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  7. MMmm persimmons. I grew up eating these. Until college I thought they were a Korean fruit (called gahm in Korean) and didn't even realize there was an american name for them!! They're SO good. My old roommate's parents had a persimmon tree in their backyard so she'd bring bags of them home for us. I would LOVE to try a persimmon martini!

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  8. i'm not so fond of persimmon as a fruit but if its in this form I'll absolutely drink to it!

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  9. Delicious & how nice it is to get a lovely new cocktail recipe to try. This is the 2nd time this week I've thought that I wished I had a juicer...., thinking I just might indulge huh.

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  10. martinis are just so classy, and this one is even moreso because of the exotic persimmon. terrific. :)

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  11. wow cocktail made with fresh persimmons, vanilla bean and ginger... what a treat!

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  12. I saw fuyu persimmons in the market the other day. How clever to use them in a drink! I've had them in salads. Dying to try this.
    I've done a lot of baking with the hachiya persimmons. None around yet....and they need to be smushy ripe.

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  13. I have never cooked with persimmons... in fact I am not even sure if I have ever tasted one. But half the point of interacting with other food bloggers is getting new ideas and expanding your horizons, is it not? =) This looks and sounds delicious!

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  14. i should i gotten persimmon when i was out shopping today. this look so good. thank you for sharing this with me. have a nice weekend.

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  15. This sounds amazing Lisa! I would order this in a flash if I saw this on a cocktail menu! :)

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  16. Ooo... a Persimmontini :) hehehe...sorry...I just had to mash words together. Oh looks it's time for a weekend happy hour. :)

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  17. Jenn: That's great! Much better name for this.

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  18. You are really a genius at using simple ingredients to create exotic treats!

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  19. That would be perfect for a Friday Night. What a great cocktail.

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  20. This looks like a great cocktail. Never thought to add vanilla to persimmon. I agree, it would make a great sorbet.

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  21. Persimmon at it's best Lisa... I'm lovin' it,especially the ginger and vanilla bean. Intriguing & YUM!

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  22. I SO wish I had one of these right now - they look so refreshing and delicious!

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  23. A lovely refreshing drink! I love persimmon as it contains fiber. Never had such a combination before, sounds intriguing!

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  24. I need to knock back one of those! ;)
    Last night, I had this great cocktail made with Bartlett pears. I bet this one -- just like the one last night -- just sings of autumn.

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  25. What an exotic drink, and beautiful refreshing flavors.Loving the ginger in it.

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  26. persimmons are hard to come by in Australia. and they can be quite expensive. this looks delicious! i love sweet cocktails

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