Recipe of the Week: Bananas Foster

Can it be that time of year already? Whoo hoo, next week (March 8) is Mardi Gras! To help you celebrate, we're offering up a very quick, but most decadent dessert recipe that's as closely tied to New Orleans as Fat Tuesday itself!

We're still making sure you get some fruit but in the spirit of the holiday it's in a really, really indulgent setting. Our friend the banana is the star of this famed NOLA dish and he's potassium-packed and ready to party. He's got no qualms about dropping peel and doing a sweet cannonball into a pool of butter, rum, vanilla and sugar. Won't you join him? C'mon, you only live once!

Bananas Foster

You need:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons rum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 bananas, peeled and sliced lengthwise and crosswise
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1. In a large, deep skillet over medium heat, melt butter
2. Stir in sugar, rum, vanilla and cinnamon
3. When mixture begins to bubble, place bananas and walnuts in pan
4. Cook until bananas are hot, about 1 to 2 minutes
5. Serve immediately over vanilla ice cream

Find more great fruit recipes on Ruma's web site!

_____________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Recipe of the Week: "Strapping" Fruit Snacks

Now that the holidays with their blended egg nog drinks are behind us and smoothie season seems so very far away your blender may very well have the blues. So bored, so lonely, tucked in the corner of the kitchen counter behind the bread box or - worse yet - disassembled and hidden away in some seldom-used lower cabinet.

Well it's time to bust this overlooked appliance out of its winter doldrums and put it to work making a healthy snack which can do the same for you! With a little help from the puree button, you and your blender can whip ordinary apples and pears into some rather strapping fruit leather. (Get it? Strapping? Leather? OK, we won't be quitting our day jobs.) The prep time is quick, but the cook time is rather extensive, so make sure the oven is free for the day/evening. The whole endeavor will be worth it, though, as you get 16 servings of a nutritious and delicious snack and your blender gets to be the star of the kitchen once more!

Strapping Fruit Snacks

You need:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 4 cups apples peeled, cored and chopped
• 4 cups pears peeled, cored and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees
2. Cover a baking sheet with a layer of plastic wrap
3. In the container of a blender, combine the sugar, lemon juice, apple and pear
4. Cover and puree until smooth
5. Spread mixture evenly on the prepared pan
6. Place pan on the top rack of the oven
7. Bake for 5 to 6 hours, leaving the oven door partway open
8. Fruit is ready when the surface is no longer tacky to the touch
9. Remove tray from oven, roll up on the plastic and store in an airtight container

Find more great fruit recipes on Ruma's web site!

_____________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Happy New Year! Happy New Recipe: Warm Baked Apples

Happy new year, friends!  We hope that 2011 is off to a great start for you! Since it's now a bit after midnight, in lieu of a toast, today we're bringing you a recipe that will help keep you toasty warm! (Not sure about where you are - but here in Boston, today's high temperature is expected to be around 19.)  It also includes plenty of fruit, which is an important part of any healthy-eating resolutions you might have made... but don't worry, there's a lil sugar in there to sweeten the deal.

Warm Baked Apples

You need:

• 6 apples peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Preheat overn to 350 degrees F
2. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish
3. Place apples in a large bowl
4. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
5. Stir spice mixture into apples until evenly distributed
6. Fold in the raisins and walnuts
7. Spoon into prepared dish and pour milk evenly over mixture
8. Bake in preheated overn for 45 to 60 minutes, or until soft and bubbly

 

Find more great fruit recipes on Ruma's web site!

_____________________________________________________
Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Recipe of the Week: Quick Caramel Apple Dip

It's back to school time and that means it's time for after school snacks! We realize that not every kid is as enthralled with fruit as we Ruma kids were (ok, maybe "enthralled" is a bit strong) so this week we have a quick and easy recipe that will make getting those all-important daily servings of fruit a little bit sweeter! (It even sneaks in a little dairy!)

Quick Caramel Apple Dip

You need:

• 16 individually wrapped caramels (unwrapped)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt caramels with water, stirring frequently
2. When mixture is smooth, remove from heat
3. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and sugar
4. Fold in caramel mixture
5. Serve immediately

Looking for more great fruit recipes? Click here!


______________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Recipe of the Week: Great Grilled Fruit Kabobs

Remember last week when we were... oh, heck, forget about the past. The most important thing right now is that the unofficial end of summer is at our doorstep. (Sigh) So let us grill, grill, grill, like there is no tomorrow!

This goes especially for you, East Coast-ers, because tomorrow (and the whole weekend) could be a wash thanks to Earl.
So let's find some fruit and fire it up!



Grilled Fruit Kabobs

You need:

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 fresh peaches, pitted and quartered
• 3 fresh plums, pitted and quartered
• 3 bananas cut into 4 pieces each
• 12 strawberries, hulled
• 12 skewers

Directions:

1. Preheat outdoor grill for medium heat and place a large sheet of foil on the grate
2. Melt margarine and honey together in a small saucepan over medium heat
3. Reduce heat to low and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened - about 5 minutes (do not allow to boil.)
4. Put a peach quarter, plum quarter, banana piece and strawberry on to each skewer
5. Place skewers on the foil on the preheated grill and spoon honey mixture over each skewer
6. Grill until the fruit is softened and the sauce has thickened and cooked onto the fruit - about 5 minutes
7. Flip the skewers, spoon more honey mixture onto each skewer and grill about 5 more minutes

Looking for more great fruit recipes? Click here!


______________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Recipe of the Week: Baked Fruit and Cheese Dip

Remember that time (about a week ago) when we were complaining about - uh, observing - the miserable, unbearably oppressive brain-melting heat?
Well, it appears Mother Nature heard our cries and decided to go overboard in the opposite direction, making with the sheets of rain, blustery winds and chilly temps... you know, the stort of stuff that makes you want to snuggle up in a ball under your favorite blanky, never to emerge.
Of course, we're in New England so tomorrow it likely will be 102 degrees, but for now we're proposing that you un-snuggle just long enough to warm your belly with this recipe focusing on two of our favorite things - fruit and cheese!
If you must, you can bring the bowl back with you under the blanky.

Baked Fruit and Cheese Dip

You need:

• 1 (16 oz.) package of soft cream cheese with pineapple
• 3/4 pound shredded Swiss cheese
• 2 cups dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• For dipping: silced apples, sliced pears and/or crackers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, blend the cream cheese, Swiss cheese, cranberries, orange juice and apple juice
3. Scoop mixture into 9-inch pie pan
4. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned

Looking for more great fruit recipes? Click here!

______________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Recipe of the Week: Succulent Grilled Pineapple

It doesn't seem possible but... sniff...  summer is winding down.

But, you know, even though there is nothing we can do to stop it, that doesn't mean we have to take it lying down... and neither do you! Get off that couch! Put on that apron! Now get out there and get grilling!! Oh, and bring a pineapple.

Succulent Grilled Pineapple

You need:

• 4 slices fresh pineapple
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons cherry brandy
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine honey, brandy and lemon juice in a glass dish or bowl and mix well
2. Add pineapple and coat well with marinade
3. Cover dish and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour
4. Preheat grill to medium heat and lightly oil grate
5. Place marinated pineapples directly on the rack or in a basket and grill for about 10 minutes, turning, until pineapple is hot and caramelized

Looking for more great fruit recipes? Click here!

______________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!

Recipe of the Week: Nectarine Dream

Ahh, one of the true treasures of summer - the nectarine. All through the spring we dream about the time of the season when these perfect little fuzz-less peaches reach their peak. (What? Doesn't everyone dream about fruit?) Lucky for us, that peak comes in the dog days of summer when we are most in need of their juicy goodness!

Nope, there's nothing better than a ripe nectarine on a sultry summer day. Or so we thought.  Then we happened upon this week's recipe... a smoothie so delightfully dreamy, we went out and bought a hammock just so we could have a special place to enjoy it. Sweet dreams...

Dreamy Nectarine Smoothie

You need:

• 2 large nectarines, pitted and quartered
• 1 banana, cut into pieces and frozen
• 1 large orange, peeled and quartered
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
2. Be all psyched that there was only one step and enjoy your smoothie!

Looking for more great fruit recipes? Click here!

______________________________________________________

Always have fresh fruit on hand - join Ruma's Royal Fruit Club or purchase a monthly plan for a friend! Shipping is FREE!