Preparing Fruit

Preparing Apples

To slice Apples for Stewing and Pie Making.

I find that using the potato peeler with a y-shaped handle with a horizontal blade running across the
top as mentioned in, (peeling vegetables) gives very good results.
The peel comes off easily without taking away any of the fruit.
Use a purpose made apple corer by all means but I find that the circumference of apple cores vary
so much that I often end up taking out the flesh instead.

To slice, stand the peeled apple with its stalk side uppermost, on the worktop and cut downwards through the centre with
the handle of the knife facing you, resting the blade in the centre where the dent is, so that when you cut it through, you end up with two halves.
By laying each piece cut side uppermost, and cutting them in half again, you can easily feel the line of core running down
the edge of each piece, as it has a very distinguishable, spiny feel,
cut this core out and each half in half again, when all the core will have been removed.
Sounds a bit complex, I know, but it really does work.
Depending on the size of your apple, the pieces will now be suitable for stewing, but if you are
making a pie, cut them in half again ready to cook through gently until just soft, in preparation for the filling.

If you want to bake them in the oven, leave their skins on and use an apple corer to remove the centre.
Position it over the dent at the stalk end and push it right down through the fruit.
Lift it straight back up again and, all being well, you will have removed the core.
Fill the centres with brown sugar and sultanas or dried fruit, stand on a baking sheet and cook
through until soft.
Don’t worry, if you do taste a bit of core it won’t do you any harm!

Preparing Bananas

Simply peel, (remove the thick skin to reveal the soft fruit, then slice or eat whole.
The softer the banana when you squeeze it while its still in its skin, and the more bananry it smells, the riper the fruit
will be.

Preparing Rhubarb

Each stalk will need to be (topped and tailed), then washed and sliced
before cooking.

Preparing citrus Fruit

Removing The Zest

Stand a metal box grater on a large plate, and, using the coarsest
side, rub the fruit against the grater, only two or three times, before turning the fruit round in your hand slightly, repeat the process until
you come back round to the pulpier area where you started.
Don’t take too much of the skin away, you don’t want the pith underneath as a flavouring as it is quite bitter.
Tapping the grater when its held above the plate will dislodge the moist zest still stuck inside for you, but if
in doubt, just leave it for a few minutes, tap it again when its dry, and it will
fall out more easily.

Juicing Citrus Fruit

With the peel still on, Using a citrus juicer with an integral cup to catch the juice.
Slice the fruit in half, then press and turn on the knobble until all the juice is extracted.
Quite a lot of the flesh and the pips will now be held in the meshed top half of the juicer.

Peeling Citrus Fruit

There is no easy way to peel citrus fruit, I personally find removing the skin by hand, dividing the fruit in half, then pulling the ridged fruit segments
apart from their thinnest edges at the centre of the fruit, is the most reliable technique.

Preparing Soft Fruit

Most soft fruit, i.e. raspberries, blackberries etc, only need to be
wiped with a little moist kitchen paper to clean them.

Blackcurrants and redcurrants should have their little stalks pulled off, then just rinse ready to cook.
Strawberries should be de-hulled, (the rough hairy growing point pulled away from the dent, the fruit wiped with moist kitchen towel, then just sliced and
eaten!

Many fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries etc, will need the same preparation, just wiped before stewing or eating.

Preparing Melons

Sit the melon, stalk uppermost, on plenty of scrap paper on a firm surface.
Using a large, sharp un-serrated knife, slice the fruit down from top to bottom, through the centre of the
stalk.
Have the handle of the knife towards you and the blade furthest away.
Now that you have two half footballs you’ll be able to feel all the rows of hard shiny seeds that need to be
removed.
This is going to be quite a messy process, believe me.

Slice the melon into strips and push out all the seeds which will be attached to a stringy membrane.
There is no need to remove the skin.
You can either cut the fruit into chunks and eat the melon from the peel, or, use a melon baller to lift
out the fruit.
Of course, you can take the melon out using a sharp knife, but the skin is thick and this might well be
a very messy, extremely prolonged process.
It is worth persevering with all the mess, particularly if you try a Galia variety with its lovely flavour and interestingly textured skin.

Preparing Stoned Fruit

It is extremely difficult to remove the stones from firm fruit.
Cook Plums or damsons, first, then they will be easier to remove.
The pips of grapes can be taken out as you eat them, as can the stones from cherries,
peaches and nectarines.

Preparing Avocadoes

The large stone in the centre of an avocado can be lifted straight out if the fruit is ripe, simply slice in half to reveal it.

Kiwi Fruit

Kiwi fruit can be eaten straight from its skin when sliced in half.

Peeling & Preparing Tomatoes For Use In Recipes

To remove the skins on tomatoes for use in cooked dishes, drop firm tomatoes into a large heat proof bowl and pour enough boiling water over them
to cover them well, leave for about 5 minutes, drain off the tomatoes into a colander, fill the empty bowl with cold water, tip the tomatoes into it and
leave them for a few minutes.
Drain the tomatoes in to the colander again and transfer them to a chopping board.

You will now be able to rub away the crinkly skin.
Your tomatoes will be quite soft and squidgie now, easy to chop.