Persimmon, Blue Cheese, and Pistachio Salad

There are times when simple is better. If you're a home cook you might follow your own catalog of recipes and/or you may be the home cook who likes to follow the recipes of others in cookbooks, magazines, and blogs. But there are those times when you realize that you don't always need a recipe. You just need to follow a basic structure.

The basic structure for this posting is: Fruit, cheese, and nuts topped with a simple vinaigrette.
Let's look more closely at the ingredients.

Fruit = sweet

Cheese = fatty, savory, and salty

Nuts = crunchy, chewy, and salty

Vinaigrette = flavorful, oily, and a bonding element across all of the above tying it all together

This all started when a friend recently told us that his Fuyu persimmon tree was full of ripe fruit and he had a bag of persimmons for us from his backyard.

I originally went to my catalog recipe for Persimmon and Grilled Cheese Sandwich but I wanted something fresher and lighter.

We had recently checked out a Bon Appetit magazine from our library and there was an article in there that laid out the structure. I took that and ran with it.

But you can apply the same structure with other similar ingredients:

Fruit = Persimmon, apple, pear, oranges, Clementines

Cheese = Blue cheese, Gouda, Parmesan, ricotta

Nuts = Pistachios, hazelnuts, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, pecans

Vinaigrette = Any neutral oil, a neutral vinegar (rice wine), and seasoning (garlic, herbs, mustard, etc.)

For the vinaigrette, I used one of many in my catalog but next time I might use a different one.
Again, the structure is loose. Don't follow this verbatim but adapt as I did.

Persimmon, Blue Cheese, and Pistachio Salad

Ingredients:

• Fuyu persimmons - 3 ever so slightly ripe, peeled and sliced
• Pistachios - about 2 Tbsp. roasted and salted
• Blue cheese - crumbled
• Simple vinaigrette - see below

Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup white wine or rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup oil
• black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

• Thoroughly mix the vinaigrette ingredients with a whisk and let sit for a period of time
• Cut off the top and bottom of the persimmon and peel off the sides. Cut into slices. Distribute slices on a dinner plate.
• Crumble cheese on top
• Sprinkle the pistachios over everything
• Drizzle vinaigrette over the salad

Enjoy.

Persimmon Grilled Cheese

Growing up we had a lot of persimmons in the house. This was mostly due to the persimmon tree in my grandparent's yard. But the persimmons were the Hachiya variety. A few dozen would be placed on the picture window sill coaxing them into ripeness. We would cut them open and enjoy them and my mother would make multiple batches of persimmon bread for the freezer which we enjoyed throughout the year.

The persimmons that showed up in the box recently were Fuyus and I'm less familiar with them. But then I saw this recipe and I knew I had to make it.

Here's an excellent quick guide to persimmons.

The recipe comes from Bay Area writer and chef Eric Gower. He writes occasionally for the San Francisco Chronicle. He has a unique approach to food and he infuses everyday cooking with some global flavors and approaches.

Persimmon Grilled Cheese:

• Gouda - original recipe called for goat gouda which I couldn't find at Whole Foods so I used a cow's milk gouda
• Chevre - I used a plain chevre
• Fuyu persimmons - slices of ripe, peeled persimmon
• Bread - the better the bread the better the sandwich
• Butter - see above
• Black Pepper - a dusting of freshly ground pepper

The results were excellent. The creamy gouda complemented the milder chevre. The cheese flavors mixed nicely with the crisp, fruity persimmon. The Irish butter added a soothing extra element. It all worked well together.

(Updated Feb. 7, 2024)