Truthfully we usually just core and slice an apple or pear for dessert, or eat a small bunch of chilled grapes. But sometimes, we like to do something a bit fancier with the fruits.
Even in the dead of winter we can get wonderful berries from South America, usually Chile. Although a bit pricey, they make a wonderful mid-winter dessert, drizzled with a little orange juice and topped with a dollop of crème fraîche. Another time, we'll peel and thinly slice a blood orange or navel orange crosswise. Drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar, it's like eating a piece of heaven.
A cup of raspberries or 3/4 cup of blueberries or blackberries will give you 15 grams of carbohydrate to equal 1 carbohydrate (1 fruit) exchange. A tablespoon of orange juice will add 2 grams of carbohydrate, but won't effect your exchanges. The dollop of crème fraîche (no more than 1 tablespoon) is free. One small orange (3 inches, 8 cm, in diameter) also gives you 15 grams of carbohydrate and equals 1 carbohydrate (1 fruit) exchange. The balsamic vinegar is free.
You'll need to go to a natural food store for this next recipe idea. In Middle Eastern restaurants, we've been served fat Turkish apricots filled with a cream made from buffalo milk. Wanting to make this at home, we were delighted to see a recipe in Nancy Harmon Jenkins' The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook (we shared the same editor at Bantam Books). Her recipe calls for a lot of granulated sugar and uses yogurt cheese in place of the Turkish sweet cream. With several tries, we finally came up with a low-sugar version that works for us with our diabetic needs. The stuffed apricots are dusted with chopped pistachios, an item which we buy in just the small amount needed for the recipe so we won't be tempted with a lot of these delicious nuts sitting around the house. (When the cashier looks at you with a raised eyebrow when she scans the 15 pistachios in a plastic bag, just smile!). Nancy's recipe calls for a sweet wine such as sauterne. We didn't have any, so we used a bit of cognac. You could leave it out altogether, if you wish. You'll need to make the yogurt cheese a day or so ahead. You can use the rest of the yogurt cheese for dips or spreads. (It's another staple that we keep in our fridge.)
According to legend, we owe much to John Chapman, otherwise known as Johnny Appleseed -- who spent more than 50 years planting apple orchards in the newly settled American colonies. Now apple orchards flourish from coast to coast and border to border. These baked apples are equally at home for dessert or as a tart accompaniment to pork or fowl. If you're serving them for dessert, pop the dish into the oven just before you sit down to eat. They'll be ready when you are.
We buy oranges by the crate since we use them so frequently during the winter season in cooking or for eating out of hand as a carbohydrate (fruit) exchange. Here we've used an orange for both a sweet, light dessert and an attractive "dish" to serve it in. The results are special enough for company.
Our final dessert idea is wonderful anytime of the year since we can always get excellent fresh pineapple from tropical climates. But, there's something particularly marvelous about sinking our teeth into sweet, juicy fresh pineapple and then looking out the eating nook French doors to see the thick, light cushions of snow disguising ordinary objects into a magical fairyland. After supper, we might go outside and make a few "snow angels."
(for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)
