The bright flavors of winter fruits add sweetness to meats and marinades, enliven salads and vegetable dishes, and add tang to desserts.
Eva Powell, a former elementary-school librarian in Mitchell, Indiana, has won the town’s pudding contest five times with her recipe for persimmon pudding with a crispy, cake-like crust.
Sicilian Fennel Salad with Oranges, Arugula, and Black Olives
Fragrant orange flower water, called zhaar in Morocco and made from the blossoms of bergamot orange trees, perfumes this delicate salad, in which sweet citrus is offset by spicy radish. Get the recipe for Orange and Radish Salad »Meyer Lemon and Garlic Dressing
One important component of the Passover seder is the eating of maror, or bitter herbs, as a way of remembering the bitterness of slavery. Pieces of horseradish or bitter-tasting romaine lettuce are eaten at prescribed moments in the seder, but this tradition can also be carried on through the meal in the form of a salad of romaine dressed with this bright, sour dressing. See this RecipeLandon Nordeman
Complement this dish’s intense lemon flavors with a hefeweizen served with a lemon wedge.
In this straightforward white wine braise, chicken legs are brightened with tart kumquat and salty olives. Try serving it over couscous. See the Recipe for Braised Chicken with Kumquats and Green Olives»
Lemon extract, juice, and zest permeate a rich and moist loaf to create what really is is the best damn lemon cake we’ve ever had.
See the RecipeAndré Baranowski
A heady mixture of olive oil and preserved oranges flavors this moist, dense Sicilian dessert.
See the RecipeAndré BaranowskiGREECE Thessaloniki chef Aglaia Patronaki showed us how to make this delicious, herb-strewn, skillet-braised chicken dish. See the recipe for Kotopoulo me Dendrolivano »
Even though this soup is usually served at Christmas dinner in Greek households, the lemon flavor makes it great year-round. You can easily substitute cooked rice for the raw and shorten simmering time to get this going quickly. Get the recipe for Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono) »
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, OH has some of the most amazing flavors around. In this recipe, the addition of roasted beets and poppy seeds lends the end product a festive hue and a bit of crunch.
This recipe is inspired by rosl, a Jewish specialty from the Ukraine that calls for pickling beets in brine.
Honey makes for a more flavorful glaze for carrots than sugar does. In this dish, orange zest keeps the sweetness from becoming cloying. See the recipe for Orange and Honey-Glazed Carrots »
In this simple, elegant salad, the spicy flavor of thinly sliced raw kale is offset by creamy Pecorino cheese, bright lemon, and sweet-tart dried currants.
This richly flavored pomegranate margarita is just as good sipped on a cold day in front of a roaring fire as it is on a balmy afternoon spent on a tropical beach.
This sweet, tart fruit pie is a beautiful showcase for the flavors of fall and winter. It’s great on a holiday table, and is at its best when served alongside a plate of cheese: the rich quince flavor balances beautifully with a wedge of funky, crumbly blue beside it on the plate.
See the RecipeAnna Stockwell
This Middle-Eastern-influenced tart heaps white chocolate-orange ganache accented with rose water into a pistachio shortbread crust. Pomegranate meringue shaped to form rose petals makes for a show-stopping finish.
Lemon infuses this layered masterpiece in three ways: zested into the batter, in a tart syrup that get drizzled over the cakes, and in a thick lemon curd frosting.
Persimmons come in two varieties. There’s the Hachiya, which can only be eaten when the flesh is incredibly ripe and runny, and the Fuyu, which can be eaten either firm or soft. You want to seek out firm Fuyu persimmons for this recipe (they are short and squat, with a flat underside), as they give the best texture to the finished chutney.
After simmering clementines in simple syrup, you end up with pockets of sweet, tender fruit suspended in a bright, slightly tart liquid. They make the perfect gift for cocktail lovers and home bakers. This recipe comes to us from Marisa McClellan, author of Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round.
Sweetened with ripe persimmons and dates, and coated with a tart, toothsome, lemon-sugar glaze, these bars are a wonderful celebration of late-fall fruits. Get the recipe for Lemon-Glazed Persimmon Bars »
