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Hot Fruit How-Tos

How To: Choose a perfectly ripe Tommy Atkins mango

Just because the grocery store sells produce, doesn't mean it's all good and ready to eat. Mangos are a particularly tricky fruit to get right… er… ripe. Tommy Atkins mangos the more common mangos, and are usually grown in Mexico (originally Florida). When choosing a Tommy Atkins mango, you need to look for a mango without bruising and with as much color as possible. Green is not quite ready yet. Red is excellent, but a beautiful mix of red and yellow is the best.

How To: Prepare a persimmon for eating

A persimmon is not ready to eat until it has a soft consistency like jelly or pudding, though the fruit can be harvested and brought inside while still hard, so long as the branch the fruit hangs from is picked along with it. One way to be sure that a persimmon is ready to eat, is to press a finger against the skin of the fruit. If a fingerprint is left, the persimmon is ripe and delicious. Once they start getting soft they go bad very quickly, so it's good to prepare them so you can eat them...

How To: Make oven-dried fruit chips

Chef Charlie Trotter demonstrates how to make oven-dried fruit chips; Fruit slices oven dried to a perfect crisp. He slices banana, apple, and strawberry before putting them in the oven. Make oven-dried fruit chips.

How To: Prepare dried prunes

In this video Genevieve Ko gives a few ideas for prunes and plums. She prepares dried plum muffins. She starts preparing the muffin by stirring egg, milk and melted butter with wholegrain muffin mix. Then chopped dried plum is added and mixed well. The batter is poured in a muffin tray and is baked at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Then she prepares a great appetizer by placing a scoop of blue cheese on the dried plum and tops it with bacon. Finally she prepares Pork tenderloin that would ...

How To: Carve a watermelon baby stroller filled with fruit

This watermelon baby carriage is just waiting to get rolled into a baby shower! When traditional gifts like baby bibs and ginormous baskets of diapers and pacifiers won't cut it, this stroller is all that and then some. Carved out of a single piece of watermelon, the stroller comes equipped with wheels, a sun shade, and a handle for pushing.

How To: Wrap and store melons for long-lasting fresh fruit snacks

What's the best way to make sure your fruits, specifically melons, are staying fresh and tasty? Wrapping and storing your melons properly is the key to freshness. YouProduceGuy has the tips you need to make sure you wrap your melons perfectly for long-lasting fruit delight, so you can have it ready for a quick healthy snack from the fridge, or even have on display before you cut into them for a party.

How To: Turn your fresh tomatoes into crushed

Ian Knauer, food editor from Gourmet Magazine, is going to show you how to turn fresh tomatoes into crushed tomatoes in no time. First, you must take a fresh tomato and just slice it in half, now grab a 4 sided grater and start grating the tomato using the large holes. You should do this over a bowl because that's where all your crushed tomato is going to end up. You must grate the tomato (the skin should begin to peel) until your left with just the peel of the tomato left in your hand, which...

How To: Open a coconut with no tools

Follow along as Coconut Chris teaches us how to open a coconut in under a minute. - You can use a metal spike, but the most common way to open a coconut "Hawaiian Style" is to smash it on a rock.

How To: Ripen fruit quickly

This quick video for the home chef teaches us how to ripen fruit quickly. Not quite as quickly as this video ends, but more quickly than it would otherwise. A must for anyone who has ever slapped their forehead at the sight of the pile of green bananas at the supermarket and lamented the days and days that they would have to wait to eat them.

How To: Juice key limes

Gourmet food editor Melissa Roberts talks about key limes here. Key limes are much smaller than the conventional limes that you usually see at supermarkets. When they go out of season they become a little dry, their peak season being spring. They're picked off trees when they're dark-green but they're not ripe yet, they are ripe when they become pale green. As they are so small it can be tricky juicing them. A reamer can be used but it is better to use a citrus squeezer, there is a smaller on...

How To: Slice, dice and mash strawberries

Whether you're making a strawberry shortcake recipe, strawberry jam, or even a refreshing strawberry smoothie, make preparation easy when creating your favorite strawberry recipes with RecipeTips.com's strawberry slicing, dicing, and mashing tips. Slice, dice and mash strawberries.

How To: Cut fancy citrus fruit wedges

Check out this short video tutorial from Rouxbe on how to cut fancy citrus fruit wedges. This video will support your cooking experience and will provide you with additional relevant information during your culinary time cutting citrus wedges.

How To: Open a jackfruit

This video shows you how to open a jackfruit. You should not use a knife when opening and use coconut oil on your hands afterwards because it is very sticky. You should find a soft spot and open it from there. Tear along the middle and all the way around to open the fruit in halves. You can then proceed to tear pieces off and eat it. Make sure to use coconut oil on your hands to get the stickiness off.

How To: Make the Japanese dessert fruit cream anmitsu

Fruit cream anmitsu is a delicious Japanese dessert foreign to most Western tongues. In this video, you will earn how to make it at home from scratch. Make sure there is an Asian grocery store near your house, as it requires a number of ingredients not stocked in most Western supermarkets.

How To: Cut a pineapple in an artistic and less wasteful way

This video showcases the skills of the demonstrator in cutting a pineapple in an artistic manner. He begins by removing transverse sections, one each from top and bottom with a sharp knife. He then cuts off the remaining skin vertically in eight thin sections to keep wastage to a minimum. He marks off oblique lines one above the other all along the periphery. He cuts off very thin and small oblique slices along the marked lines, rotating the pineapple slowly. The resulting shape is now like a...

How To: Slice a ripe peach with a forward cut

Generally if you can get your knife through a peach and produce smaller, more bite-sized chunks, that's good enough. We're not all too picky about how beautiful our peach slices look when we're scarfing one down post workout, but sometimes it's important to give a good presentation.

How To: Slow down banana ripening

You buys bananas, but you never seem to eat them because by the time you get your banana craving, they've morphed into soft gooey black apparatus of evil. If you're bananas are blackening quicker than you can scarf them down, next time, slow down the ripening process by separating them instead of leaving them in a bunch. Fresh!

How To: Clean and cut a whole pineapple

Chef Dan Bobo explains the proper way to clean and cut a whole pineapple, putting safety and cleanliness first. The first step is to wash the pineapple. Then, you can start cutting it: First, try to find the flattest side of it by rolling it over the table. Then, hold it firmly, make sure you keep your hand clear the knife and just cut the top of it. Discard the cut piece and repeat the same to cut the bottom of the pineapple. Now, you can use the new, flat surfaces of the pineapple to cut th...

How To: Open a coconut with only a knife

Follow along as we learn how to open a coconut with only a knife. - Take the back of the knife and strike the coconut at the top. Make sure you are rotating the coconut as you do this, and continue striking.

How To: Open a coconut to drink the milk

In this tutorial, we learn how to open a coconut to drink the milk. To start, you will need to grab a large bowl and place the coconut over it. Then, use a knife to hit it with the blunt side. Hit all around the coconut until you have cut an even edge around the middle of the fruit. You can also use a coconut to beat the knife into the coconut to open it up. From here, you can pour the milk from the coconut into a large bowl. Then you can drink it or use it in a recipe, enjoy!

How To: Cut open a coconut

In this tutorial, we learn how to cut open a coconut. Coconuts in nature look different than they do when you buy them at the grocery store. They come in green, orange, and yellow. The white ones you see are shaved off before you buy them at the store. To open up a coconut, you are going to need a machete, which is a very large knife. Make sure the knife is sharpened, then hold the coconut on the handle and slice it at an angle using the machete. Use force when cutting so the coconut comes op...

How To: Peel a dragon fruit (also known as a pitahaya)

Interested in peeling a dragon fruit by hand? With the proper technique, it's easier than you'd think. So easy, in fact, that this free video lesson can present a complete overview of the peeling process in about a minute's time. For more information, and to get started peeling your own pitahayas, watch this video guide.

How To: Cut and prepare papaya

Not everyone likes papaya. But a lot of times the sweet fruit is simply misunderstood. They require different methods of preparation which most people just don't feel like doing. But trust us, biting in to a juicy piece of papaya is totally worth the work.

How To: Prevent a banana from ripening too quickly

This video gives tips on how to keep a banana from ripening too quickly. Bananas are popular because they're inexpensive, they're tasty and they are relatively easy to get locally. The banana in the demonstration has a few brown spots but is reasonably fresh. A fresh banana will still be sweet. If a banana ripens too quickly it gives a fermented taste. Then you have to throw it away, which is like throwing money away. How do you keep a banana from ripening too quickly? Put it in the fridge. D...

How To: Determine whether watermelons are ripe or not ripe

One of the hardest fruits to determine the freshness of is the watermelon. It's the biggest question in the produce department of grocery stores, so you're not the only one having problems. This video from YourProduceGuy gives you the tips to finding out what to do when picking out a fresh and perfectly ripe watermelon and the local store. There's a sweet spot for every fruit.

How To: Carve a papaya in a flower design

In this video, we learn how to carve a papaya flower design. To start, you will want to take a sharp object and outline the drawing you want to make. Carve this onto the papaya, then remove the skin as you are making different shapes. If you want to do a large flower design, carve layers into the papaya to make the flower look more realistic. Take time to carve the different petals, stems, and other details. This is a fun way to make something beautiful with your food, and can double as a cen...

How To: Prepare, cook and store baby food

Homemade baby food provides your little one with a natural, nutritious meal. Learn what fruits are right for your child and how to prepare, cook, and store baby food. Babies between 4 and 6 months old are ready to start integrating solid food into their diet. Remember to check in with your pediatrician before making any changes to your baby's diet. When making baby food, be sure to wash your hands and use clean equipment and tools. You can also freeze it in an ice cube tray, and once frozen, ...

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