Tiny Meets A New Fruity Family: The Stonefruits

Exciting Ingredients: Part 2

This summer, Tiny can’t get enough of the delicious fruits and vegetables at her local farmers’ market. When she realized that most of her favorite fruits have a great big pit inside, she decided to ask some of her farmer friends why that is. 

It turns out that Tiny’s favorite summer fruits…peaches, cherries, and plums… are all a part of the Prunus plant family. This family also includes apricots, nectarines, and even almonds! Members of the Prunus family are all considered “drupes” or “stonefruits”– soft-skinned, usually sweet fruit surrounding a central stone that contains a single seed. 

There are tons of delicious stonefruits to choose from­ – olives, dates and mangoes are all drupes too! But this season, the juicy and delicious Prunus fruits are the stars of Tiny’s Kitchen. Whenever possible, Tiny choses “tree-ripened” stonefruit for eating raw, either by themselves, in your morning oatmeal or as a sweet surprise in this fresh salad. 

While unripe fruit will soften off of the tree, they never get any sweeter than the day that they were picked. The firmer, under-ripe varieties, though, are easier to cut and perfect for cooking. 

Try peaches or apricots with something a little bit spicy or salty like these great green beans or grilled pork chops. For the best summertime desserts, they are great in a silky shortcake, a cozy cobbler, or a perfect pie. 

And sometimes, Tiny simply cuts fresh apricots in half, pops out the pit, and warms them up on the grill – cut side down – till they are just a little bit browned. With a scoop of ricotta, greek yogurt, or vanilla ice cream, and maybe a drizzle of runny honey, this is Tiny’s favorite way to end a cookout!

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This post created by Kat Craddock

Photo credits: Cassie Sciortino