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Conference turris::cooks

Title:How to Make them Goodies
Notice:Please Don't Start New Notes for Old Topics! Check 5.*
Moderator:FUTURE::DDESMAISONSec.com::winalski
Created:Tue Feb 18 1986
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:4127
Total number of notes:31160

3183.0. "Quince recipes please" by SAC::JENKINS_T () Wed Aug 14 1991 12:11

I have just moved house, and have an amazing garden full of fruit trees,
included amongst these (and the pride and joy) is a quince tree. Please excuse 
my ignorance but my knowledge of this fruit is zero.

Does anybody have any good recipes in which I can use quince?

Also, how do I know when they are ripe?

Lastly, I have loads of them so whats the best way to freeze them?

Thanks for any help

Tracy

P.S. Can anyone describe what they taste like!!
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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3183.1I love quince.CSCOA1::LEROY_JWed Aug 14 1991 17:117
    I have used quince in the past...I mixed with apples and made a pie
    which was great.  I can't remember the exact taste since it has been
    several years.  I believe they ripen in August and will be quite firm. 
    The first year I had some of the fruit (my bush does not bear fruit
    every year) I gave it away because I did not know what to do with it. 
    Check some older recipe books.  You'll love them.  Also, the bush has a
    lovely flower.
3183.2Make Quince ButterUPBEAT::JFERGUSONJudy Ferguson-SPS Business SupportWed Aug 14 1991 18:006
    My grandmother made Quince Butter.  Use any apple butter recipe and 
    substitute one fruit for the other.
    
    The taste is somewhere between apple and not-quite-ripe pear...to me.
    
    Judy
3183.3Delicious dessertsMR4DEC::MAHONEYThu Aug 15 1991 12:5731
    I ate them almost daily! grew up with them...
    the fruit itself is very firm, something like a green apple, but even
    drier, the color is rich yellow the meat is very tasty and very
    aromatic.  To eat it fresh the fruit has to be very ripe. My favorite
    ways of eating it was... in compote.  My mother used to peel and cut the 
    fruit in pieces and springle with some lemon drops to avoid decoloration,
    then, put about 2 cups of water to boil and add a few sticks of
    cinnamon, lemon peel, a tiny dash of salt and about 1/2 cup of sugar
    and let it boil, then add the fruit pieces and let it cook till tender
    but not mushy, and the sirup is reduced.  Serve in nice glass bowls
    with a tiny dollop of cream... delicious!
    
    Another recipe is "Carne de membrillo" or quincy preserve.  For this
    you need to cook the fruit and then process in blender till you get a
    real smooth sauce, to that you must weight the amount and use same
    quantities of pulp and sugar with some finely grated lemmon peel. It
    must cook for the right consistency (I don't remember the exact time)
    all I know is that it can be stored for a full year, it is not too easy
    to make, I mean it has to be done right.  I don't have a recipe for it,
    I only remember what a delicious dessert it was! (how I wish I had the
    recipe!)
    I'd like to know which kind of quinces you have... I always thought it
    needs very warm climates to really mature well. I live in New England
    and  I do have a small quince tree in my back yard  that gives very pretty
    flowers but the fruit is awfully small and not eatable, it looks almost 
    like crab apples, that is not what I had, the quinces I remember used to 
    be larger than normal apples, a bit elongated, very similar to green apples
    only larger and with a fuzzy surface that easily dissapears when the fruit
    is rubbed with a cloth.
    I hope this will help.  Let us know your results.