Sunday, January 04, 2009

Make a Date with Dates

Any date lovers out there? I can't say I'm a big fan (it reminds me of prunes), but I did see these fresh dates being sold at the Civic Center Farmers Market in San Francisco last week and thought it was interesting to see them still on the stem. Usually I see dates all dried and packaged. A vendor was selling these for $2.50 a pound. A sign says that these fresh dates are best when they get dark brown, which is really just drying them on the stem. They would make an interesting centerpiece for a dinner table huh?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Single Guy Chef, I have never seen dates on a stem before! Strangely enough, I had dinner recently and had dates on two of the dishes... I like dates better than I like prunes.

Carroll said...

Interesting! I've never seen them like that either, but can really visualize the long sprays of them hanging down from a palm tree.

For our holiday breakfast I experimented with the easily-googled "Bacon Baklavah" recipe, and ohmydeargoodness was it ever delicious. The layering between the butter-brushed phylo sheets involved chopped dates, chopped crispy bacon, and chopped toasted almonds. The drizzle after baking was maple syrup, bourbon, and orange zest instead of the usual honey.

Hardly any calories in each piece, of course, but sooooo good! An excellent application of dates, in my opinion :-)

Single Guy Ben said...

"Everything's better with bacon." ;-)

Nate @ House of Annie said...

an edible centerpiece. Dates for dessert!

Re: your comment - yes, they sell frozen pandan leaves in the Asian grocery stores. Sometimes you even see people selling live pandan plants at the Asian malls. I wouldn't use them to make pandan chiffon cake, though.

Passionate Eater said...

Oh gosh, I love dates. I used to live near Indio, CA (where there is a Date Festival). You have to try the soft dates coated with coconut. They go down real smooth.