October 2019 - Road To Homesteading

Foraging for Pawpaw Fruit in Pennsylvania

It is mid-September, and that means it is Pawpaw Season!!! This past weekend I took a trip to a local pawpaw patch in southwestern Pennsylvania to explore and forage for some pawpaw fruit.

Processing Pawpaws
https://roadtohomesteading.com/processing-pawpaws/
Pawpaw Kombucha Recipe
https://roadtohomesteading.com/pawpaw-kombucha/

Books on Pawpaws: (affiliate):
For the Love of Paw Paws: https://amzn.to/2pqOjc7
Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit: https://amzn.to/2mYzKeT
The Fruit Forager’s Companion: https://amzn.to/2mYUrr7
THE POCKET PAWPAW COOKBOOK: https://www.motherearthnews.com/store/product/the-pocket-pawpaw-cookbook

Books on Foraging: (affiliate):
Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide https://amzn.to/3hHAAne
Northeast Foraging https://amzn.to/305784q
Foraging Cookbook https://amzn.to/304frgU
Forage, Harvest, Feast: A Wild-Inspired Cuisine https://amzn.to/3hD69OX
Wild Berries & Fruits Field Guide of IN, KY, OH https://amzn.to/302akxC
Foraging with Kids https://amzn.to/2BDsrRi

Wineberry Cobbler

The wineberry is in the Rubis family like the raspberry and blackberries. The wineberry is less seedy than the blackberry in my opinion, and has a sweet hint of citrus flavor. The berries ripen around mid-July here in Pennsylvania. The wineberries have hairy bristles (unlike the hard thorns on blackberries and raspberries), a sticky bright red-orange berry that is covered by a calyx, and a large leaf in the center with two smaller leaflets on each side that are a white color on the underside. This is an invasive and non-native berry in North America, and originates from Japan and eastern Asia.

Wineberry Cobbler

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

45 mins

Ingredients

3 cups Wineberries
1 1/4 cup Sugar
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 cup Self-rising flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 stick Un-salted butter 1/2 cup
2 tsp vanilla flavoring divided
1/4 cup water
1 tsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnomon

Instructions

Add your berries to a container that has a lid. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar. Close the lid, and give the berries a light shake. Set aside for 1 hour.
Pre-heat over to 425F
In a 13- x 9-inch baking dish add berries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, lemon juice, cornstarch, and sprinkle cinnamon generously over the top. Stir ingredients together.
Place the dish in the over for 10 minutes.
In a sauce pan bring the water to a boil.
Cut butter in to small pieces.
In a large bowl combine the flour, 1/2 sugar, baking powder, salt, 1 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste), 1 tsp of vanilla, and butter.
Slowly add the boiling water and mix ingredients in to a batter.
Remove the berries from the oven.
With a spoon, carefully add scoops of the mixture over the top of the berries.
Bake for 30-45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes and continue until the top is a nice golden color, and the liquid is bubbling around the sides.
Remove from oven and let rest for 30 minutes.

Pawpaw Kombucha

If you are lucky enough to have a supply of Pawpaw fruit or know someone who does then this is a great fruit to add to your next Kombucha batch. This mango, strawberry custard-like flavored fruit is one of North America’s largest native fruits that grows in the eastern United States. In late fall the fruit ripens, and with only a short shelf life of 2-3 days, it is usually best to freeze the pulp or find a recipe to use the fruit in right away. Making Pawpaw flavored Kombucha is one of the ways I have used the pawpaw pulp to enjoy the pawpaw flavor after the pawpaw fruit season has ended.

Pawpaw Kombucha

Servings: 1 gallon

Ingredients

1 gallon Unflavored Kombucha
1 cup Pawpaw pulp

Instructions

In a 1 gallon jar, add the Pawpaw pulp to the Kombucha.
Give a few light stirs with a wooden spoon.
Cover your Kombucha with a thin cotton cloth, and secure with a rubberband.
Let the pawpaw pulp infuse for 1-2 days. Give the mix a stir 1-2 times during a day. Taste in between until you are happy with the flavor.
Strain and remove the pawpaw pulp.
Finally Bottle!