Handling Tips and Recipe Ideas
Storing and Ripening Fruit
Our fruits are picked ripe and ready to enjoy, so the key question comes down to whether you like your fruit firm…or soft.
If you like firm fruit with lots of flavour, then you’ll find The Chosen Ones® are perfect for you. Ripe and delicious even when firm, you can hold their firmness in the refrigerator.
If you like softer fruit with lots of flavour, then The Chosen Ones® are also good for you. Simply place your fruit in the fruit bowl until it is soft and to your liking.
A Word About Juiciness
Stone fruit lovers have different preferences for how they like their stone fruit – particularly when it comes to juiciness. At The Chosen Ones®, our high flavour varieties deliver a different ‘juiciness experience’ depending on your preference.
If you like eating your nectarines on the go, then our ‘modern style’ of The Chosen Ones® nectarines are perfect for you. They are delicious straight from the store and because they are firm, they hold the juice in their cells. They still taste sweet and juicy… but without the juice dripping down your arm… making them perfect for snacking or eating on the run.
If you prefer a juicier nectarine, then our ‘modern style’ of The Chosen Ones® nectarines will also work for you. Simply place them in your fruit bowl and let them soften a few days. Softer fruit releases its juice, creating a drip down your arm juice experience.
‘Traditional’ Stone Fruit: Storage Tips
As growers, we often talk about stone fruit being ‘modern’ or ‘traditional’. The Chosen Ones® grows more ‘modern’ varieties, which make buying a great tasting piece of fruit easier. However, there are still plenty of ‘traditional’ nectarines around, so if you can’t find The Chosen Ones®, here are some handy tips for success with ‘traditional’ nectarines.
Most stone fruit you can buy is picked firm – but with the potential to ripen in the fruit bowl. So if you bought ‘traditional’ nectarines and they are very firm or hard to the touch, the best place to store them is in your fruit bowl. Old style nectarines get softer, sweeter and juicier as they ripen, so in the fruit bowl at ambient temperatures is the best place. Never store a ‘traditional’ style of nectarine in the refrigerator as it can turn dry/mealy/floury.
Recipe Ideas
The Chosen Ones® nectarines taste amazing eaten out of hand. Since they are so delicious, here are a few more ways to enjoy them as more than just a snack.
2 pieces of The Chosen Ones® nectarines, stones removed and cut into thin slices.
1.5 cups orange juice
6 icy pole moulds
Divide nectarine slices between the icy poles, fill with orange juice and freeze overnight.
4 pieces The Chosen Ones® nectarines
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
½ cup orange juice
To serve: ricotta, raisin bread
Cut each fruit into 8-10 wedges. Melt butter in non-stick frying pan, add the sugar, orange juice and cook gently for 3 minutes. Add the fruit and continue cooking for 4-5 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the juice has reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency. Toast the raisin bread and spread with ricotta. Top with glazed fruit.
6 pieces The Chosen Ones® nectarines.
Halve the fruit and remove the stones. Place cut side up in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake, uncovered, at 200C for 25-30 minutes minutes or until the fruit has softened, started to shrivel and turned golden brown. Once cooked, these are incredibly versatile.
– Serve with Greek yoghurt for breakfast or with ice cream for an easy dessert.
– Place on top a green salad topped with crumbled feta and plenty of ground pepper.
– Quarter pieces and add to antipasto platter with olives, cheeses and salami.
1 small onion
1 small red chilli or 2 Tbsp Thai chilli sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped The Chosen Ones® nectarines
(approx 2-3 nectarines)
¼ cup fresh coriander leaves
½ cup sour cream or Greek yoghurt
Finely chop the onion and chilli. Heat oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the onion and chilli until softened. And nectarines and continue cooking and stirring occasionally until nectarines are softened and hot. Remove from heat and stir in coriander and sour cream/yoghurt. Serve while still warm on chicken, fish or fresh potato wedges.
60g turkey steaks
6 thin slices pancetta
3 pieces The Chosen Ones nectaries – stone removed
and diced into 1cm pieces
1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
Watercress leaves
2 tbsp chives, cut into 1cm pieces
1 buffalo mozerella, roughly torn into pieces
2 baby cos lettuce
Dressing:
1/4 cup walnut oil
2tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
season with salt and pepper.
Place a frypan over med-high heat, add 1 tbsp oil, season turkey steaks with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes each side until just cooked through. Remove from heat and cool, cut into 1cm dice.
Add the pancetta to the hot pan and cook for 1-2 minutes each side until crispy. Remove from heat and roughly chop.
Place turkey in a large bowl, add nectarines, walnuts, watercress leaves, chives and mozerella.
For the dressing place oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper into a small bowl, whisk to combine, pour over the salad and toss to combine well. .
Remove leaves from the cos lettuce and place on a platter, divide the salad between the leaves and top with chopped pancetta.
3 The Chosen One Nectarines – stone removed and cut into 1cm dice
8 lychees, stone removed and roughly chopped, juices preserved.
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp mint, fine shredded
1 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp coconut sugar
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
4 x 180g John Dory fillets
1 bunch young asparagus
1 bunch brocolini
Add nectarines, lychees and juices, chilli and mint into a small bowl. Mix together fish sauce, lime juice and sugar and toss through nectarine mixture.
Season fish with salt and pepper. Heat a frypan over a medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp of coconut oil and place fish in skin side down, cook for 3 minutes until skin is crispy, turn over and cook for a further minute until cooked through.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, season with some salt and add asparagus and broccolini, blanch for 1-2 minutes, drain. Serve hot vegetables with fish topped with Nectarine Salsa.
