Persimmon Pie

Makes a 7 inch pie: Serves 4
(Note: It's important to make the crust first, because the persimmon filling will begin to thicken almost immediately after the fruit is blended.

MORE IMPORTANT NOTE: The Fruit must be totally ripe. FUYU persimmon can be eaten hard like an apple but NOT the HACHIYA variety. So eyeball the sign at the market. PERSIMMONS are only available in November. You bring them home, prop them up so they don't roll up on window sill and turn them every few days until they are soft as your cheek! The tannins could hurt you if this were not the case, in a HARD HACHIYA and you could get big ole lumps in your stomach. ^ Read above!

Directions for Crust
1/2 cup dry, raw pecans
1/4 cup raw almonds (I blanche with boiling water, takes 10 secs. then PEEL.)
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Medjool dates to sweeten and bind. (or honey to taste)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt or celtic or Himalayan salt Powdered in  mortar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, or vanilla powder
1 tablespoons agave nectar to sweeten or honey.

Put all dry ingredients into blender.
Remove seeds from dates. Put in blender.
Blend until ingredients are finely ground—but not powdery.
Add the agave or honey and blend for several seconds.
Pour into a pie plate and press into shape.
Set aside to make filling.

Filling: LEMON RIND and LEMON JUICE, 8 oz. of sour cream
4 ripe HACHIYA persimmons                                                                

Rinse very ripe,very soft persimmons, Slice in two, scoop out, being careful to REMOVE any hard, black seeds. Put seeds in water for two months, then plant in spring. Or put in some loose peat moss or soil, in a bag ( paper not plastic) in fridge in that little door inside the big door. Leave until spring. Toss those peel skins onto compost pile

Put fruit in blender with lemon and SOUR CREAM and blend until velvety smooth—about 15 seconds.
Pour blended persimmons into crust.You can use finely flaked coconut.

Allow to set, refrigerated, for several hours.
After slicing (the filling will be on the soft side), sprinkle with additional coconut.
Slice limes or lemons and garnish.

Adaptations For This Recipe
The Nut Crust Becomes Cookies

The ingredients for the nut crust are so good that they can be made into cookies! By adding another 1/2 (or so) tablespoon of agave nectar, the crust ingredients will hold together to form into nut-balls. These cookies taste almost like candy!

Pudding with Nutty Topping
It's fun to make this same dish using all the same ingredients, simply by putting everything together in a slightly different way. Grind the ingredients for the crust first, pour into a bowl. Blend the persimmons, lemon and cream in the blender, and pour directly into pretty dessert dishes. Sprinkle the crust ingredients over the top. (If you have any extra, make a few cookies.) Allow pudding to set for an hour.

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