Guava glut - A CSA windfall...

For the last 2 shares, my CSA box has included guavas, and I see that I will have *more* again tomorrow. For the first week, I just enjoyed the aroma, which is intoxicating....and then the fruits rotted and I ditched them. I actually ate one raw, and was very disappointed in the flavor....it was a ghost of the aroma, and the fruit was so filled with incredibly hard, unyielding seeds as to be inedible.

The next time, I made a syrup from them, and ended up with about a cup and a half of heavy, very tasty sugar/guava syrup and some semi-candied shells. Of course, I'm still trying to figure out what do do with both of these...although I think the syrup could be destined for a cake.

As I said, more are coming tomorrow. The fruits I've been getting are small, very small, about the size of ping-pong balls, so the amount of the nasty, incredibly hard seeds is astonishing. You almost can't find any flesh around the seeds, and my razor-sharp and heavy chef's knife won't cut through the seeds, that's how hard they are.

I'm desperate. When I signed up for the CSA, I vowed not to waste anything that came in my share. I feel I didn't do justice to the first batch, and barely respected the second, given that the syrup and the candied shells are still lurking in my fridge.

What to do with more? And what to do with the already existing syrup and cooked shells? I'm open to salsas, chutneys, anything. I love Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Latin and American cuisines. I'm adventureous in the kitchen and willing to take risks...got ideas?

RobertaJ
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7 Comments

Raquelita
Raquelita January 15, 2011
Pickle thin slices and make into a spicy southeast-asian type salad, as if it were green mango or papaya? Use some chili and lime.
 
betteirene
betteirene January 14, 2011
Whenever I get a hankering to make something from my Filipino childhood, I turn to this guy first:

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/guava-jam

His recipes are in the body of his essays, which are accompanied by beautiful photos. Make sure to click the links for his first batch of guava jam, which was so firm that he called it "guava cheese," and for his guava jelly, which looks like gorgeous thick luscious honey.
 
lifestooshort
lifestooshort January 13, 2011
If you have jelly-making gear, guava jelly is fantastic! There are lots of recipes on the internet--I've never made it myself, but I've loved it since I was a kid. We used to eat it on English muffins with a thin slice of medium-sharp cheddar.
 
Sadassa_Ulna
Sadassa_Ulna January 13, 2011
tessa022707 has too many Meyer lemons; maybe you two can make some trades?
 
beyondcelery
beyondcelery January 13, 2011
They sell guava drinks in a lot of Asian markets. Maybe you can use your syrup with soda water, or mix up cocktails with it, or pour it over shaved ice. Granita is made by slowly freezing a sugar-based syrup; you could also try that.
 
melissav
melissav January 13, 2011
You can make guava paste which is delicious on its own with cheese or used in other recipes.

Guava Paste recipe - http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/94436/guava-paste-guayabate.

Recipes using guava paste -
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/guava-glazed-pork-tenderloin-with-cilantro-jalapeno-salsa

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/guava-paste-111622

Good luck!


Here are some other re
 
innoabrd
innoabrd January 13, 2011
It's a tough question. I used to get guavas when I lived in Swaziland. They're a weed and in the season I could buy a big bucket-full on the side of the road for under a dollar. As a Peace Corps volunteer, a deal was a deal...

I found that the easiest way to use them was to cook them down a bit and then run them through the food mill to get the seeds out.

In some respects, I find them similar to quince, and so liked to use them in savory stews with lamb. Sort of that north-african type flavour. Hope this helps, now that I'm no longer living on a volunteer's non-wages, I just don't bother with the damn things!
 
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