Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Starfruit and Lime
I've had this star fruit tree for almost two years now. When I bought it, it had only three leaves on it and was rather pathetic looking. It's come a long way since then and even bloomed once. However, I expect that it will be a least a year or two (if ever) before it starts fruiting. It loses plenty of leaves during the winter time, but when I set it outside in late May, it seems to bounce back pretty well. I also need to put more effort into fertilizing it regularly. Has anyone grown star fruit successfully as a houseplant?
In other news, I came across this little fella the other day while watering my citrus plants. It's my first Kaffir lime. It looks like a little brain doesn't it? I hadn't been paying much attention to my potted trees this past summer and it appears that this one has been growing for quite some time now. The lime itself has no real culinary value but the plant's leaves are used in Indian and Thai cooking. If anyone has a tasty recipe that utilizes Kaffir lime leaves, please do share!
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I have a delicious Malay/South African marinade thta has these lime leaves in it - for lamb (do you eat lamb?), for barbecuing...I'll send along as soon as I've typed it. I also like their citrus-bitterness in tom yum soup.
ReplyDeleteVery impressed by your star fruit tree. I climbed one once in sunny Florida, to pick the fruit. It seemed magical.
Star fruit Thomas, oh wow! I've been trying to get my sister to grow one in Miami for years. She does not share my love of the fruit. Congrats on your tropical fruit, you star!
ReplyDeleteAre those limes sour? I don't have a good recipe with the leaves, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteVery cool looking lime! I remember eating star fruit as a kid, but it's been decades since I've had it.
ReplyDeleteI'm just in awe of your ability to grow these trees. I've never had kaffir lime, but have heard of it.
ReplyDeleteThomas, your garden variety always astounds me! You are amazing. The brain lime is really neat. Seems like the fruit should be usable for something, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the seed info, I have added it to my garden notes for 2011. Have you been busy thinking and planning for next year too?
I've got a couple of lovely recipes that use Kafir Lime leaves - I'll get them typed up and send them to you. Enjoy! :)
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a starfruit before. I hope it will grow some fruits for you soon!
ReplyDeleteI saw that lime and wondered if it was a baby breadfruit. Not that I know what a baby breadfruit looks like. I've only seen them growing as adults. I hope you find something interesting to do with it.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple that are 'go to' in my house. Let me hunt them down (I'm pretty sure they are written down somewhere) and send them to you.
ReplyDeleteThomas, I emailed you a recipe using the lime leaves.
ReplyDeleteI use lime leaves like I use bay leaves (and in any Thai recipe I happen to try out). You're wrong about the limes themselves though, Thomas: even though they are seedy, what little juice you can extract, brings lots of brightness to any dish requiring tart accents, and the zest is truly lovely, much less bitter than regular lime zest.
ReplyDeleteI grow Kaffir lime and have used the fruit rind when lime zest is called for in a recipe. It's very flavorful. The leaves can be used in all sorts of Thai dishes, mainly soups. Martha Stewart has a very good Sour Cream Cake recipe that utilizes lime juice and lime zest in her Fanny Farmer style cookbook but I always dice up the leaves very small and them instead. Since doing that, I've been adding Kaffir lime leaves to all kinds of baked goods. The little green flecks always get a lot of questions!
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