Baked Tomatoes with Basil & Parmesan Recipe

Ingredients for Baked Tomatoes with Basil & Parmesan Recipe:
3 large vine-ripe tomatoes
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs, roughly 12 tablespoons
2 garlic cloves, minced finely
1/4 minced herbs, use basil, parsley, or marjoram
3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan or asiago cheese, roughly 12 tablespoons
6 tablespoons of olive oil
For taste, use salt and black ground pepper

How to Make Baked Tomatoes with Basil & Parmesan Recipe:
Cut your tomatoes in half. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your tomatoes into a baking dish that has been oiled. Place the tomato cut sides upward. Combine all of your other ingredients and sprinkle the mixture over each tomato equally. Bake for 30 minutes or until each is crusty. Your freshly baked tomatoes will soften but will still hold their shape. Baked Tomatoes with Basil & Parmesan can be made as a side dish or chopped into small pieces and served over pasta. You can also add 2 or 3 chopped anchovies for a Neapolitan taste.

Grilled Garlic Bread with Fresh Tomato Relish

Ingredients for Grilled Garlic Bread with Fresh Tomato Relish:
1 pound fresh tomatoes, sliced, peeled with no seeds
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil or oregano leaves
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt and ground black pepper for taste
Bruschetta or Crostini

How to Make Grilled Garlic Bread with Fresh Tomato Relish:
Take all your ingredients except the bread and mix in a bowl. Marinate your mixture for 30 minutes at room temperature. Grill bruschetta or crostini in the oven or you do not need to grill at all. Spread your fresh tomato relish over your brushetta and serve. This recipe makes 6 servings, but can be spread thinly over 8 or 10 servings. The above picture is of Fresh Tomato Relish on salmon. This recipe can be used with chicken, beef, salmon, bread, and eggplant.

The Fruit Orchard Recipe Blog consists of recipes supplied by employees, friends, and customers of Ruma Fruit & Gift Basket World.

Fresh Mozzarella with Herbs

I love eating fresh mozzarella, and there is nothing better than tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella with salt and pepper. Some people enjoy balsamic vinegar with their fresh mozzarella, but too much balsamic vinegar can ruin the taste for me. A great recipe to try out would be Fresh Mozzarella with Herbs Marinated.

Ingredients for Fresh Mozzarella with Herbs:

1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (I get the fresh mozzarella balls at the supremarket, but they have them prepacked too)
2 tablespoons fresh schredded basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and ground black pepper for taste
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Grilled bread or Crostini

How to Make Fresh Mozzarella with Herbs:

Drain the fresh mozzarella and slice each ball very thin or as desired. Overlap the fresh mozzarella cheese slices in a large dish or baking pan. Mix all ingredients to make a paste. Cover each mozzarella slice with the marinade. At this point, cover your dish tightly and put your fresh mozzarella creation into the refrigerator for at least two hours. Create serving sizes with the Crostini and place your marinated fresh mozzarella onto the Crostini. Serves 4 - 6 people. Enjoy!

Stuffed Artichokes Recipe

I am a huge fan of stuffed artichokes. Both my grandmothers boil artichokes and stuff them with real stuffing or bread crumbs. This is one of those recipes that I could never master, and no one can make stuffed artichokes better than my grandmothers. As a kid, I would watch my father peel off the artichokes leaves and carefully scrape them with his teeth. Even as I become an advocate for stuffed artichokes, it took years before I could eat them like my dad. To this day, he will hover over my discarded artichoke leaves and insist there is more meat on them. Of course, this taught me to do a once over on all those artichoke leaves before I had officially given up on finding more delicious artichoke meat on the them. The best part of stuffed artichokes is the artichoke heart filled with stuffing. After all the leaves are eaten and officially inspected by my father for leftovers, I grab a fork and dig into the artichoke heart. This is when the last of the artichoke leaves tend to be have sharp prickled edges and I do not recommend eating those. mmmmmm.... Perhaps I will request stuffed artichokes from my grandmother this Memorial Day Weekend. Most of my dinner requests go unanswered, but sometimes Nana will surprise me and make me one of my favorite meals. For those of you that cannot request stuffed artichokes from my grandmother, I have provided this recipe for you to try out.

Ingredients for Making Stuffed Artichokes:
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt or powder
1 teaspoon of onion salt
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese
4 cups of water
4 large artichokes

Cooking Instructions for Making Stuffed Artichokes:
OK, let us start by combining all of your ingredients into a large bowl. Put your artichokes and water aside. Pour the water in a pot. Cut off the stems to the artichokes and peel off the first layer of artichoke leaves. The small ones near the bottom to be more specific. Cut off the top part of the artichoke, at least 1/4 inches off. Shake off the excess water and spread artichoke leaves to stuff your ingredient mixture into each set of leaves. place your stuffed artichokes into pot. Cover your artichokes and bring the pot to a boil. After about 5 minutes, you can lower the heat and simmer your stuffed artichokes for about an hour. To check to see if your stuffed artichokes are done, attempt to peel off a leaf and see if it pulls off easily. Serve your stuffed artichokes warm or cold. Warm is always better! Enjoy!

Apple Crisp Recipe

Apple Crisp Recipe

Submitted by
Kelly Curry of Syracuse, NY


• 7 Mac Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 4 tspns fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tspn vanilla
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup butter


Preheat oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss to combine. Layer sliced apples in a 9 x 12 inch baking pan. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a bowl. Cut in butter. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples. Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender. Serves 8 people. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Dandelion Greens with Garlic Recipe

This recipe of delicious dandelion greens serves 4 and can be easily used as a side dish as well.

Ingredients for Dandelion Greens Recipe:
3 tablespoons of pork, chicken, duck, goose, or bacon fat
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 1/2 pounds of tender dandelion greens (prepare in small pieces
1/2 cup of stock (chicken, beef, ham, pork, turkey, or duck)
Salt and pepper for tasting
Some people also add hot pepper sauce or pepper vinegar

Cooking Instructions for Dandelion Greens Recipe:
Clean and trim all dandelion greens prior to cooking. Try and cut into small pieces. When you are ready, heat fat into a large pan or skillet, then add garlic while stirring. At this time add the dandelion greens, add stock, and cook partially covered for around 2 minutes. Then uncover the skillet and until the dandelion greens are tender and almost all the liquid has evaporated. This may take up to 3 or 4 minutes depending on the size of the dandelion greens. If your liquid has evaporated before the dandelion greens had time to become tender, add more stock. Then season with salt and pepper. Add more garlic if you prefer or try hot sauce or pepper vinegar. This Dandelion Green Recipe is fantastic and is very easy to make and prepare.

Thank you for visiting the The Fruit Orchard Recipe Blog from Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World.

Marinated Shrimp with Lemon and Olives

I recently went to Bertucci's for Mother's Day with my Mom, Aunt, Uncle, and Grandparents. We are very Italian and of course most of us ordered seafood. My mom, aunt, grandmother, and grandfather ordered the shrimp sciampi or Rossini. I went a step further and wanted the lobster and shrimp spaghetti. So when I came across this recipe for Marinated Shrimp with Lemon and Olives I was intrigued. It looks so easy to make. Do I dare cook it myself? Probably not, this is me now. I don't cook. I share and then see if others make it and then invite me over. This works well with my sister. Anyway...here is this delicious Marinated Shrimp Recipe with Lemon and Olives. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Marinated Shrimp with Lemon and Olives:
1 1/2 Pounds of Medium Shrimp
2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Large Garlic Clove, Crushed
1 Tablespoon Fresh Minced Parsley
1 Tablespoon Fresh Minced Chives
1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Chilies
1/2 Cup Nicoise or Kalamata Olives (Try not to eat prior to cooking!)
1 Lemon, Cut into Slices
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Cooking Instructions for Marinated Shrimp with Lemon and Olives:

Start with a large pot of boiling water. Cook your shrimp for about 2 minutes and then drain them. Peel and devein carefully. Place your shrimp into a large bowl with all of the ingredients minus the salt and pepper into a large bowl. Cover your bowl of shrimp with plastic wrap or tin foil and cool for an hour. For extra marinating, leave your shrimp in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to serve, place onto dish with garnish and lemon slices. Add salt and ground black pepper as needed.

For ordering lobster, fresh from Maine go to Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World would like to wish every mom and soon-to-be-moms a very Happy Mother's Day!
Enjoy your day...You deserve it!

The Papayas Are Here! The Papas are Here!

Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World is proud to announce that this month's Fruit of the Month Papayas are being shipped out today. For those of you that receive Fruit of the Month shipments from Ruma's Fruit & Gift Basket World, you should be receiving your papayas within 1-3 business days. All Fruit of the Month shipments should be complete by Friday, May 9. If you do not receive your papayas by Friday, please call our Gift Basket Headquarters at (800) 252-8282. Regardless of choosing the Traditional Fruit of the Month Plan or the Deluxe Fruit of the Month Plan, all recipients that are set to receive a box of fruit for the month of May, will receive their papayas by Friday. Stayed tuned for great papaya recipes to follow in the coming days.

Recipe for Cranberry Goodin Pudding

Ingredients for Cranberry Goodin Pudding:
1 Cup Fresh Cranberries
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Sugar (Used at different intervals)
1/4 Cup Chopped Nuts
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Butter (Melted)
2 Tablespoons Butter (Melted - Used Later)

Baking Instructions for Cranberry Goodin Pudding:
Grease an 8 inch pie pan and spread cranberries over the bottom. sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat egg well. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour and melted butter to egg and sugar mixture. Beat well and pour over cranberries. Bake your Cranberry Goodin Pudding in 325 degree oven for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. This Cranberry Goodin Pudding Recipe serves well with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Ruma Fruit suggests trying both!