Selecting Summer Fruit
Peaches, plums, cherries and apricots are a few of summer's sweetest treasures that already at your local supermarket. I enjoy eating these fruits just as they are - fresh, sweet and full of juice. However, there are some recipes that make good use of them such Porks Chops with Nectarines.
Selecting Fruits
Apricots
When choosing fresh apricots, look for plump orange-colored fruits; some may have 'reddish cheeks'. Even when not fully ripe, apricots should yield to gentle pressure and exude a sweet fragrance; the skin should be smooth and velvety. Ripe apricots should be refrigerated and used as soon as possible and will likely only keep a day or two at the most. Don't wash apricots until you're ready to eat them.
Avoid: Any that have shriveled skin or bruises. Also avoid those tinged with green as they will never develop full flavor.
Cherries
To choose large (an inch or more in diameter) cherries, look for glossy, plump, dark colored, firm fruits with their stems intact. Bing cherries range from a purplish-mahogany color to nearly black. The stems should be fresh and green. Fresh cherries in good condition should keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, but check them occasionally and remove any that have begun to go bad.
Avoid: Cherries without stems, as the resulting skin break presents an opportunity for decay to begin or cherries that are sticky through juice leakage.
Nectarines
Choose brightly colored and fragrant nectarines that yield to gentle thumb pressure, especially along the seam. Firm or moderately hard fruits will ripen in two or three days if kept at room temperature in a loosely closed paper bag, away from sunlight. A rosy blush is not an indication of ripeness, merely a varietal characteristic. By the way, white nectarines are significantly sweeter than the yellow variety.
Avoid: Rock hard or greenish fruit as well as fruit that are too soft or shriveled
Peaches
Look for plump, medium to large peaches with unwrinkled skins. Choose fruits that yield slightly to pressure along the "seam," even if they may otherwise be fairly firm and are mildly fragrant. When you sniff the stem end, a ripe peach will smell very sweet and peachy
The perfect peach is ripened on a tree. Once picked, peaches do not get any sweeter although they will become softer and juicier as they mature.
Avoid: Undertones of green indicate the peaches were picked too soon and will not ripen properly and won't be sweet.
Plums
Plums should be plump and well colored for their variety. If the fruit yields to gentle pressure, it is ready to eat. Ripe plums can be refrigerated for up to three days however, remember that they will be juiciest and sweetest at room temperature.
Avoid: Plums with shriveled skin, mushy spots, or breaks in the skin.