I bought a new book at the Farmer's Market. The Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carol Niethammer. I absolutely love this book. It describes in depth the nutritional traits of the cactus, how to harvest and process the cactus. This book also contains a variety of recipes using the cactus in beverages, main dishes, dessert, and everything in between. I don't want to break copyright law or anything so I'm going to tell you what I did to 200 prickly pear that I picked.
How I Harvest Prickly Pear
I keep tongs and plastic bags in my car. When my kids nap or when I come across a really good cactus while driving around town, I stop and pick the tunas (fruit) off with my tongs. Each tuna has long sharp thorns and glochids, small patch of fuzzy thorns that was so small you can barely see them. But you can definitely feel them. Always having tweezers available is a must.
Upon arriving home, I either freeze the tunas in a 2 gallon zip loc bag or I begin to process them.
How I Process Prickly Pear
I put 30 tunas in a strainer and run water over them turning them with my tongs. I then put them in boiling water for a few minutes. Take them out of the boiling water with tongs and put them in my Vitamix. Blend on high for 30 seconds or so. Pour into strainer with a cheese cloth. Mix the juice substance to help the juice flow through the colander. I put the seeds and pulp in the compost or outside so the birds can enjoy it. Put the juice in large mason jars and store in refrigerator or freezer depending on how quickly you will use it.
Now the juice/nectar is ready to make lemonade, jelly or syrup.
The sky is the limit with what you can do with the juice. I'll let you know when I decide what to do with it. For me, 200 prickly pear fruit made 5 quarts of juice.
How I Harvest Prickly Pear
I keep tongs and plastic bags in my car. When my kids nap or when I come across a really good cactus while driving around town, I stop and pick the tunas (fruit) off with my tongs. Each tuna has long sharp thorns and glochids, small patch of fuzzy thorns that was so small you can barely see them. But you can definitely feel them. Always having tweezers available is a must.
Upon arriving home, I either freeze the tunas in a 2 gallon zip loc bag or I begin to process them.
How I Process Prickly Pear
I put 30 tunas in a strainer and run water over them turning them with my tongs. I then put them in boiling water for a few minutes. Take them out of the boiling water with tongs and put them in my Vitamix. Blend on high for 30 seconds or so. Pour into strainer with a cheese cloth. Mix the juice substance to help the juice flow through the colander. I put the seeds and pulp in the compost or outside so the birds can enjoy it. Put the juice in large mason jars and store in refrigerator or freezer depending on how quickly you will use it.
Now the juice/nectar is ready to make lemonade, jelly or syrup.
The sky is the limit with what you can do with the juice. I'll let you know when I decide what to do with it. For me, 200 prickly pear fruit made 5 quarts of juice.
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