Sonia Tastes Hawaii

Tropical Still Life

I visited the Volcano Farmers Market really early on Sunday morning and came away with all sorts of great stuff...among them these mangoes and the cutest tiny little bananas ever...

I got the mangoes from Marla and Pete Hunter - Eke Nui Nursery in Na'alehu - with names like Mapuleha, Golden Glow, Manzanillo and Gouveia and many more, their booth was deliciously looking.... We ate the MaPulehas last night before I took the photo...they were gorgeous and very fragrant and sweet.

The tiny fat 'naners I got from Debbie Ward of the La'iku Organic Farm in Kurtistown are called 'silk bananas' and Debbie said the green ones can be fried as you would plantains... I'm letting some ripen to eat as fruit and tonight I will cook some of the green ones as veggies...

The round yellow fruit in front center is a passionfruit picked from our yard

Cacao - From Tree to Chocolate

Chocolate making is spreading on the Big Island!

There are several farmers on Hawai’i Island planting varieties of Theobroma cacao trees that produce cacao seeds or pods from which cocoa and chocolate is made. The best known varieties are Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario which is a hybrid mix of both Criollo and Forastero.

 

The quality of the chocolate depends on the variety of the tree, and Criollo is considered the best chocolate producing trees.

I recently participated in a fun one-day chocolate making workshop that took us from harvesting the cacao pods to making the chocolate and all the steps in between.

 

We arrived at the site early on a beautiful, sunny but breezy morning and were given a short orientation talk by Tom Sharkey, the owner of the little farmstead and a coffee and cacao grower.

Our group got paired up in teams of twos, one picking the pods and the other carrying a burlap sack to put them in. As we walked through the cacao grove, Tom explained and demonstrated what to look for and how to pick. He explained how the trees need to be trimmed by cutting all but the main trunk as the little trees grew to make it easier to harvest.

 

 

The pods are harvested approximately every two weeks and the ‘ripe’ stage can be red, yellow, orange or mixed, depending on the variety of cacao tree. We harvested approximately 300 pods that morning.  

As sacks were filled and dumped into a wheelbarrow they were taken to the shed where the processing started.

 

We were taught how to open the pods by giving them one or two sharp blows with a mallet and how to shuck the pods by removing the placentas with the seeds. Each pod can contain anywhere from 30 to 40 seeds.

After all the pods were opened and shucked, the seeds were placed in a large plastic container with drainage in the bottom to collect the juices. We were given ice-cold juice from a previous harvest to taste and found it delicious. The empty pods are recycled as composting material and nothing is wasted.

 

 

After the juices are drained, the beans are placed in a different container to ferment for 5 to 7 days, turning them each day, making sure that the beans are heating up.

After fermenting comes the drying stage; the beans are turned onto a mesh bottom drying rack in a single layer, in a well ventilated area and stirred daily. This process can take up to 6 days, depending on heat and air circulation, but dryness can be tested by opening a bean.

 

 

 

The dried beans need to be ground or cracked using a machine called Crackenstein or for small batches just simply a rolling pin. Tom has a machine he rigged up to separate the dried husks from the nibs, but a regular hand-held hair dryer can be used when processing small batches.

 

When roasting small batches of nibs, set a toaster oven at 425oF and roast for 9 minutes, then down to 325oF for another 9 minutes and finally bring the temperature down to 259oF for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To grind the nibs a large Champion juicer can be used or a peanut butter machine to turn the nibs into paste. The paste is then placed in a Santha wet grinding-mixing machine for conching, for 2 to 4 days, adding sugar and vanilla slowly after paste is liquefied (about 12 hours). At this point you may also add cocoa butter and lecithin (emulsifier), but we didn’t add anything but sugar and vanilla to our batch.

Sugar can be adjusted according to your taste. Our dark chocolate was made using 75% cacao to 25% sugar.

 

 

 

 

To temper, the chocolate should be brought up to 115 to 120 degrees, then removed from heat and cooled to approximately 82 F. Bring the temperature back to 88-90 degrees and maintain while pouring into molds by working quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squirt bottles work well for pouring the liquid chocolate into the molds. To minimize air bubbles, first tap the squirt bottle and after pouring, tap the molds to remove as many bubbles as possible. Chill for about 15 to 20 minutes to set and pop loose from mold.

Each participant left on a chocolate high with a few packages of the chocolate and a potted one foot Criollo variety of cacao tree.

For more information on Tom Sharkey’s chocolate making workshops contact him at tshark@hawaii.rr.com Tom also runs Sharky's Cafe on the first block of Waianuenue Avenue in downtown Hilo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary:

Cacao: the name of the tree and the pod, not to be confused with cocoa a product derived from processing the cacao beans

Nibs: the clean, roasted and slightly crushed cacao bean. The taste is slightly bittersweet and richer than the chocolate made from them.

Conching: the process by which the chocolate is processed to avoid grittiness by keeping the chocolate in a hot liquid state until completely smooth.

Tempering: the final process which gives the chocolate a satiny and glossy finish by removing all crystallization from the liquid.

Recommended reading:

The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Chocolate with Recipes by Maricel Presilla

Naked Chocolate: The Astonishing Truth about the World’s Greatest Food by David Wolfe

Open-faced Eggplant Sandwich

I've had this idea in the back of my mind for a long time and decided finally to make it today.  I think I can improve on it a little bit, but at least, this was good on the first try.

Our eggplants are doing great in the garden and I've been trying to come up with different things to make with them.  The eggplant I found today was not too big, but firm and really tender.

We had some 99% fat free multi-grain wheat bread in the freezer, so I took 2 slices out to thaw.  The slices are a bit bigger and wider than regular sliced bread. 

I cut the eggplant in slices about 1/4" thick, dipped them in milk and then in seasoned white cornmeal. 

Sautéed the slices in a small amount of olive oil, then when turned over I placed a slice of sorf mozzarella on each slice of eggplant and continued cooking until cheese had melted - I actually left it just a tad too long, but it was still fine.  Next time I will cover the pan and let it sort of steam a bit so the cheese will be soft and slightly melted but not cooked.

Meantime the bread slices were put in the George Foreman grill so it could toast with the grill marks on it.  After they were done I brushed the top of the bread slices with garlic infused olive oil.

On the dinner plate, place a lettuce leaf and then one of the slices of the bread.  On the bread, at an angle, place a slice of ggplant and mozzarella.  Add bits of  sun-dried tomatoes marinated in oil and a couple of sprigs of fresh basil.  Top with another slice of eggplant and mozzarella and repeat with the sun-dried tomato and basil.

I added a sprig of watercress to the plate as an edible garnish.  A delicious and easy, light summer meal.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Since I made the ricotta night before last, I've been dreaming of making Eggplant Parmigiana using my own garden grown eggplants and herbs, my homemade ricotta and my own roasted tomato sauce...(Move over Martha....!)

Yesterday was a sort of complicated day, and it wasn't until this afternoon that I could spend a little bit of time in the kitchen.

My version of this dish is just a little bit different than most in that I like to dip the eggplant slices in beaten eggs and then in seasoned panko before frying.  I use a mixture of ricotta and sour cream for 'creaminess' and a mixture of good olive oil and vegetable oil for the frying.

Eggplant Parmigiana

 

Eggplants - sliced about 1/4 inch thick

Eggs - beaten

Panko - seasoned to taste

Ricotta

Sour cream

Herbs - chopped

Eggs - beaten

Seasonings - to taste

Roasted tomato sauce - click on link

Parmesan cheese - grated

 

 

Mixture of olive oil and vegetable oil to fry the eggplant slices

 

Slice the eggplants about 1/4 inch thick.  You may peel or not, depends on your own taste.  I leave them on.  Dip the eggplant slices in the beaten egg, then in the seasoned pank.  Fry at medium-high until golden.  Drain.

 

 

 

Mix ricotta, sour cream, chopped herbs (I used basil and fresh oregano), eggs (I used the leftover beaten eggs from dipping the eggplant slices) and seasonings together.

 

 

 

Start layering fried eggplant slices on a baking dish or gratin pans.  Spread with some of the cheese mixture, then a thin layer of the tomato sauce, sprinkle with Parmigiano (I had a chunk of Parmigiano-Romano which I grated).  Repeat layers as needed.

 

 

If using gratin pans, you might be able to do only one layer.  My deep-sided glass baking dish let me do three layers - I started with 3 small eggplants and 1 pound of the ricotta.

I topped it by sprinkling with the leftover seasoned panko.

 

 

Baked at 350 F for about 45 minutes.  Let it rest about 10 minutes or so when you take out of oven before spooning or cutting.

 

 

The panko gives a nice crunchy texture to the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salad Days

When the summer is fiercer, we turn to salads. Almost any food is appropriate for making a salad.

Combine an assortment of greens, vegetables or fruit and almost in an instant, a salad is born. It is one of the easiest things to plan and make and in most instances, requires little or no cooking and very little time.

Some of the things we need to remember when making salads are quite basic:

Always wash greens and vegetables well before storing or using.

Dry greens gently so as not to bruise them and roll them up in clean kitchen or tea towels then place in refrigerator until ready to use or line your refrigerator crisper drawer or vegetable bin with several layers of paper towels (*) to absorb excess moisture.

 

Make sure the greens you use are perfectly dry and the dressing will cling better. A small salad spinner is a very good investment. Your greens will shed excess liquid and remain crisper longer after spinning dry.

Never use a knife to cut lettuce. Always tear it apart and it will not brown so quickly. Wrap tea towels or small kitchen towels around celery stalks and they will last crisper longer in the refrigerator.

Remember that you can’t freeze whole celery stalks, but you can if you cut them into small pieces. Store them, washed, dried and cut, in freezer quality plastic zipper type bags.

If you are fortunate enough to grow your own greens or salad vegetables, be sure to add four tablespoons of salt to a gallon of water when you are washing them. By washing off the greens in this solution, you will get rid of any uninvited little critters that came along for the ride.

Another good piece of advice to remember is, to keep salads fresh until guests arrive, cover with a damp, clean tea or kitchen towel and store in refrigerator. Also, to keep your salad fresher longer, don’t add the dressing until you are ready to serve….or better yet, let your guests serve their own dressing when they are ready to eat.

(*) At home we have eliminated using paper towels for several reasons, the biggest one being to live a ‘greener life’, conserve trees and using mostly things that are recyclable or can decompose in our compost pile.

Even though outdoor grills are a year-round fixture here in Hawai’i, we seem to rely on them more during the summer months, keeping the heat outdoors, where it belongs! The following are several recipes that are wonderfully simple to prepare, leaving you more time to spend sipping coolers by the beach.

 

GRILLED MOJITO SHRIMP-MANGO KEBABS

Try these dipped in the Papaya-Mango Salsa that follows. Yields 4 kebabs. Recipe can easily be doubled for larger groups.

1 cup No-Cook Mojito

1 teaspoon ground achiote seeds or paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 Tablespoon dark honey

3 large slightly green mangoes

2 large sweet onions

36 medium raw shrimp (about 2 pounds) shelled and deveined

For the glaze, combine first four ingredients in a small saucepan.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside. This can be done earlier in the day.

Cut mangoes and onions into chunks about 1/4 inch in diameter.

Thread onto skewers, alternating with the shrimp.

Allow your coals or gas grill to heat to medium (300oF-350oF).

Brush the grill rack with oil to prevent food from sticking.

Grill until shrimp is opaque, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Just before removing skewers from grill, brush both sides generously with the reserved glaze. Leave the kabobs over the fire just long enough for the glaze to color. Serve on a ti leaf covered platter.

NO-COOK MOJITO

Mojito (moh-hée-toe) is the seasoning of preference in the Caribbean.

It is used like ketchup in North America. All sorts of meats, fish, seafood and vegetables lend themselves to being sprinkled or smothered with mojito!

4 cups fresh squeezed Seville orange juice (*) about 20 oranges

Fresh squeezed juice of 4 limes

2 cups olive oil

12 cloves garlic, crushed

8 Tablespoons finely chopped onion

4 Tablespoons dry Sherry

4 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 cup minced fresh gingerroot.

Stir together the citrus juices and whisk in the oil, then the garlic, onion, sherry and spices. Last add the minced ginger.

Place in a bottle or jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate at least 1 day before using. Keeps in the refrigerator about 2 weeks

(*) Valencia oranges are quite tart. If not available, use equal portions of freshly squeezed orange and lime juices.

 

PAPAYA-MANGO SALSA

Complements fish, grilled shrimp, cold roast beef or chicken

1/2 papaya, peeled, seeded and cut into bite-size cubes

1/2 mango, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes

1 fresh jalapeño pepper seeded and minced

1 green onion, minced, with some of the green

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tablespoon finely chopped sweet red pepper

Papaya seeds to taste (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

The papaya seeds will impart a nice crunch and a mild peppery flavor.

If you would like to use this salsa as a dip, pour in the bowl of a processor or blender and process smooth.

 

 

How Does My Garden Grow...? update

I haven't done a garden update in a while....At this time everything is looking good!

Thank goodness the wild pigs haven't found us this year...(I know... I probably just jinxed it!)

 

Overview of garden - the total space of the garden is probably no more than 10 feet wide and about 30 to 35 feet long.  This is not counting the areas where we have some bananas, papayas and the Surinam cherry tree planted.

 
I like to mix colorful flowers with the herbs and veggies, some are edible and some are not.  We have two types geraniums (red and salmon), zinnias, mini-daylilies, two kinds of nasturtiums, snapdragons (pink and yellow) and orange and yellow marigolds.  The lavender blooms above with darn background are rom the garlic chives.

At this time we have plenty of dill, which is blooming profusely.  I cut some dill and saved in freezer baggies in the freezer to use as needed.

The strawberry bed produced a couple of dozen strawberries this first year and the bed is overflowing.  We need to either move them to a larger area or divide and share!

Our Roma tomatoes are producing steadily and we have harvested at least 15 or 20 already.

 
The lettuce mix is glorious and the nasturtiums keep on blooming.  Salads of lettuces, tomatoes and nasties are being eaten often.

 
The eggplants are now showing little fruit and this one plant is full of blooms and has 4 little eggplants showing.

 
The Malabar spinach vine is lush and prolific...I keep plucking leaves and it keeps growing.

 
The cherry tomato plants are huge.  You can't see them in this pic, but they are loaded with little green tomatoes.

Besides all of the above, we continue to harvest also Okinawan and Dawn Dewa (Moluccan) spinaches; we have plenty of sweet basil and a new planting of Thai basil.  The purple basil is there but not doing, much.  We need to move it.

We just planted a new rosemary besides the 4 older plants, which are beginning to show a new lease on life as well as the little bay/laurel plant which the pigs had destroyed...it is now showing new leaves!

The parsley is lush, the thyme and sage are thriving and we moved some of the Cuban oregano to a new place.  We have two different mints planted...Peppermint and Spearmint.

We haven't had enough rain this year, but so far I haven't had to water twice a day, as I had to in previous years...but the little evening and night rains we've had have been just enough to keep everything lush and green.

....and this is how my garden grows today!

Taste of Puna 2010

After a one-year hiatus, the Taste of Puna Cookoff was held once again this past May 15th.  Sorry I'm late with this post, but my computer was giving me all sorts of troubles and finally died....but you don't want to read about that...You want to know about the contest!

The entries in all three categories were all beautiful and delicious...the judges had a very good time tasting and it was hard to choose winners. 

Carl Okuyama,owner of Foodland in the Kea'au Shopping Center and founder of the Taste of Puna some 13 years ago; Valerie Ferrari, Director of Marketing for the shopping center and Steve Hansen, the 'Big Island Event Guy' did a great job of planning and coordinating this fun event.

The Taste of Puna stresses the use of Puna grown, raised or produced foods, and recipes were judged not only by taste, presentation and creativity but also by the use of locally grown products.

The Pupu Category:

1st Place - Noel Morata with his beautiful Fluffy Ravioli, Bok Choy and Papaya - these flat raioli were deliciously delicate and almost like 'stuffed crepes' with a papaya sauce drizzled over them.  This dish was a very elegant presentation.

2nd Place: Amanda Fergerstrom with her innovative Aunty Tita's Island Taco - fresh lettuce served as the wrap under the veggies which composed the filling.  Light and tasty topped with an avocado slice.  I would have loved a squirt of lime over it!

3rd Place - Lisa Velez with a local kine version of 'Taco Dejas' - a combination of Puerto Rican and Hawaiian ingredients plus their own garden tomatoes, ginger, limes and onions,  The masa for the pastry made use of taro flour.

 

The Entree Category:

1st Place - Peter Kaluna with a delicious Mauna Loa Morning brunch combination - almost a bit too much to eat, the judges could not get enough.   The French Taost was made with thick slabs of Hawaiian sweet bread dipped in egg batter and then in a mixture of chopped macadamia nuts, flaked coconut and ground up Corn Flakes all mixed and toasted.  Served along with the French Toast were Purple Sweet Potato Hash and "Lava Rocks" Goat Cheese, Puna "Best Bee's" Honey and Vanilla Creme Anglaise.  A carved papaya served as container for a rich Kea'au Papaya, Banana and Spirulina Smoothie.

2nd Place - Graciano del Mar with Ohelo Berry Coconut Shrimp - the use of ohelo berries was inspired in this delicately creamy and delicious shrimp presentation.

3rd Place - Bill Eger and a Paniolo Style Old Fashioned Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Salad - I loved the meat loaf cooked in the old fashioned black cast iron Dutch Oven. The mashed potatoes were very creamy and the use of their Mountain View home grown combination of Tellicherry black and red pepper gave it a distinct flavor.  The side of salad included watercress also grown in his home garden.

The Dessert Category:

1st Place - Sunserene Queveda with a wonderful Pumpkin Creme Brulee.  By far the best pumpkin flan or creme brulee I've ever tasted.  Sunserene grew the pumpkins herself and then roasted it to get a nice flavor.  I'm sure the creaminess and smooth texture was also due to the use of her own chikens' freshest eggs. 

2nd Place - Tiari Correa with her Guavalicious Guava Cheesecake - a combination of shortbread and cheesecake plus the creamy guava filling gave this delicious dessert three distinct textures.  A drizzle of guava syrup added a final touch.

3rd Place - Shane Hanaoka's ono Banana Liliko'i Upside-Down Cake - The youngest contestant has a bright future in the culinary world.  Shane is a first year student at the Hawai'i Community College School of Culinary Arts in Hilo.  Imua, Shane!

I know my fellow judges had as hard a time as I just tasting the entries.  The dishes were all so good we wouldn't have minded eating every last bit of each!

From Soil to Soul - Cooking with Aloha!

A couple of weeks ago tomorrow, we visited the North Kohala area of the Big Island as part of a series I'm working on about Farmers Markets all around the island for the Hawai'i HomeGrown Food Network

When I learned that on that same afternoon, Chef Donna Maltz was offering a cooking class using as much locally grown food as possible, we jumped on it to sign up for her Cooking With Aloha from Soil to the Soul class.

 
The location for the class was the beautiful octagonal shaped open kitchen at the Starseed Ranch.  There were 15 of us in that kitchen working at the same time, with each pair working on a different dish.  Chaotic you say? Not really!  Donna is such a pro that she could stop what she was doing while helping one team and look at your dish and know exactly where you were and what you needed to do!

 
We were assigned to make a Carrot Ginger Dill Slaw and it was delicious.

The menu was quite ambitious and the group made everything!

Beverage

Turmeric Ginger Lime Tonic

BYOL

 

Appetizer

Kale Chips

Savory Pie (recipe shared in link at the bottom)

 

Dinner

Cilantro Hamakua Beef Fillet w/Black Pepper & Fresh Horseradish

Crispy Coconut Cassava/Tapioca - was served with the Tri Tip fillet above

Pumpkin Taro - both mashed together

Spring Ratatouille w/Eggplant, zucchini & Waimai Tomatoes

Carrot Ginger Dill Slaw

Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

Roasted Beet Papaya Salad

 
 

 

Dessert

Fresh Hawaiian Strawberries, Banana, Pineapple, Papaya and Nispero

Accompanied by Hawaiian Honey Vanilla Glaze or AH!LASKA Organic Chocolate Syrup

Homemade Fresh Hawaiian Honey Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Macadamia Nut toasted Fresh Coconut Biscotti

 

Enjoying the food!

 

 

Chef Donna and her Sous Chef Rebecca Shipley shared a memorable evening with the group

 

 

Gallivanting in North Kohala

Savory Pie - Recipe from Saturday's Class

 

 

 

 

Savory Pie - Recipe from Saturday's class

 

 

I mentioned in my blog recently about the cooking class we attended on Saturday at the Starseed Ranch in Kapa'au.  This was a full participation class and everyone was assigned a dish, but we all had a chance to see what the others were doing as they were doing it.

 

There are actually several tricks or techniques in this recipe: 

* Mixing all the dry ingredients together in a bag saves time and clean-up.

* Make sure the butter is very cold.  In fact, frozen is fine.

* Make sure the liquid is also very cold,

* Using fresh lime juice instead of water when mixing the dough.

 

 

SAVORY PIE

 

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 cups COLD butter

1 1/2 cups COLD water/lime juice

 

A pinch of baking soda is optional, if you want the dough to be a bit more like a biscuit texture.

 

This is a large amount and recipe can be cut in half.  If you make a large batch, you can store in freezer in batches until needed.

 

Mix all dry ingredients in a large Ziploc bag, seal and shake thoroughly to mix all ingredients well.

 

Pour into the bowl of a food processor or mixer.

 

With motor running add the butter in chunks or broken pieces and process until all butter has been used.  Add the liquid little by little and process until the dough looks like crumbs.  Do not overwork.

 

For a kick in taste, use freshly squeezed lime juice instead of water.  The taste is incredible.

 

Dump the dough into the baking pan – we used a large lasagna pan with about 2 inch high sides – and make sure to pat it evenly to cover the bottom and sides.  Don’t overwork it.

 

Prick with the tines of a fork and bake for a few minutes.

 

Add the filling of your choice.  We used fresh-laid eggs, a bit of mayo, a bit of sour cream (mix well) then added sliced cherry tomatoes, chopped green onions, basil leaves and chopped kale.

 

Bake at 350 F until set.

 

Cut into serving pieces and serve.  We got about 20 squares from the size pan used.

 

Recipe source: Chef-owner Donna Maltz - Fresh Sourdough Express Restaurant & Memorable Experience B&B, Homer, AK

 

Cooking from the Garden

 
This past Saturday, my son Anthony and I spent all morning and part of the early afternoon at Mala'ai - Culinary Garden at Waimea Middle School with a fun group of people. 

The director and mainstay of the garden is Amanda Rieux who at one time worked with Alice Waters' Edible School Yard in Berkeley for four years. 

 

We had a great time. The group toured the garden; we picked greens; harvested cassava/yuca; harvested 'uala (sweet potatoes, both purple and... creamy yellow); fresh laid eggs were gathered and lots of other stuff which later was prepared, cooked and eaten right in the garden!

 The garden now has 2 small coops with chickens and we had the freshest eggs we've ever eaten made into an omelet with chopped fresh chives - both leaves and blossoms....the color of the yolks were incredibly yellow...and the taste was like I remember eggs tasting when I was growing up.

As part of a series of workshops at the garden, Amanda, with the help of Matilda Thompson, Alethea Lai and the participation of all of us and a bit of fresh garden magic, whipped up a simple, bountiful and delicious menu which had all of us ooohing and aaahing before we sat to the table.

 After the meal and while some of the group cleaned and washed up, a few of us helped weed and mulch some of the beds as we 'sang for our supper'...

The weather couldn't have been nicer and the day was perfect in every way!

Photo above: from bottom left, clockwise: Tapioca Pancake, Purple & Creamy Yellow Sweet Potatoes, Mixed Greens, Boiled Cassava ((Manihot esculenta aka yuca, tapioca), Chive Greens and Blossoms Omelet, Arugula - Pecan Pesto and Sauteed Kabocha Pumpkin with Fried Sage Leaves

Cooking from the Garden Menu

Kabocha Pumpkin and Fried Sage Leaves Sauté

Steamed 'Uala (sweet potato)

Tapioca Pancake - aka Yuca or Cassava

Assorted Mixed Greens - Collards, Kale, Amaranth, Basil, Tatsoi and Bok Choy

Fresh Eggs Omelet with Snipets of Chive Greens and Blossoms

Arugula - Pecan Pesto

Dipping Sauces

 

Arugula - Pecan Pesto

 

4 packed cups washed arugula - about 8 ounces

1 small garlic clove

1 cup chopped pecans (toasting optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt - or to taste

1 - 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or to taste)

1 - 2 Tablespoons (packed measure) golden raisins (or more)

5 - 6 Tablespoons extra-cirgin olive oil (possibly more)

 

Place the arugula, garlic, pecans and salt in a food processor (or use mortar and pestle) fitted with the steel blade.  Pulse until pulverized, adding lemon juice and raisins as you go.

Run the processor again, drizzling the olice oil in a steady stream.  When it reaches the consistency you prefer, stop and transfer to a small container with tight-fitting lid.  Taste to adjust seasonings. Cover the top of the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil to store.  Keep in refrigerator until needed.

 

Yields: about 1-1/3 cups

Source: "The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without" by Mollie Katzen - Hyperion Press

 

Dipping Sauce

Garlic Cloves

Chile Peppers

Sea Salt

Ginger (optional)

Cilantro or Parsley (optional)

Lime or Lemon juice (*)

Water - equal amount as lime juice

 

Smash garlic cloves, chiles and salt in a mortar with a pestle, to make a paste.  Add the ginger pieces and the cilantro or parsley, if using, and continue pounding it with the pestle until well incorporated.  Add the lime juice and water.  Mix well.  Serve

(*) If no lime or lemon is available use Balsamic vinegar