5 observations and salt cod fritters (torrejas de bacalao)

1. One of my students gave me the fruit pictured above as a gift. It is a malay apple. Here in Panama it's called marañón curazao and in Costa Rica we knew it well as manzana de agua. This particular specimen was darker than I had seen before, but it tasted the same as it's rosy red brothers. It's a delicious fruit.; it's like crunchy, fragrant pear.
2. I still hate spelling. My daughter's weekly spelling list seriously bums me out. She is a terrible speller and we need to drill spelling words every day. Her spelling is improving, but the thought of a new list every week until the end of the school year makes me peevish.
3. My kids have brought Beyonce into my life. I would not know, or care too much about her if it were not for them. Last night, while I was running I realized that I love the song Countdown, not just like it in passing, but love it. It was the highlight of my playlist. Of course Radio Disney still makes me want to gnaw my arm off, I have my limits.
4. The mosquitos seem to have subsided. Which is great, but I'm pretty sure the reason is that the broken pipe that was puddling water all over the street, is now a small river running down the street (mosquitos prefer standing water).
5. This is song always makes me happy:

I love anything made with salt cod and I always take advantage of it's availability during Lent to make these:
salt cod fritters (torrejas de bacalao)
1 small fillet of salt cod
4 large starchy potatoes--cooked
1 cup of milk
1 egg
pepper
oil for frying

Start the day before you plan to make this by soaking the fish in water. This is to remove some of the salt --you should change the water regularly.
Rinse the fish and put it in a small pan with the milk. Let the fish simmer in the milk for 15-20 minutes.

Drain the fish and let it cool. Flake the fish with a fork.

Mash the potatoes. Add the fish and the egg and the pepper. Mix all the ingredients together.

Heat the oil. Form the mixture into little patties and fry until golden.

Enjoy them with hot sauce!

5 observations and thick tomato sauce

1. I haven't been blogging. I have been feeling kind of blah and then I was felled by a stomach bug. There was a moment, lying with my face pressed against the cool tile of the bathroom floor, when I seriously wondered if I was going to survive. This morning I woke up feeling much better. I even went for a little recuperation run.
2. As I have been a little under the weather, I am off my training schedule. It is frustrating. I'm not one for pushing myself to injury or illness and I stop when I don't feel good. But it's so easy to get discouraged and even though I did run this morning, I can't help feeling bad that it was 5K instead the 8 I have written on my calendar.
3. Have you seen the news here in Panama? It's alarming. The Pan-American highway has been closed by the Ngöbe-Buglé people to protest recent mining legislation. It's becoming more serious by the minute as food spoils, gas stations run out of gas,  and people just become angry. It looks like the government will send in the police at some point today to force them to open the road. It appears to me, that the government hopes that public opinion will be on their side, as the roadblock creates tremendous inconvenience to thousands of people. The thing is, all the images of young indigenous men wielding rocks that they can come up with, will be nothing beside the images of the riot squad confronting protesting women and children. I think they are missing a great opportunity to take the high road and resolve this peacefully. The whole thing just makes me sad.
4. I know this list isn't very cheering, but it matches my mood. I'm fighting discouragement on all fronts lately. It's so easy sometimes to  to see the worst. Thankfully I have wonderful students to cheer me, and my kids, well they are hilarious. And I get a double dose of both today, as camp is over and I have two classes this afternoon.
5. I like this song a lot and I chose this performance over the official video because I love watching Annie play: 

Today's recipe is ridiculously easy and versatile. It may seem overly simple but it's so good. I use this sauce for pizza and it's also good as a pasta sauce. Yesterday I browned some spare ribs before I added the tomatoes and it was delicious. 

Simple thick tomato sauce for pizza or pasta

2-3 tablespoons olive 

3-4 cloves of garlic chopped

a pinch of chilli flakes (or more)

1 big can of tomatoes (28 oz)

The main trick with this is to not burn or brown the garlic (you've been warned). 

In a medium sized saucepan, Heat the oil over a low flame. To the hot (but not too hot) oil, add the chili flakes and garlic. Let it sizzle in the oil for about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, crushing them in your hand as you add them. Stir everything and turn the heat up to medium and bring the sauce to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then partially cover, turn the heat down to minimun and let it simmer slowly for an hour or more if you have time.

The sauce will be thick and delicious. 

5 observations and banana bread

the rocky side of Isla Iguana (pretty isn't it?)

• The qualities I most admire in my children are the ones I don't have. My girls are both good at math and I struggled with math in school. I don't know if they have better teachers and curriculum, but they excel and I am so proud and pleased.
• Hot days = more laundry. It has been so hot and humid here that you break a sweat reading the paper. I need to change clothes three times a day and the laundry pile is perpetually massive. I'm used to being a soggy, sweaty mess but it's been a little ridiculous. My running clothes are disgusting and I mostly run before or after the sun comes out (I may have to burn some of them). Thankfully it rained yesterday afternoon, and it seems rather less sticky today.
• I like the new public campaign against throwing garbage on the street. It is disgusting and it would be good if people started thinking of it that way. I hope it works.

• Making a new playlist is a calming, constructive activity.  I've been working on my playlist for Sunday's half marathon and it's been a fun distraction from fretting.
• These songs from Iron and Wine's, Kiss Each Other Clean (my favourite album title of 2011) are not on Sunday's playlist, but are perfect for this rainy rest day.

This is my go-to, hands-down-favourite, banana bread recipe adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.
Banana Bread
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe mashed bananas--I don't use the monster (genetic freak) for-export ones--the smaller ones are tastier.
1 teaspoon dark rum
1 cup toasted, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

Mix the dry ingredients together (not the coconut).  Cream the butter and beat in the eggs, bananas and rum.  Stir the wet mix into the dry (don't over mix).  Fold in the coconut.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes.

5 observations and sweet almond spread

1. Kids do not judge birthday cakes by how elaborate or arty they are.  They judge them by how much candy is on them, with bonus points for marshmallows.  I made the above cake for my daughter's birthday yesterday, planning to make something more elaborate for her sleepover tonight, but she was so pleased, she asked to save this cake to share with her friends.  I did not complain and we celebrated her birthday with chocolate ice cream.
2. At forty, I can still muster all the self-righteous indignation of twenty.  While running the other night, there was a Porsche parked on the sidewalk in front of a "spiritual centre."  The thought of someone looking for enlightenment while being so oblivious infuriated me (I have some enlightenment for you, don't be a dick).  Every time I passed that car, my fingers twitched with vandalism.  I did not act on my juvenile impulses but was kind of impressed that they were still there.
3. Eight is a great age.  My baby is eight and she's more like a person every day.  I mean, she thinks about stuff and feels empathy.  It really is an incredible privilege to watch kids grow up.
4. Roald Dahl is so great.  We are reading The BFG and enjoying it, especially the language.  Jumbly and scrumdiddlyumptious should totally be real words.
5. This is a great song, and was my daughter's favourite when she was three.  I will never forget her having us obsessively play it over and over for her, as if if she were trying to memorize it.  I figured it probably meant she would grow up to be as cool as Kim Deal.  So far so good.

Instead of a recipe I have a link this week.  There is a sleepover in my very near future, and I still have a few things to prepare.  I've made this spread a couple of times and it is really good.  I am a regular reader of the Healthful Pursuit blog, but I haven't made many of her recipes because all those health food store ingredients are so expensive here.  This recipe is simple enough and it's delicious.

sweet almond spread

Enjoy!

5 observations and beef shank soup

1. My kids are ready for a little break.  There's no school next week and we are all very happy about it.  This week seemed to drag on and on.   It's only Wednesday?  why is this week going so slow?  Well, it's finally Friday and I am possibly as happy as they are about it.  I'm looking forward to a fun lazy week next week.
2. I am so sick of my braces.  I'm in the home stretch (just a couple of months to go) but sometimes I fantasize about prying them off myself and never going back to the orthodontist.  I will be so happy when I can eat spinach in public again.
3. I adore Haruki Murakami.  I finished a short story by him this morning, and I thought, It's like Borges, but with more sitting on the sofa and drinking beer.
4. My kids love it when I make stuff for them.  This week I made some party invitations for one daughter and a sheet cake for my other daughter's class.  Their proud pleasure in these kind of things always surprises me (I always wonder, in the throes of one of these projects, wouldn't store-bought be better?).  I need to do it more often.
5. This is a great song for a Friday and a holiday week:

Soup doesn't seem very tropical but they make really good soup here in Panama.  It's because of the culantro.  Culantro has brought me around to all kinds of meat dishes that I didn't like before.  It totally changes and brightens something dull like beef stew.  The other thing that has really gotten me into soup is plantain.  I love plantain in soup.  It really holds up to the long cooking time of the beef shanks and it's just slightly sweet (so nice against the brightness of the culantro and if you add some hot sauce--heaven).

Beef Shank Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 bone-in beef shanks
1 medium onion chopped fine
1 handfull of culantro chopped fine
2 carrots cut into large chunks (3 or 4 pieces/carrot)
2 plantains cut into large chunks (4 or 5 pieces/plantain)
5 cups of potatoes, ñame, otoe, yucca cut into large chunks (if you cut it too small it will disintegrate by the time the meat is tender)
10 cups of water or stock
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot, over a high flame, quickly brown the shanks in the oil (I put a little salt and pepper on the meat at this point).  Remove the meat and add the onions and culantro to the hot oil.  when the onions are soft, add the other vegetables and the stock or water.  Put the beef back into the pot.  Partially cover and bring to a low boil.  Turn the flame all the way down (I move the pot to the smallest burner with the lowest flame at this point) and simmer for 2 to 3 hours.  Salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, I take the shank out and cut up the meat and remove the gristle.  My kids like it with a bit of white rice.  But personally, I think the rice is totally unnecessary.  The typical hot sauce here is made with habaneros and it goes very well with this soup.

5 observations and quinoa pudding

gratuitous lapin lovelies

5 observations:

1. I am on the verge of supreme nerdiness.  I finished Dances with Dragons on Monday and I'm suffering a little.  I've even been lurking on A Song of Ice and Fire discussion boards.  My enthusiasm for the series has definitely cooled but I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious for the next book.
2. Panamanian drivers have no respect or compassion for people running on the street.  I'm not really surprised by this when I'm running in my neighbourhood, but I expect a little more from people durring a race.  Seriously dude, where do you have to be at 7:00 AM on a Sunday that you can't slow down and let runners go by?
3. Renovations are torture even before they've begun.  We will be starting some work on our house in October, and getting quotes and answers from contractors has been an ordeal.  I know it will only get worse once we actually get started.
4. Short stories should get way more love.  I was blown away this week while rereading some Raymond Carver and Alice Munro.  There is nothing like dipping into a favourite collection of short stories--novel shmovel.
5. "Lay of the Last Survivor" is my favourite song (right now) on Okkervil River's latest.  I am a big fan of Will Sheff's writing.   I enjoy his lyrics like poetry, rolling the words around in my head...  And old, piled fathers/ Soft-sighing daughters...

We are heading into the thick of the rainy season.  It's perfect pudding weather.
Quinoa Pudding
3/4 cup rinsed quinoa
3 cups whole milk
1/4 turbinado sugar
1 egg
1 small stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon butter


In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa, 2 cups milk, cinnamon and lemon peel to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, unti tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and remaining cup of milk. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stirring constantly, slowly pour egg mixture into quinoa; add raisins.

Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes (be careful because it can curdle at this stage if you leave it too long). Stir in vanilla and butter.   Pour pudding into a glass dish and let cool slightly. Cover surface directly with plastic and refrigerate until cold.

5 observations and roasted sweet potato wedges

an embarrassment of papayas

1. There's such a thing as too much papaya.  We have more papayas than we can eat.  We've been giving it away, and there are still more to come.  My kids are sick of it (me too if truth be told).  I was thinking of this dish made in Costa Rica with green papaya and ground beef... but I really only half liked it and I know my kids wouldn't eat it.  I suspect we'll end up giving away most of the remaining papayas and then there will be none and I will miss them.
2. I saw a beautiful young woman with a plastic bag on her head.  She was waiting to cross the street.  She was protecting her hair from the humidity and drizzly rain.  I admired her defiant beauty; I could never pull off that particular look.
3. The metro seems like it's really going to happen.  Via España is a mess.  I noticed a lot of standing water when I was there yesterday and I hope they fix the drainage problems while they have the whole street tore up.  I am cautiously optimistic about the metro; It's definitely needed.  I just hope all the contractors and engineers are competent (and not too corrupt) and that the work gets finished.  Oh, and I hope people leave their cars at home and use it.
4. I feel a little wary of one of my daughter's friends.  This girl calls on Monday to plan what they will do on Friday--like she needs to lock her in before anyone else can make plans.  It's her pushiness that bothers me, but I can't pick my daughter's friends and my daughter adores this child.  Maybe I'm just jealous because lately my baby always has somewhere more fun to be.
5.  This is a great song that will definitely be on my playlist on Sunday when I run my 15k race.  This is not the official video for the song but a video of some women long-boarding in Spain that uses the song.  The song is "Rox in the Box" by The Decemberists. 

I don't think that roasted sweet potato wedges should just be served beside veggie burgers in funky vegetarian restaurants, I think they should replace all fries everywhere.  My kids would certainly disagree, but I'm hoping to one day bring them around.  Sweet potato is as certain in my week as good dark chocolate and a glass of wine.   I love it and I especially love it like this:

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges with Tahini Dipping/Glopping Sauce
4 large sweet potatoes (called camote here in Panama)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

3/4 cup tahini
juice of one lemon
1 clove of garlic (finely minced or pressed)
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Cut the sweet potato into wedges.  Toss the wedges with the salt and olive oil.  Spread the sweet potato out on a baking sheet.  Roast for 25-30 minutes depending on how thick your wedges are.  
While the sweet potato is roasting, make the sauce.  Combine the tahini, garlic and olive oil.  The mixture will probably be quite stiff  so add water to give it a lighter texture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

5 observations and a sweet spicy coconut cashew snack

to the outhouse

5 things I noticed this week:

1. Sometimes a cute shack at the end of a dock is not a place to tie boats up.  You will feel silly if you are taking pictures when locals push past on their way to the privy (they will look amused).
2. I haven't felt as physically weary as I felt this week since my tree-planting days (the good old days when you would fall asleep easily on the cold, hard ground with body throbbing and dream about planting more trees).  I had a high mileage week in my training this week and I'm bone tired.  It's a good tired though (not like a mental tired), and over all I'm feeling great.  Next Sunday I will be running a 15K race and I'm ready. 
3. I'm goofy, baby-talk, crazy, about the bunnies.  It took over a year for my daughter to convince me to get rabbits and now I'm probably the one most smitten.  They are not affectionate but trusting.  There is something so sweet about a vulnerable little animal looking at you with trust...  it melts me every time.
4. I love teaching English to beginners.  It requires more energy than an intermediate class, but it so rewarding.  I love the physicalness of it.  Things need to be acted out and choral repetition is important; every class is like a performance with lots of audience participation...  so satisfying.
5. This is a very pretty song from a very pretty album:

And now for this Friday's recipe.  One definite advantage of living in Panama is how cheap and abundant things like cashews and fresh coconut are.  I love fresh coconut and would miss it terribly if I moved back to Canada.  Use raw almonds if you can't get fresh coconut.

Sweet and Spicy Cashew Coconut Snack
1 1/2 cups of raw cashews
1 cup of fresh coconut chopped into bit-sized chunks
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350.
Spread the nuts and seeds on a lined baking sheet and lightly roast them for 5-10 minutes.  They should be just starting to smell good.  Don't turn the oven off.

In a bowl large enough to hold the nuts and seeds, mix the remaining ingredients.  Add the hot nuts and mix until well coated.

Put the nuts back onto the lined baking sheet and return to the oven.

Roast for 5-10 minutes.  Stir them mid-way and make sure they don't burn.

Enjoy!

5 observations and lamb stuffed eggplant

5 things I noticed this week:

1. Dawn is a particularly nice time to run.  The pre-dawn darkness might be a little creepy and too-quiet, but there's nothing like a sunrise to make you feel happy to be alive.  And the air... it's like it's new air.
2. People who park on the sidewalk should not be surprised when pedestrians continuously set off their car alarm.
3. Eleven year olds are kind of prim.  My eleven year old told me about seeing an older man walking with his grandson after school, the street gets a little congested in front of the school at home-time, and someone started honking.  This grandfather went over to the car and cussed the driver out (apparently it was some pretty impressive swearing--I'm sorry I missed it).  "In front of his little grandson," she told me with wide outraged eyes.  Later, when talking about a kid who swore in class, she said, "yeah he probably learned it from his grandfather."
4. If you are an obnoxious entitled arse, your kids will usually (but not always) be obnoxious, entitled, arses.  This particular observation makes me fear for this country.
5. This song makes me as happy as it did twenty (?!) years ago:

Just for you, a recipe I'm rather proud of:

Eggplant Stuffed with Lamb

Ingredients:
4 small to medium eggplants
1 onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil and more for drizzling
3 roma tomatoes
2 lemons
a small handful of parsley
2 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper to your taste.

Preheat oven to 350°
Slice the eggplant in half length-wise and scoop out the flesh.  Set the little eggplant canoes aside.  Chop the eggplant flesh and set aside.

In a frying pan heat the olive oil.  Add the onions and spices and soften.  Add the ground lamb and brown.  When the lamb is brown add the chopped eggplant.  Cook until the eggplant is tender.  salt and pepper to taste.

While the lamb is browning blacken the tomatoes directly over the gas flame, or in a very hot (no oil) cast iron pan.  Remove the blackened skin under running water and roughly chop the tomato.  I didn't seed and core the tomato, but you could certainly do that.

In a bowl mix the lamb with the chopped tomato.  Add the juice of one lemon.  stir and check the salt.

Put the lamb filling into the eggplants.  Rub some olive oil on the bottom of a baking tray and arrange the eggplant on the tray.  Cover the tray with foil.

Bake the eggplant for 30 minutes covered, and 15 minutes uncovered.  The eggplant should be tender.

While the eggplant is baking chop the pine nuts and parsley together.

To  serve, arrange the eggplant on a platter.  Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and pine nuts.  Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over the parsley.

Enjoy! (really, make this--it's good)

Red Pepper Walnut Dip

So two Fridays ago I was thinking about quitting the recipes and then I made this:

It is delicious.  I dread recipes that have too many ingredients and ingredients I have to go to the health food store to find.  This is not that kind of recipe.  It is simple and fine for people with all kinds of dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten free, paleo--of course it wouldn't really work out for someone with a nut allergy).  I served it at a barbeque last week along with a more traditional dairy dip and our guests preferred the walnut dip (I was pretty surprised by this, as spinach dip is such a perennial favourite).  This dip is as rich and satisfying as anything with a cream cheese base, and roasted red peppers?  I think they are good in anything.

Red Pepper Walnut Dip


2 cups of walnuts (soak the walnuts for a couple of hours to soften them)
1 small jar of roasted red peppers drained (or roast your own by all means!--2 roasted peppers)
2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1 teaspoon of cumin
3 tablespoons of olive oil
a generous squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a small pan, add the garlic and cumin.  Heat the oil gently, the idea is to infuse the oil with the cumin and garlic and to mellow the garlic.  Do not brown the garlic.  This will just take a couple of minutes on a low flame.

In a food processor puree the walnuts and the red pepper.  Add the olive oil and garlic/cumin.  Also add the lemon and salt and pepper. Pulse the food processor a few times to mix everything.  Taste it and adjust salt, pepper and lemon to your taste.

Enjoy!

Father's Day Feast

On Father's Day we pulled out all the stops for my husband.  There was breakfast in bed, and glittery homemade cards.  And a late lunch with the pretty plates and wine.  I love getting the pretty plates out--I should do it more often.  And yes, he deserves all this and more.  I feel very lucky to have such a good guy in my life.

We had grilled rack of lamb.  I am very annoyed with my picture-taking-self because you can't see the ribs.  I french-cut the rack myself and I should have showed off a little!  To prepare the rack for grilling I just smeared it with good mustard and sprinkled course salt, chopped rosemary, and pepper over it.  We grilled hot to sear it and then finished it over indirect heat.  Perfect medium rare!

I served the lamb with tree tomato pineapple chutney:


2 tablespoons oil
1 onion chopped
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 cake of raspadura (unrefined cane sugar=3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar)
1/2 a pineapple chopped
6 tree tomatoes blanched, peeled, and chopped


In a sauce pan, saute the onion with the cumin and cinnamon until the onion is soft.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over a low flame until the the fruit is thick and jammy-1 to 1 & 1/2 hours.

Rounding out the menu with roasted lemon potatoes, spinach salad with almonds, apricots and shaved parmesan and a disassembled Greek salad (that is, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and feta cheese on a platter--my kids like it better like this, and it looks prettier).  I also made a loaf of white bread (always such a treat) so my younger daughter would have something to eat.

It was lovely.  We finished up with Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Pavlova.  I totally recommend this recipe.

I think Pavlovas might be my new thing.

Lovely Lamb Shoulder

We have freezer full of lamb thanks to some enterprising friends who've gone into the lamb business here in Panama.  Their lambs are grass fed organic and the first thing I noticed, was that the lamb looked considerably leaner than the lamb I was familiar with (there was very little fat to score on the shoulder roast).  I decided to slow roast the shoulder quite simply so we could get a good taste of the meat.

This seems like less of a recipe and more of a technique.

Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Garlic and Rosemary
ingredients:
lamb shoulder roast
olive oil
coarse sea salt and pepper
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 head of garlic

Heat the oven to 500°F/260°C and prepare the lamb.  Score the fat on top of the roast (there was very little on this particular roast) and rub it all over with olive oil.  Sprinkle the course sea salt and fresh ground pepper all over the lamb.  Break up the clove of garlic don't peel it).

I roasted the lamb on a cookie sheet because I don't have a big roaster (a large roaster would probably be better).  Put three sprigs of rosemary and most of the unpeeled garlic cloves on the pan.  Set the lamb on top and put the remaining rosemary and garlic on top of the roast.

Tightly cover the pan with foil and put it into the hot oven.  Turn the oven down to 325°F/160°C and let it roast for 4 hours.

The results are buttery, fork tender roast.

It was amazing!  I didn't make gravy from the pan drippings but that would certainly be a good idea.

mustard greens

I love greens.  When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter I bought and ate ridiculous amounts of greens.  I remember particularly liking turnip greens, and that's funny because I'm pretty sure I haven't eaten turnip greens since.  Sardines were my other obsession and I still love a pan of greens sauteed in the oil from a tin of sardines; a delicacy I invented while pregnant (it's probably not to everyone's taste).  My zeal for greens when I was pregnant came from my desire to eat healthfully and really, I doubt there many foods more wholesome than a big plate of greens.  Mustard greens are a recent discovery for me and lately we eat them a couple of times a week.  They are cruciferous (like broccoli, cabbage or kale) and excellent cooked or raw.  The flavor is stronger when it's cooked a short time and it mellows with longer cooking (lightly sauteed=strong, braised=mild).  Mustard is high in vitamins A, K, and C and it is also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.  It's pretty common in Chinese, Indian and Caribbean cuisine.  It can be used like you would use any other bitter green.

We like it best in salad.  Our favorite salad is half mustard greens, half romaine, with some chopped mint, dressed with lemon and olive oil, and served with generous handfuls of kalamatas and feta cheese.  I had been trying to get my daughter to eat salad for a while by making sweet or creamy dressings (that I imagined to be kid friendly) and she never liked it.  But this salad she loves, and that makes me very happy.  My younger daughter does not eat any green food, so I don't even offer her salad (I keep hoping she will grow out of her infernal fussiness, but there are no signs of that happening any time soon).

Mustard greens are nice cooked too.   They are good simply sauteed and dressed with lemon and they are also great braised.  Braised is probably more traditional and the flavour is definitely mellower.

 Braised Mustard with Bacon
4-5 slices of bacon
1/2 onion chopped
2 bunches of mustard greens, stemmed, washed and chopped
1 cup chicken stock

Fry the bacon and remove from pan with slotted spoon.  Chop the bacon and set aside.  Saute the onion in the remaining bacon fat (remove some if it looks like too much).  When the onion is soft, add the mustard greens.  Let the mustard greens sizzle with the onions for a couple of minutes and then add the chicken stock.  After you add the stock turn the flame down low and let the greens cook gently for twenty minutes.  The greens should be tender and the liquid reduced.  Add the chopped bacon back to the greens and serve.

If you have leftovers, this also makes a nice filing for omelettes.

Passion Fruit

I never call passion fruit passion fruit.  I always call it maracuyá.  Now this is possibly a little pretentious of me, but I have my reasons.  Do you know why it's called passion fruit?  The Catholic missionaries who came to the new world with the Conquistadores, thought that the flower looked like Christ's crown of thorns.  They named the plant passiflora for the passion of Christ.  Now I know that this is one small thing in a catalogue of acts that include tremendous brutality.  But, what kind of person looks at flower and sees a crown of thorns?  It makes me think of subjugation, and the naming of things that most certainly already had names.  So, at dinner parties, when someone waggles their eyebrows lasciviously and says "mmm passion fruit mousse" I usually shut them down with a story about Conquistadores and zealous Jesuits.  Yes, I'm that wet  blanket.

Maracuyá is possibly my favourite tropical flavour (I'm awfully fond of tamarind as well).  It is tart and refreshing; perfect for this climate.  I have been trying out recipes for this post all week, sometimes without much success.  There was a homely tart:

 and some runny mousse:

I was most satisfied with these custardy squares.  But honestly, the best thing to do with maracuyá is mix the strained juice with some simple syrup and water and make juice, popsicles or sorbet.

Passion Fruit Bars
Base:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Top:
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup passion fruit juice*
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

icing sugar for dusting

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325°F.   Grease 9- x 13-inch pan. Set aside.
BASE:
In bowl, beat together butter, sugar and salt until light; stir in flour until blended. Press into prepared pan. Bake in centre of oven until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

TOP:
Meanwhile, in bowl, beat eggs with granulated sugar until pale and thickened. Add passion fruit juice, flour and baking powder; beat until smooth. Pour over base.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  The custard should be set.  Let it cool and then dust it with icing sugar.

*Split the fruit in half and scrape the seedy pulp into the blender.  Pulse the pulp--the idea is to loosen the pulp from the seeds.  If you break up the seeds your pulp will have pretty black flecks (nice for ice cream).  Push the seedy pulp through a mesh strainer.  Four good-sized maracuyás will yield a cup of strained juice/pulp.

tomato fish soup with basil croutons

I love soup made with fresh tomatoes.  If the tomatoes are very ripe and tender (as these were) I don't fuss with peeling, seeding, and coring, I just chop them up as they are.  I used sole (lenguado), but something sturdier would probably be better.  The basil croutons really make the soup so don't leave them out. 

for the croutons:

half a loaf of stale whole wheat bread cut into cubes

handful of fresh basil

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Finely mince the basil. In a bowl, toss the basil with the bread, oil and salt and peper.  Spread the bread onto a baking sheet and bake at 350º for 10-15 minutes.  The croutons should be crunchy.

for the soup:

1 bulb of fennel chopped fine

1 carrot chopped fine

1 leek chopped fine

1 stalk of celery chopped fine

3 cloves of garlic minced

3 small potatoes diced

8 plum tomatoes chopped

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil

4-5 fillets of firm fish

3/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups stock or water

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in dutch oven or large pot.  When the oil is nice and hot sear the fish--about a minute a side.  It won't be completely cooked.  Take the fish out of the oil and set aside.  Add the remaining oil, bring to heat and add the fennel, carrot, celery, leek and garlic.  Saute the vegetables and after a couple of minutes add the potatoes.  When the potatoes are glistening and the other vegetables are soft, add the wine.  Deglaze the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.  Let everything cook until the liquid is reduced by half.  Add the tomatoes and the remaining liquid (water, stock), salt and pepper.  Let everything cook at medium heat until the potatoes are soft and the tomatoes broken up (about 20 minutes).  Just before serving, cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and add it (and its accumulated juices) to the soup.  Let the fish finish cooking in the soup (3-5 minutes).  

Serve the soup with the croutons.

This soup was enjoyed by my whole family, except for one small person who only eats peanut butter sandwiches and quesadillas.

corvina grilled on banana leaves

So it's Lent, and fresh fish are plentiful and irresistible in the supermarket.  The fish case is full of small corvinas (sea bass) and red snappers stashed in ice.  I grew up on the prairies, and obviously didn't eat a lot of fish (Captain Highliner fish sticks were a rare treat) but adore it.  I'm figuring fish out, everything beyond breaded fillets is an adventure.

We were admiring the fish counter the other day, debating corvina or red snapper, and we finally asked the opinion of a nice man who was looking over the fish himself.  He told us corvina were flavourful enough cooked simply and that the snapper really needs a marinade or sauce.  He was a very enthusiastic advisor, and I totally took his word for it; we bought the corvina.

One of my favorite Panamanian dishes is the whole fried corvina.  It is the simplest thing, but so tasty.  The key is really, fresh fish and the short, hot, cooking time in the deep fryer.  I don't have a deep fryer or even really the will, to attempt deep frying a whole fish at home, but fresh fish and hot, cooking temperatures I can do.   I've been experimenting with grilling.

One of the problems with grilling fish is the sticky mess that can result.  So, to avoid mess I did parchment packets on the grill.  This worked well but I wasn't happy with the parchment--it's really too expensive to be practical.  I also didn't think the texture was as good as it could be, because the fish was steamed--corvina seems to get mushy when cooked like this.  It occurred to me that all kinds of things are cooked in banana leaves, and then I remembered some delicious, grilled arepas we ate on the beach in Colombia years ago--grilled on banana leaves.  A quick internet search revealed that this was a common South Asian technique for grilling fish.

I did some research and decided to stuff the fish with fresh herbs.

I used culantro and basil.  The basil that is widely available here is sweet basil, with a strong anise flavour.  It's important to slash the sides of the fish a couple of times for even cooking.  I stuffed a sprig of a basil, a couple of culantro leaves, and a pinch of salt and pepper into each fish.  I tied the fish closed with twine and brushed them with oil and sprinkled them with course sea salt.

When I had a heap of very hot coals in the barbecue, I covered the the grill with two layers of banana leaves.  I had washed and cut the spine out of the leaves making flat, paper-sized, sheets.

I didn't brush enough oil onto the leaves so I lost some skin when I flipped the fish over (at least it stuck to the leaves and not the grill).  Also I think three layers of leaves would be better.  The fish cooked very quickly 7-8 minutes a side--so make sure the rest of your dinner is ready!

getting a little dark for a photo!

The fish was excellent, the texture was flakey, and the smoky flavour from the banana leaves was very nice.  I served this fish with coconut, brown basmati and a big mixed salad with ginger miso dressing.  We drank cold beer and the kids had icy maracuya juice.

Next time I'll try some snapper in banana leaf packets.

lentils for lunch

Homemade pita, salad and lentils with mushrooms

I am a lentil evangelist.  I think everybody should make and eat lentils, often.  They cook quickly and are virtually impossible to mess up.  They are tasty and cheap.   Hot, or cold in salad, as a spread, or a soup, they are amazingly versatile.  If I don't know what to cook, lentils are my fallback.  I didn't always love lentils (I am a relatively recent convert).  I actually thought I hated them.  Then, one day while staying at a friend's, I discovered lentils in all their, last-thing-in-the-pantry glory, a lentil epiphany you might say.

My friend's recipe was unbelievably simple, you saute onions and carrots then add the lentils.  Brown everything, and then add some tamari and dijon mustard (tamari is pretty salty so go easy)--loosen anything that's stuck to the bottom.  Top up with water, and cook the lentils.  Now you may not believe me, but really, this is delicious.  Add some rice and a salad and you have a fine (if a bit hippyish) meal.  Honestly, this recipe was a revelation, and I've been cooking lentils regularly ever since.

split red lentils, whole red lentils, brown lentils 

If I don't have a lot of time, or if I'm making a spread, the split red lentils are a good choice.  They cook quickly and don't hold their shape.  Whole red lentils take a little longer to cook and hold their shape fairly well.  Brown lentils are classic, and are great with chorizo or bacon--they hold their shape well and take the longest to cook.

Lately my favourite spice combination is:

cumin, oregano, bay,  smoked paprika and sea salt

Now this combination of spices is great for meat (I make an awesome BBQ rub with a combination like this) but it is also excellent with lentils.

Lentils with Mushrooms
2 cups dry lentils (I used red lentils)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
3 cups chopped mushrooms (I used meaty portobellos)
3 cloves garlic chopped fine
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons oregano
3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups white wine
2 tablespoons wine vinegar (optional)

Rinse and pick through the lentils (watch for pebbles).
In a large pot or dutch oven, saute the onions in the olive oil.  Cook the onions until tender and add the mushrooms, garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano, bay, salt and pepper.  When the mushrooms are juicy add the clean lentils.  Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes--until it starts looking a bit dry.  Add the wine.  Cook until the lentils start to look dry again and cover with water--there should be a centimeter or two of water covering the lentils.  Cook the lentils, frequently stirring and checking the liquid level--add more water as you need it.  When the lentils are done check for salt.  If you feel like the lentils could use a little zing add the vinegar.

Serve with rice or pita.  This also purées nicely into a spread.

Enjoy!

bread every day

During my twenties I was a tree planter and later, a tree planting camp cook.  To be clear, I mean all of my twenties (age 19 to 30).  It was much more than a summer job, it made me who I am (example: I met my husband tree planting).  In tree planting camps I learned many important things: don't be late for dinner, bears like toothpaste, toilet paper and duct tape are indispensable,  and I learned bread.  First, I learned to eat it, warm and slathered with butter, held in filthy hands, waiting in line for a shower after a day of work.  Then I learned to make it, that beautiful mound of dough expanding on the counter of the hot, cramped, camp kitchen.

I grew up with homemade bread.  Both of my grandmothers knew, and my mother knows, their way around a bread pan (my mom is famous for her buns).  A huge pan of bread dough rising was a familiar sight in my childhood.  Funny thing, I never learned how to make bread from my mom (I did make an experimental documentary about it once though).  I learned how to make bread on my own, in a camp kitchen.

I started out with  Edward Espe Brown's  Tassajara Bread Book and it served me well.  The basic recipe in that book is perfect for quadrupling, and I used to make six or eight big loaves every day.  Following Brown's instructions, I never had a bad batch of bread.  I put that bread out hot, with  a big pot of soup, at the first sound of hungry planters bursting out of the trucks (My anxiety dreams to this day, start with the sound of truck doors opening---oh my god I haven't even started dinner!  Why don't I have any pants on?).   Bread was my signature as a camp cook.

I still make bread often.  I don't use the Tassajara recipe anymore.  I use Mark Bittman's food processor technique (not the no-knead NY Times one--which I haven't had luck with to date).  It is ridiculously easy and more or less 'no-knead.'  I usually set it up some time in the morning; my hot humid kitchen is the perfect environment for bread rising.

Campesino Bread (they call the baguettes made with a whole wheat-rye mix 'campesino' at the supermarket here)
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 cups water

Put the flour, salt and yeast into the bowl of the food processor and pulse to mix.

With the food processor on, add the water.  The dough should come together into a sticky ball.  Process for 30 seconds.

sticky

Put the dough into a bowl and cover with a plastic bag; leave it to rise for at least two hours.

On a floured surface, shape the dough into a boule.

it should have a smooth tight surface

Put the boule onto a pan lined with parchment, cover it and let it rise another hour.  Half way through the rise preheat the oven to 450°

Bake for 30-35 minutes.  It will be beautiful!

vegetable soup with pistou

Our Culantro Rojo basket was filled with the usual veggie goodness.  We are not vegetarians, but I cook vegetarian about half of the time.  I thought I'd use the shell beans as the base for soup.  Soup seems all wrong for the tropics, but I think it works when it's not too heavy (with cream or meat).  A light soup, finished with fresh cilantro or basil is just about perfect on a hot day.  This soup is finished with pistou, which is like pesto without the nuts.  This soup is very simple, almost too plain, but the pistou makes it surprisingly tasty.

shelling beans is the perfect job for a kid

Vegetable Soup

shell beans (these came in a sweet little bundle--about a cup and a half shelled)

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoons thyme

1 onion chopped

2 carrots diced

1 cup cubed squash 

2 cups green beans chopped 

2 cups zucchini diced

6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (reserve blanching water for soup)

salt to taste

pasta (I used half a box of whole wheat rotini that was in the cupboard, but orzo or something small would be nicer)

To cook the beans, bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add the beans and bay leaves.  Cooking time depends on the beans--up to two hours of simmering. 

beans and bay

When the beans are just about cooked, start the soup.  Saute the onion, thyme and carrot until the carrots are tender.

Add the green beans and squash.

strings off!

Next add the zucchini and tomatoes and their water.  Add the shell beans with their cooking liquid (leave the bay leaves in).  Top up with water to get a nice soupy consistency.  Salt to taste. 

Bring soup to a boil and add pasta.  When the pasta is done the soup is ready!

While the pasta cooks, make the pistou.

too bad there's not scratch n' sniff on the internet!

Pistou

large bunch of basil

1/4 cup olive oil

2 (or more) cloves of garlic

salt

Pulse in the food processor to an even consistency, or if you're fancy use a mortar and pestle.

parm and pistou

Serve the soup.  Finish the soup with grated parmesan and a large dollop of pistou.

yummy!