Category: Fruit

Inside the Mind of Glamah..Chilled Pear and Watercress Soup

I think I watch to much Top Chef. Seriously I don’t know how I come up with concoctions. The vegetable/fruit box arrived and had a bunch of pears and apricots. Mansi at Fun and Food suggested I enter her Monthly Mingle dedicated to Appetizers .The limitations were that it had to be vegetarian. No meat, but dairy was allowed. I got to thinking of the high end la de da Caterers I moonlight for on occasion. Their clientele include some rooster of gazzilionaries, who I have had the opportunity to meet.You name them ,I have served them. Chef always has innovative nibbles for the too thin and rich crowd. He liked to offer up ‘Shooters’ . These are often a semi sweet concoction non alcoholic concoction served up in shot glasses. The possibilities are endless. He even had raw oysters in some Yuzo suspension once. Then I got thinking of Hungary of all places, and their chilled fruit soups. All of this thinking is done in front of my computer screen at work ,as strange people call and email me from all over the world and I try to speak broken French to them make out their accents. So I brilliantly devised a quick, easy, healthy,refreshing recipe to be served chilled in shot glasses to your guests on your grand estate overlooking the Lake while you discuss polo, St. Barts, the moving of your money to other favorable currencies, etc.I did add a touch of liquor as Hungarian fruit soups often have their sweet wines. I used a liqueur I found in Sweden called XANTE( pear and cognac). But you could use Cointreau. I garnished with little slivers of Danish Rosenberg Blue Cheese.

Chilled Pear and Watercress Soup

3 pears

1 cup of chopped Honeydew Melon

1 teaspoon ground Cardamon

1 cup nonfat Greek Yogurt

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup Raw Agave Nectar( you could use sugar, I’m just keeping it healthy)

1 bunch of watercress

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons of Xante or other fruit flavored liquor.

Blue Cheese for Garnish.

Peel and core the pears.Put in a saucepan with the water, cardamon, Raw Blue Agave Nectar.Bring to a boil. You want the fruit to soften but not get to soft.Place the melon,washed watercress leaves,and pears and their liquid in the Blender of food prcoccesar. In a bowl , add your yogurt. Pour your whipped fruit/watercress mixture in and blend.Add 2 tablespoons of Xante. Mix until all is Incorporated. Chill covered for 1-2 hours.Serve in bowls or shot glasses for entertaining. Garnish with Blue Cheese slivers.

Makes approx 4-5 bowls and estimated 40-50 shot glasses.Can be prepared ahead.

I’m Jammin


I’m obsessed with canning. I admit it. For the Putting Up Event I made the most unusual Watermelon Rind Preserves. I was rather surprised that most of my commenter’s had not heard of this specialty. But that’s whats blogging is for, to learn new things. This time I wanted to do something a little sweeter and more traditional. I was worried that I would need massive quantities to make fruit preserves. Actually you don’t need so much and its recommended you make small batches. I purchased about 8 apricots and a pound of cherries. I envisioned these two together in a yummy preserve. As I prepped and stoned the fruit I had the sudden inspiration to add a vanilla bean. A lot of the seeds got caught up in the foam but the vanilla flavor shined through. I added a tad of butter to decrease foaming but I still got some. Foaming , experts believe. adds to spoilage. Another thing you have to worry about is the pectin setting. I need to stock up on pectin! I processed this and found after 24 hours the jam didn’t set. The instructions on the pectin box said how you can redo the jam.The only thing wasted is the lids and bands.So I redid the batch to much better results.I’m wondering if I did add enough sugar. I ended up adding a cup more sugar than was previously used.The taste of the unset jam was fantastic!I was almost tempted to use it just as a fruit syrup. I’m just be going to be handing out these as gifts to friends and coworkers while keeping a few for us. I asked Certain Someone to give a jar of Watermelon rinds to his golf buddy and co worker. They had to call me to explain why it wasn’t pink and what it actually was.I’m sure these fruity preserves wont be met with confusion.

Apricot Cherry Preserves with Vanilla Bean

1 pond of cherries
1 1/2 pounds of apricots ( about 8 or so)
6 cups natural cane sugar *I ended adding another cut when redoing the batch.
1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup water
1 package of Pectin

Wash and stone fruit. Cut vanilla bean down the middle and scrape seeds. Add fruit and vanilla bean pulp with pod to heavy pan. Add sugar , water , and pectin. Bring to rolling boil as you stir. Scrape off any foam that rises. Take of heat and stir more. Laddle into sterilised jars, place lids, on , and process according to instructions. I used the pressure canner with a weight of 5 lbs and a process time of 10 minutes. Take out canner and let and set 24 hours. I f the jam doesnt set, redo as instructed on the package of pectin. If you choose to use no sugar or sugar substitutes use a pectin brand for less sugar.
Makes 8 half pints

Royal Foodie Joust…Mango Ketchup/Catsup

So little time ,so many events, and have to watch all that calorie consumption.When Michelle at Thursday Night Smack Down won last months Joust and got to pick the ingredients, she chose Mango,Cardamom, and Brown Sugar. She said.. “i want to see everyone’s mad pastry skillz.”She then relented and stressed culinary skills. Most people naturally think of sweets. Condiments I’m sure were a thought as well. As much as I love a mango salsa, I was going to turn it up a notch. Michele brings out my competitive spirit as is a joy to read!Always leaves me with a grin.The choice for me was a Mango Tarte Tatin or this, Ketchup. I don’t need a lot of left over pastry laying around, but Ketchup is the worlds favorite condiment.Who knew all this about a sauce. I decided to put a Asian spin on this.I hope you like it spicy hot, , tangy and sweet!

 

Coco’s Mango Ketchup
4 mango’s
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
2 -3 pieces of Star Anise
2-3 dried Thai Chili Peppers
3 cloves
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons curry
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon garlic minced

 

Equipment needed: Blender, spice/coffee grinder
Remove flesh from Mango’s. I used a melon baller to scoop out flesh once mangoes were cut in half.Put in Blender.Place Star Anise, Cloves, Cardamom,Thai Chili Peppers,Ginger, curry and salt in grinder. Grind until a fine powder. Add to Blender. Add Brown Sugar, Vinegar, salt, and garlic. Blend until pureed. Add to sauce pan and bring to boil. Cover pan immediately.( Mixture is thick and will start to bubble). Simmer on lowered heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Mixture may caramelize on the bottom. Take off heat and add back to a clean blender. Mix once more to puree. Pour in containers and bottle. To last longer you can take additional canning measures to preserve, otherwise refrigerate and try to consume within the week or so. Its enough to fill a bottle.

 

Imagine what you can add this to! Grilled Chicken, turkey,sandwiches, meatballs, shrimp, fish, burgers,veggie burger, turkey burgers,fish sticks,onion rings,etc…………
So bring your mad skillz to the event . Jen’s away getting married so Ben’s the Crown Prince this month.

Banana Chipolte Pineapple Tamales…Tamale Open

Banana Chipolte Pineapple Tamales! Yes that’s what I came up with. I’m not a expert in Mexican food but I love this way of cooking. Sort of a meal in one. So why cant it be sweet. Most often we think of the tamale as savory and spicy. But one can envision so many sweet combos. My colleague M tells me of the best pineapple tamales. I haven’t tasted one , but decided to play around. Oddly I got 6 tamales, where the proportions I cut down from the recipe for Masa (originally 16).Because I added sugar and extract that changed things. .So based on this I should have gotten 8-10 tamales. Perhaps next time I’ll spread the mixture thinner. Also the leftover pineapple filling was made into a sauce with condensed milk. What you get is sort of steamed banana cake.The sauce makes it very sweet, so it can be omitted. But a nice cup of plain black coffee can balance that out.

Equipment needed:

A Steamer or some sort of large pot and steaming device.

Masa

1 1/2 cups of Maseca for Tamales

1/1/2 cups luke warm water

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup of shortening

1/2 teaspoon of Banana Creme extract from LoRAnne Oils*note this is more concentrated . If using regular extract use more.

1/2 cup natural cane sugar
Filling

10 oz dried pineapple

1 tablespoon rum or Malibu coconut flavored rum

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup natural cane sugar

1/4 teaspoon Chipolte powder

Banana Leaves (Whole Foods or frozen sections in Hispanic Markets)or corn husks

1/4 cup Condensed milk *optional for sauce
In a sauce pan combine pineapple,sugar,water, rum and Chipolte. Boil down until mostly reduced. The dried pineapple will be chunky still. Remove from heat and take a immersion blender to smooth out mixture to a paste like texture.Set aside.
Mix dry ingredients and add your water.A moist paste should from. Fluff up shortening in a separate bowl. Add Masa mixture, and extract. Blend to combine.

Take Banana leaves and spread Masa. Add filling down the middle.Fold over long ends, and then the short ends to make a square packet. Tie with Banana Leaf strips.Place in Steamer. Place Steamer on large pot of water and steam for approx 30 -45 minutes.

If you have leftover filling , take some condensed milk and combine over low heat. Some caramelised bits may form. Use immersion blender to smooth out.

All in all this took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare.But that’s me . If you like Banana bread you’ll love this . It can stand alone without the sauce.

So I hope this inspires you to enter the Tamale Open. Ben and I have a great Prize offering, so what are you waiting for?I even heard from a reader in the UK and shes giving it her all. So no excuses.

Blackberry Almond Tarts

It’s been a crazy week and this is the first thing I have cooked for myself this week!

I love my Black Berries. OK just joking. Yes I have two. Don’t ask. The actual fruit tempted me in Costco. I have wanted to make a dessert incorporating certain pantry items I have, slivered almonds and Atora shredded Suet a friend brought back form the UK. I was determined to try this suet after researching my Plum pudding recipes for Christmas. A lot of cooks have moved away from this old fashioned product but like lard it makes for really good baking. Doesn’t make it right but it just is. So everything in moderation I say. I have made a lovely Almond tart before by Lindsey Shere of Chez Panisse I read about in Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas Macnamee. Alice provides some great recipes in her stream of consciousness way. Not exact, but very good , and easy to follow for the home cook. I decided to use an Atoras crust recipe sweetened with Confectioners sugar and Lindsey’s filling studded with additional blackberries and sprinkled with sugar to aid the berries cooking. I also used my homemade plum brandy for flavoring and a vanilla bean. I did not blind bake the crust as well. So I have veered away from the original quite a bit. The final result was a fantastic semi sweet flaky crust with a caramelized almond filling studded with tangy sweet blackberries.

Coco’s Black Berry Almond Tart

Crust
¾ – 1 cup self rising flour
½ cup Atora Suet
2-3 Tablespoons of cold water
3 tablespoons of Confectioners Sugar
Lemon Zest
Butter
Filling
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup sliced almonds
¾ cup of sugar

Blackberries
Vanilla bean
Liquor of your choice for flavoring (I used homemade Plum Brandy)

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all your crust ingredients in stand mixer bowl. Lightly whisk and add water gradually while blending on Medium speed. Stop when just combined. Dough will be sticky. Butter your tart tins or pans. Shape the dough into each form and chill for approx 20 min.
Bring heavy cream, sugar, and seeded vanilla bean with pod to a boil in heavy sauce pan. Remove from heat and add almonds and liquor. Let sit for a bit. Remove vanilla bean pods.

Fill shells with almond cream mixture. Stud tarts with berries. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top. Bake for approx 30 minutes. The tarts should start to bubble up and caramelize. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve warm or room temp alone or with ice cream.
* Note: Place your tins/pans on foil or a baking sheet and mixture will bubble over .