Nothing so Sweet as Sour

You may have heard me mention Sour before when I've written about snacking with goodies such as the cassava balls, egg balls, phulourie, channa etc. Bee asked me a couple of weeks ago what is a Sour. Well, a Sour is a cooked chutney we make in Guyana and it is served as a condiment. Tamarind, green mango and most famously, souree (bilimbi) is used to make a Sour. And that's what this week's column is all about.

There's nothing quite like souree in a sour. I had not seen or eaten this fruit for many years; so you can imagine my pure, unadulterated joy at discovering it here in Barbados and at the home of one of my fellow country-men! Go read the column and share in my excitement and the ways in which we use souree.

Some of you may be very familiar with souree as it is said to grow wildly in Kerala and other parts of Asia.

I am submitting this picture as my entry to CLICK, the monthly photography event hosted by Jugalbandi. The theme this month is Au Naturel.

Tamarind is in season and the trees all across Barbados are laden. Bliss! I made a tamarind relish from this book and absolutely love it.

Here's the recipe.

Tamarind Relish
Use this relish as a dipping sauce on raw or cooked veggies. It can be served in place of the regular chutney that usually accompanies a curry. You can stir it into a seafood curry to give that sour flavour.

Yield: 1 cup

Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp coarse sea salt
8 fluid ounces thick tamarind water (this is made my steeping the tamarind in hot water and then rubbing it to remove the flesh from the seeds. Strain and discard seeds)

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok or saucepan
2. Add shallots and fry for 2 minutes
3. Add ginger, chilli & garlic and stir-fry for 2 minutes
4. Stir in sugar, coriander & salt. Continue stirring on low heat until the mixture becomes sticky
5. Add tamarind water and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt if necessary
7. Simmer, stirring, until the relish has become quite thick
8. Leave relish to cool completely, then transfer to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate until needed.

Many of you, I am sure have been following the news and feeling the pains of the continuing high cost of food. Drop by Forgive Me My Nonsense... and share your thoughts on the subject.

Tortured with Porridge

You may think I'm joking but I'm not. "The Quaker man on the box was probably a nice enough guy, but I hated that smiling face on the box looking back at me, almost mocking me." I can't write more about it here, it's too painful, you'll have to click here to read my encounters with this dish.

Many of you have written how interested and intrigued you are by the peanut punch so here is the recipe. There's a kid version and a spiked adult version and since I am an adult, you know which one I made (evil grin).

Peanut Punch

Ingredients
2/3 cups of chunky or smooth peanut butter
3 cups whole milk, cold
4 tbsp sugar or to taste
2 sprinklings of ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (extra to garnish if you like)

Method

• Put all the ingredients, milk first, into a blender and whiz for 1 minute or until smooth
• Serve over ice or as is. Or, pour into a jug and chill some more then serve

Note

• For an adult peanut punch, spike with Baileys or other Creme liquers; these are added to the ingredients before blending.
• Skim milk can also be used but for the real creamy goodness, use the whole milk.

Be sure to check out Forgive me my nonsense... where this week Bee rants, questions and discuss, to put it in her words, "The freak show called democracy."

A Favourite Dessert

I have not started to grade the exam papers sitting in my study but I found the time to patrol blogs and enter an event. (lol) This is my entry to the Monthly Blog Patrol hosted by the lovely Coffee, of The Spice Cafe.

My entry is inspired by the very talented Gattina of Kitchen Unplugged. She recently made a creamy rice pudding with strawberry sauce that had me obsessed and yearning for rice pudding. Besides I was itching to try it with the strawberry sauce.

Here is Gattina's recipe. The recipe is in two parts, for the rice pudding and the other for the strawberry sauce. I created my own recipe for the rice pudding but used her recipe and method for the strawberry sauce though I used frozen strawberries.

Recipe - Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 4 cups whole milk
• Condensed milk to sweeten to taste
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1/2 vanilla bean, seeded
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup rum (I used Malibu Coconut White Rum)
  

For Strawberry sauce

• 1 pk frozen strawberries, thawed
• A few drops of lemon juice
• Sugar to sweeten sauce to taste

Method - Rice Pudding

1. Soak raisins in rum and set aside
2. Wash rice and strain excess liquid
3. In a heavy-bottomed pot combine milk, rice, cinnamon stick & vanilla bean seeds and bring to boil.
4. Turn heat to very low and let rice cook uncovered (approximately 1 hour)
5. 10 minutes before the rice is finished, sweeten with condensed milk then stir in rum and raisins that have been melding together
6. Set aside to cool
7. When the rice is cool enough you can chill it in the fridge

Method - Strawberry Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree
   Pour into a container and place in the freezer for 30 minutes before you are ready to serve the dessert
2. At the 15-minute interval, give the sauce a stir and return it to the freezer

There are a variety of ways to serve:

• You can place the rice pudding in individual glasses or bowls and top with strawberry sauce OR
• You can serve it buffet style - rice pudding in a large dish and sauce in a jug for easy pouring/drizzling or the sauce can be put in individual shot glasses.

WARNING: It is dangerously delicious! :)

Flowers, A Recipe & A Memory

Happy Mothers day to all the strong, beautiful phenomenal women I know, including those, who like my sister, will be mothers this time next year. I salute each and everyone of you for your tireless, selfless and loving devotion to your children - even those of us who are grown adults. In your eyes we will always be babies, your little ones :)

I want to salute the Dads who are mothers in their own rights too. The world often forgets, but I want us to all remember, that there are many fathers out there who are raising their children, independent of a mother in the household.

My column this week pays tribute, not only to my mom, but to all moms. I'm sure when you read it, you'll find many things that you can identify with. Please read and come back and share a favourite food-memory of your mother.

I'll start the ball rolling.

As children, every afternoon when my brother, sister and I got home from school, we would be hot, tired and hungry but mostly we would be thirsty.

One fine hot, sunny afternoon, we arrived home and mom had made us a treat - Strawberry Nesquik! It was our favourite drink. What made it special this particular day was the way in which she served it. Instead of pouring it into glasses as she usually would, she had poured the drink into ice-cube trays and frozen it! So we each had a cup full of Strawberry Nesquick flutees!



I remember sitting on the steps and sucking and biting my flutees and licking my fingers, they were so good. I was in heaven. So in honour of this memory, for the first time since all those years ago, I've made Nesquik flutees and for a moment as I sucked on them, I was a kid again.

Also my gift to all the busy parents out there on this special day is a simple, healthy, tasty and satisfying dish that can be cooked in less than 30 minutes.

Vegetable Rice - Pumpkin

Vegetable Rice - Okra (Bhindi)

Recipe - Vegetable Rice

Notes:
You can substitute the water with chicken or vegetable broth
Most vegetables can be used in this dish.
You can choose to use one vegetable or a combination of vegetables
Use whatever rice you have available and use the liquid to rice ratio according to the package instructions.You can add shrimp or cubed firm fish to this dish

It's a great way to sneak vegetables into your children's food.

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati rice
2 cups of vegetables cut into chunks
3 cups boiling water
1 onion, diced
3 sprigs thyme
2 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a pot, heat oil
Sauté onions and thyme (1 – 2 minutes)
Add vegetables and sauté for 2 minutes
Season with salt and pepper
Add rice and continue to sauté for another minute
Pour in boiling water and stir
Check for seasoning (salt and pepper). Add if desired
Cover pot and let boil for about 3 minutes or until you begin to see the rice surface
Turn down stove to simmer, cover pot and let cook for 20 minutes or until all the liquid is dried out
Stir and serve as you please.

Vegetable Fried Rice

Vegetable fried rice

Ingredients clockwise: diced carrots, garlic, diced sweet peppers, ginger, diced long string beans, green onions

A regular reader of my column wrote asking me what I put in my fried rice when I make it so I thought that I'd share that information with the rest of you also. There are various types of fried rice and that is indicative of what you put in it - eggs, chicken, pork etc. I usually make a vegetable fried rice and serve it with some baked or roasted meat or poultry.

Please let me set the record straight that I am no expert at making fried rice. This is my interpretation of the dish.

Fried Rice

2 cups long grain white rice, steamed
1 cup of finely chopped long beans (bora) or sweet greens peas
1 cup finely diced carrots
1/2 cup of diced sweet peppers (optional)
1 tbsp grated ginger (use more if you like)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
Dark soy sauce
5-spice powder
Green onions, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Once the rice is cooked, it needs to be cooled completely. Spread it out on a large baking sheet to cool.
2. Cooking fried rice is a very fast activity so ensure that all the ingredients are minced, diced, chopped at the ready.
3. In a karahi or wok, heat the oil until it's hot but not smoking.
4. Throw in the aromatics - ginger and garlic followed by the carrots and beans (or peas) stir fry for 1 - 2 mins
5. Lightly season with soy sauce, black pepper and a sprinkle of five-spice powder
6. Add sweet peppers, rice, soy sauce to season and colour the rice, and a few dashes (shakes) of the five spice powder and mix the ingredients together.
7. Taste the dish for seasoning, you may need to add some salt and more black pepper.
8. Once the rice and vegetables are well mixed, the dish is done.
9. Serve garnished with chopped green onions (scallions, eshallots) sprinkled on top.

Coming full circle

It is ironic that in this week's column the topic is about my love for rice but my blog post is about something made with flour. (You'll understand the irony when you read the column.) This post is about something that my mom used to make for us all the time but I never liked as a child. Fast forward years later, and this turns out to be one of those things I get a craving for every now and then, besides, it's so easy to make.


In her musings on roti, last week, Chennette mentioned that her grand mother would usually make an egg roti for her mom "... was really like a pancake, with nutmeg and cinnamon etc." Her mom's egg roti reminded me of the sweet roti my mom used to make for us which was similar, like a pancake also. Mom calls it chotah (not sure of the spelling). It is made with flour, an egg, cinnamon, sugar and water. The sweet roti or chotah is soft and light. I like mine hot with a dab of butter that melts. With a cup of tea, this is such a filling treat. See recipe below.

Sweet Roti

Yields 6

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp sugar (you can put 3 if you like)
• A pinch of salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• Enough water to form batter (some people use milk instead of water)

Method

• In a medium-sized bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Make a well in the center and stir in lightly beaten egg and enough water to form a batter - pouring consistency (but not watery).

If you are using a tawah, you will need to lightly rub the surface with some vegetable oil.

• Heat the tawah or pan to medium.
• Using a ladle, dip some of the batter and pour in the middle of the pan. Using the bottom of the ladle, gently spread the batter to form a circle. When the surface is covered with bubbles, it is time to turn the roti, using a spatula.
• As you flip the roti, it may end up to the side of the pan - leave it, don't try to move it, it will cook just fine. You can gently press the edges if you like.
• Within a minute, the other side should be cooked.
• Remove and repeat the process until the batter is finished.

Pancakes - Recipe

Here's the recipe requested for the pancakes I made on Tuesday (Feb 20)

Syrup
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Pancakes
2 cups flour
1tbsp sugar
A pinch of salt
A pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp instant yeast
3 eggs
Enough milk or water to make batter

Start off first by making the syrup.

• In a sauce pan dissolve the sugar in the water, add the cinnamon stick and bring to a boil.
• Let the liquid continue to boil until it starts to thicken
• The syrup is done when the bubbles are large, and the edges of the bubble surface are brown.
• Remove from the heat and let it cool.

On to the pancakes

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, yeast and cinnamon if using.
• Mix thoroughly.
• In a separte bowl, lightly beat the eggs
• Make a well in the center of the flour and add the egg mixture incorporating it into the flour
• Start adding the water or milk to the flour and egg mixture to make a batter.
• The batter should be soft but not watery or runny. It should be of a dropping consistency.
• Cover the bowl with the batter and put it in a warm place to rise - about an hour or until the batter has doubled in size.

• When the batter has risen, heat enough oil for deep frying in a sauce pot, karahi or wok if you have one.
• When the oil is hot, not smoking, turn down the flame to medium
• Arm yourself with 2 teaspoons - 1 for dipping the batter and the other releasing the batter from the former into the oil.
• A teaspoon gives the adequate size for the pancake. Think phulourie.
• Add as many drops as you can without over-crowding the pot
• As soon as they are golden brown on one side, turn then over to finish cooking.

• Drain the pancakes on paper towels.
• Serve warm drizzled with syrup.

You can double the ingredients to make a bigger batch.

Making Mauby

Here is the recipe for my mom's mauby that I rave about in my column this week.

For mauby concentrate:
1 & 1/2 cups water
5 - 6 large pieces of mauby bark
3 sticks of cinnamon
9 cloves
1/2 nutmeg, cracked

For mauby drink:
1 gallon water (16 cups)
1 stick of cinnamon
4 - 5 cloves
1/2 nutmeg, cracked
Sugar to taste

1. Place all the ingredients for the concentrate in a saucepan and bring to a boil until the liquid is reduced to half (3/4 cup)
2. Let cool
3. Fill a large, clean bucket or container with the gallon of water
4. Strain the cooled mauby concentrate into the water (do not throw away the boiled bark and spices!), add the fresh spices and sweeten to taste. (Bear in mind that you will add ice when serving so sweeten adequately)
5. Brew (using a large cup, dip into the mixture, fill the cup and then pour it back into the container. Do this for at least 3 minutes.)
6. Cover the container and set aside.
7. Add 1 & 1/2 cups of water to the reserved bark and spices. Cover.
8. The following day, a full 24 hours later, open the container with the mauby and strain the liquid from the reserved bark and spices into the mixture and brew - for 3 minutes. At this stage, you will start to smell the ripening of the mauby.
9. Cover the container and set aside
10. Add another 1 & 1/2 cups of water to the reserved bark and spices. Cover.
11. The next day, 48 hours later, strain and pour the reserved bark and spice mixture into the mauby (you may now discard the bark and spices) and brew for 3 minutes.
12. Cover the container and set aside.
13. 3 hours later, taste the mauby for desired sweetness and strength. If you feel it is too strong, then add some water, adjusting to your taste.
14. With the strength and sweetness to your desired taste, strain the mauby into bottles - plastic or glass and referigerate.
15. Served chilled with ice.