Kohlrabi Salad (Thai/Vietnamese influenced)

about 1.25 lbs kohlrabi
1 1/4 tsp salt
Peanut or canola for frying
3 med shallots, peeled and slivered (I use onions)
5-6 tsp fresh lemon juice, according to taste
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more, to taste)
2 1/2 Tab coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
2 Tab very finely chopped cilantro

Cut off thick end of kohlrabi, then peel. Julienne or shred the rest. Put it in a bowl. Add 1 tsp salt and toss. Set aside for 15 minutes. The kohlrabi will give off liquid.

Meanwhile, pour the oil to a depth of 1/4 inch in a small frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in shallots. Stir and fry until the shallots are reddish-brown and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and spread out on paper towels to drain and crisp up.

Once the kohlrabi has wilted, squeeze out as much water as yu can and pat it dry. Put in a fresh bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 tsp salt, the lemon juice, sugar, and cayenne. Toss to mix. Add the peanuts, cilantro, and shallots and toss again.

And on a related note, one of my boys is a big fan of chocolate chex. Believe it or not, they (barely!) meet my criteria for sugar I’m willing to buy, weighing in at 8g of sugar per serving (my cutoff is 9). He mostly eats them as a snack (not breakfast), since Jonski Papa makes lovely whole wheat pancakes or waffles most mornings. The back of the choco chex box has a recipe for Mayan Chocolate Chex Mix. Even though it doesn’t strictly meet the challenge (there’s only cinnamon products), I present it anyway. Read on for another recipe that does include actual cinnamon.

Mayan Chex Mix

3 cups corn Chex cereal
3 cups chocolate Chex cereal
2 cups cinnamon Chex cereal
1 cup cashew pieces
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tab butter or margarine
2 Tab light corn syrup
2 tsp ground ancho chile pepper (I used 1.5 tsp ground chimayo chiles + .5 tsp smoked paprika)
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
1.5 tsp vanilla
1 cup cinnamon M&M’s (orig recipe calls for chocolate chips)

1. In a large microwaveable bowl, mix cereals and cashews.
2. In 2-cup microwaveable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, nutter, corn syrup, chile and cayenne uncovered on high about 90 seconds, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Pour over cereal mixture, stir until evenly coated.
3. Microwave uncovered on high 5 to 6 minutes, stirring after every minute. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Break into bite sized chunks, stir in M&M’s (chocolate). Store in airtight container.

It’s a bit too sweet, so if I were to make it again, I would add more nuts and some pretzels, and maybe more of the corn chex than it calls for. And to make it more in the spirit of the spice rack challenge – like, to actually use some cinnamon from the spice rack!! – you could add cinnamon with the chile powder.

Now on to some actual cinnamon. 4 or 5 years ago, we won a romertopf unglazed clay pot in a raffle. I haven’t been able to find many recipes to make with it, other than roasting chickens, but it certainly makes good roasted chicken! I borrowed Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking by Paula Wolfert from my library, but it only had 2 recipes for unglazed pots, so wasn’t any help either. More recently, I came across this one in my Epicurious app, and was inspired to try something similar. It was quite tasty, and made a nice change from our standard plain roast chicken. We had quite a bit of leftover bulgur (only the adults were willing to try it), but it was good on reheating.

Middle-Eastern-Inspired Clay Pot Chicken

2 ounces unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 red onions, cut into thick rings
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 long sweet red peppers, seeded and cut into rings
1 green peppers, seeded and cut into rings
2 long green chiles, seeded and diced
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large tomatoes, skinned, seeded and diced
2 ounces bulgur, washed
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 stick cinnamon
2 star anise (I might have left this out)
few sprigs thyme
1 package “pick of the chick” chicken pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
diced dried apricots

1. Start the clay pot soaking.
2. Heat the butter and extra-virgin olive oil in a pan. Gently sweat the onions, garlic, peppers and chiles with the cumin and cinnamon for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Add the tomatoes, bulgur, chicken stock, cinnamon, star anise, and thyme and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, then cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper (and more cinnamon, if you wish).
4. Put the bulghur mixture into the clay pot. Sprinkle with the diced apricots. Top with chicken.
5. Cover and place cooker in center of cold oven. Turn on the oven to 450 F and cook for 50 minutes. Remove lid and roast uncovered 5 to 10 minutes to brown skin slightly. (If you don’t have a clay pot, the original recipe at Epicurious gives directions for using a casserole dish.)

I started out by perusing Epicurious on my iPod, and I came up with a couple of recipes that looked interesting. The first was a rice dish (jasmine rice pilaf with mustard seeds). Sadly, the rice was kind of bland (even after I added salt on reheating). The mustard seeds didn’t really add much that I could tell. I also tested out green beans with red onion and mustard seed vinaigrette. The green beans were delicious at first, but when I reheated them and ate later, they were a bit too vinegary for me. I do think the onion vinaigrette has promise, though. (And true to form, I took both of these dishes to a block party!) I figured I could blog these, even though I wasn’t totally excited about them.

Flash forward to this week. Sweet corn season is on its last legs, so I bought half a dozen ears on Wednesday (and the farmer threw in an extra for free). I remembered seeing a couple of interesting corn recipes in my favorite cookbook, so imagine my excitement when I found that one of them included mustard seeds! I took what was left after dinner on Thursday and scraped the kernels off the ears and made spicy corn with sesame seeds and tomatoes.

most of the ingredients, assembled for one photo opp...

Spicy Corn with Sesame Seeds and Tomatoes
Tamatar Varu Makai Nu Shaak
(serves 4)

2 Tab peanut or canola oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
generous pinch of ground asafetida
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 fresh hot green chile, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tab sesame seeds
1 smallish onion (3 oz), peeled and finely chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups corn (i used cooked corn removed from cobs)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala (i used curry powder)
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used fresh; orig. recipe calls for canned)
3 to 4 Tab chopped fresh cilantro

Put the oil in a large nonstick frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the mustard and cumin seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds being to pop, a matter of seconds, put in the asafetida (if you have any!). Stir once and put in the garlic and green chile. Stir once or twice and put in the sesame seeds. As soon as the sesame seeds turn golden and/or pop, a matter of seconds, put in the onion and green pepper. Stir and fry for 5 minutes. (Catch your breath! :^)

Add the corn, salt, and garam masala. Stir and cook for a minute.
Add the turmeric, ground cumin, coriander, and paprika.
Stir and cook for a minute.
Add the liquefied tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
Cover, turn the heat down to low, and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Uncover, add the cilantro, and stir to mix. Serve hot.

It tastes wonderful! The cookbook recommends rolling it inside a tortilla, chapati, or pita bread. We had a couple of tortillas on hand, so that’s how we ate it for lunch on Friday. I had the leftovers on Saturday by itself – also good. Stir in a spoonful of plain yogurt if you want some added creaminess. (Note: I thought I’d bought some asafetida a few months ago, to try in various recipes, but I could not find it in any spice drawer to left it out.)

All of the produce in this recipe came from my farm share. I thought the green pepper (already chopped when the photo was taken) was a poblano chile and expected it to be hot, but it wasn’t. I see now from various online sources that poblanos are rather mild, so maybe my expectations were just off! I guess I should have used one of my jalapeños (such as the one in the photo…). I expected the two red peppers to be sweet, but the first one I cut into was HOT. I think the second one was not hot, but I’d blasted my sense of taste on the first so I couldn’t be sure. Anyway, my point is: you can adjust the spiciness through pepper selection.

I bought quite a lot of mustard seeds at my local by-the-ounce purveyor of spices because I’ve been intending to make homemade mustard. I just can’t quite get up the energy to do it, though (after all, you need lots of energy to let something soak for two days!), because I don’t even like mustard. This would be for the spouse, so I’d need his participation when it comes to the final taste adjustment step. Maybe I’ll start that…tomorrow.

look ma, i can knit!

At the Maker Faire at the end of July, a volunteer taught me how to cast on and do the knit stitch. The garter stitch swatch on bottom left is the outcome of that.

A week or so later, having forgotten how to cast on, I started a new piece with the help of youtube – and didn’t quite get the cast on right, but it was good enough for practice purposes. Then I learned how to purl from youtube – except I ended up doing some weird wacky thing that was not purl at all, and which my neighbor the knitter cannot figure out. (She teaches high school students how to knit, she has experience with these things!) The yellow one in the center is an example of my wacko purl stitch (the top two-thirds). The little piece below it is what I did after the neighbor taught me how to purl properly (she also taught me how to cast on properly!)

In the interest of full disclosure, I actually managed to start doing purl properly after a 10 minute break from knitting, but since it wasn’t what I HAD been doing I thought I was wrong so asked for help. My knitting neighbor helped me see the error of my ways, and now I can knit and purl properly. The piece on the lower right is a stockinette swatch, done after her counseling and knitting rehab :^) The blue piece at the top is a swatch scarf to use up my ball of blue yarn obtained at the Maker Faire, following suggestions in Kids Knitting. It includes a 2×2 rib, 1×1 rib, basketweave, seed stitch in the center, then basketweave, 1×1, and 2×2 on the other side of the center.

Now what?? The T-boy wants a blanket, which seems way too big. A friend suggested a dishcloth. I have an itch to do socks, but I’m sure they’re WAY too hard! Maybe I’ll make a pillow instead of a blanket…

Here are some recipes from my archives that contain cumin:

• Turnips with Yogurt and Tomato (cumin seeds): I’ve only made it once, so it’s not yet a favorite, but I did make this about a month ago, so it’s current.
• Spanish-Style Spinach with Chickpeas (ground cumin): This is one of my husband’s favorite dishes. He looks forward to having it when we’ve got lots of spinach in the fridge.
• Green Beans with Cumin and Fennel (both cumin seeds and ground cumin): my favorite way to cook green beans (if you don’t mind spice with your green beans!).

And here’s a new one:  curtido, a cabbage salad with oregano from El Salvador. The original recipe also called for a cup of shredded crisp lettuce, but I didn’t have any on hand so left it out. For someone who claims she doesn’t like cole slaw, I’m posting quite a few slaw recipes this summer!

Cabbage Slaw with Oregano and Cumin (curtido)

6 cups shredded green cabbage
2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tsp salt
2 Tab red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tab olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss well to mix. Set aside for 1 hour or longer, refrigerating if necessary.

Now if I could just find where my chickens wandered off to… I guess they aren’t getting enough cumin in their diets! [joking! We have no chickens.]

I’ve been negligent the past few months and have missed posting for the Spice Rack Challenge. May was coriander. I was getting fresh cilantro from Capella’s spring CSA, plus I have a couple of go-to recipes that include ground coriander: Spanish-style greens with chickpeas (we eat this regularly, with a variety of seasonal greens), or green beans with cumin and coriander (my favorite way to spice up green beans). But I didn’t post anything. June was mint, and I could have posted the Three-Herb Chimichurri (parsley, cilantro, and mint) from Raichlen’s How To Grill.  I originally made it to serve with grilled steaks but found it was really good on all sorts of things (such as rice, bland veggies, as a salad dressing, or whatever). But once again, I never got around to it.

The challenge for June is basil. I did intend to grow some of my own this year. I had a holy basil seedling that I potted up before leaving on 10 days of vacation. I forgot to line up anybody to water it, and left it on my porch – and it died. The other seedlings right next to it did fine, which was weird, but there you go: no home grown basil for me. But I did get some this past week from Capella Farms, so all was not lost. I’ve been planning to serve roll-your-own Vietnamese spring rolls for dinner, which ideally include Thai basil. Instead, while shopping at a Korean grocery for spring roll wrappers, I got seduced by their thinly sliced bulgogi meat. Tonight I assembled a mostly Korean feast, and included a cabbage dish from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. The inspiring recipe is called “Napa Cabbage Salad with Southeast Asian Flavors.” I had savoy cabbage yukina savoy and no fish sauce, so modified it somewhat. I’m not big on cole slaw – or cabbage for that matter! – but this combo was really fabulous – the mix of fresh herbs is a great taste sensation. If I were given to hyperbole, I might say something like “a party in your mouth,” but instead I will bow to Bishop’s words when he writes that “the flavors are bright and crisp.” A bright, crisp, flavorful party in your mouth…

Bonus! This recipe actually includes basil AND mint AND coriander (in the form of fresh cilantro), so it kind of makes up for missing the past two months!

green (and orange!) ingredients from Capella

Asian Slaw

yukina savoy cabbage, chopped into thin strips
2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded on the large holes of a box grater
12 large basil leaves, cut into thin strips
12 large fresh mint leaves, cut into thin strips
2 Tab minced fresh cilantro leaves
2 Tab lime juice
a few drops of worcestershire sauce (original recipe calls for 1.5 Tab fish sauce)
1 or 2 Tab diced green chiles from the freezer (recipe calls for 1 small Thai red chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced)
1 tsp sugar
1 Tab toasted sesame oil (original calls for 2 Tab roasted peanut oil )
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

1. Place the yukina savoy cabbage, carrots, and herbs in a large bowl.

2. Whisk the lime juice, worcestershire, chile, and sugar together in a small bowl. Stir occasionally to help the sugar to dissolve, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the oil.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Add the peanuts, toss, and serve immediately.

leftover slaw (bright crisp party in the bowl)

]]> http://jonskifarms.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/spice-rack-challenge-asian-slaw/feed/ 0 jonskifarms fresh ingredients the slaw http://jonskifarms.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/tasty-turnips/ http://jonskifarms.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/tasty-turnips/#comments Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:39:31 +0000 Tricia http://jonskifarms.wordpress.com/?p=703 ]]> Turnips are not one of my favorite foods – or rather, I’m not all that comfortable cooking turnips, because I don’t have a repertoire of go-to recipes. But they show up in my CSA share, so I try to find interesting recipes to use them up. Here is the most recent success, courtesy of (what else?!?) World Vegetarian. I took it to a pot luck and it got gobbled up. I certainly enjoyed it!

(By the way, am I the only one who does that – takes new dishes to pot lucks? I figure a large audience like that is bound to have a few adventurous eaters, unlike my own family that is only adventurous on other people’s turf. I almost always taste test it first, and if something was a true disaster I wouldn’t take it along…)

Turnips with Yogurt and Tomato

Shaljam Lajavaab

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp salt
2 lbs turnips, peeled and cut into 1.5 inch dice
3 Tab peanut or canola oil
1 tsp whole cumin seeds (original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp)
2 large shallots (about 1.5 oz), peeled and cut lengthwise into fine slivers (I used a small leek and part of a garlic scape)
2 medium tomatoes (8 oz), peeled and chopped (I only had a small tomato, so I used diced tomatoes from a can!)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne

Put the yogurt and salt into a large bowl. Beat lightly with a fork or whisk until the yogurt is smooth and creamy.

Pierce the turnip pieces on all sides with a fork and then put them into the bowl with the yogurt. Mix well and set aside for at least 3 hours. (You can leave the turnips in the yogurt for up to 8 hours, but refrigerate after 3.) Strain, but save the yogurt since you will be using it.

Put the oil in a large nonstick frying pan and set over high heat. When hot, put in the strained turnips. Stir and fry until the turnips are lightly browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Turn the heat down to medium-high. Quickly put in the cumin seeds and stir once. Put in the shallots; stir and fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the shallots are lightly browned. Put in the tomatoes and cayenne. Stir and fry for 1 minute. Put in the turnips and reserved yogurt. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to medium, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. The yogurt will curdle as it cooks, but that is okay.

Next, turn the heat down to low and cook another 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Do not allow the turnips to stick to the bottom of the pan. If necessary, sprinkle a little water if they seem too dry.

Serves 4 to 6.

ETA: After posting this, I looked for other turnip recipes on my blog and found a very similar one, braised turnips with tomatoes and cumin – the main difference being that one doesn’t have the yogurt.

I was flipping through my collection of vegetable-leaning cookbooks this weekend, looking for something to use up some of the greens I’ve been getting from my Capella Farm spring CSA. In particular, the kale and chard have been feeling neglected and unloved in my fridge. In From Asparagus to Zucchini, I noticed a recipe called Micah’s Yummy Chard Pie that includes dill! Ha, proverbial two birds with one stone. So tonight, I made it.

The recipe is for two pies. I just made one – it’s easy enough to half the ingredients. I also made mine in an 8×8 baking dish, because I was using a sheet of puff pastry from my freezer (in the interest of saving time).

Micah’s Yummy Chard Pie
8 servings per pie
page 57 in From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce

2 Tab olive oil or canola
1.5 cups chopped onions
1 Tab minced garlic or several chopped garlic scapes
1 very large bunch or 2 med bunches Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves chopped
6-8 eggs (I used 3 in my 1 pie)
2 cups milk or half-and-half (I used milk)
1 tsp salt
2 8-inch deep-dish pie shells
2 cups grated cheddar or Swiss cheese (I used manchego and cheddar)
chopped ham, cooked bacon, diced tomatoes, chopped basil, blanched peas, or green beans (optional)
1-2 Tab chopped fresh dill

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium flame. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the garlic in the last few minutes of cooking (to avoid burning it). Add chopped greens and cook, stirring often, until they wilt. Turn off heat

Beat eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl. Spread chard mixture in bottom of pie shells. Add cheese. Pour egg mixture over top. Add one or more of the optional ingredients, if desired. (Sorry, Micah, I didn’t use any!) sprinkle with dill (this I did – and I used quite a bit, in the spirit of the challenge.)

Bake at 400 degrees F until the pies are no longer jiggly in the center, 30-40 minutes.

I’m not that big on eggy tasting dishes, so I often avoid recipes that have lots of eggs, but not this time. I’m glad I tried it – it really was yummy, and it wasn’t even very eggy. The only problem is that my audience all disappeared (to a $1/ticket college baseball game) when I put it in the oven, so I ate alone. I guess I know what we’ll be having for dinner tomorrow!

square quiche-like chard dish: it really is yummy!

About the dill: we’ve been getting herbs in our weekly share, but not dill. I stopped at a local grocery store on my way home, but they were out of dill in the fresh herbs section. Then I noticed they were selling live herb plants – including dill. Given my dislike of it, I was really tempted to just pinch some off the plants and sneak it out in my pockets. I’d be helping prune the plants, right? A service? But no, that would be stealing. So I bought one. (Now what am I going to do with a dill plant? I suppose I could try some of the other dishes arising from this challenge!)

And you know what? I couldn’t even taste it! It was overwhelmed by the onions or chard. I’m thinking that’s kind of cheating, for the purposes of the Spice Rack Challenge. I should make something else – maybe one of the recipes where I usually leave out dill… such as feta-stuffed cucumber boats, or spanakorizo. I’ve already made one batch of spanakorizo using my share, I suppose I could make another with this week’s spinach and some more pinches from the plant. I’ve never added the dill, so perhaps I should!

Two notes: as I was typing this up, I noticed another recipe for chard pie at the top of the page. The main differences? No suggestion for optional add-ons, and no dill! And then when I was turning to the cucumber section to see if this book is the source of a dish I remember leaving dill out of, I saw they have a dill section! Granted, it’s only 4 recipes on one page, but there you go.

Anetham graveoleus, with carminative properties!

piles of drawer fronts on the table

piles of door fronts on another counter. stack on floor not visible!

March madness indeed!

The challenge spice this month was cardamom. I could refer you to my February entry, since cardamom is an ingredient in baharat, a spice mix (common in the Arabian Gulf States) that I used in my dish last month. Instead, I will give you the recipes for the dishes I was planning to make: muhammar (sweet rice, aka Bahraini pearl divers’ rice) and bathala theldada (Sri Lankan sweet potatoes with cardamom and chiles), which I would serve with a nice lemony roasted chicken or maybe some grilled lamb kebabs. If I had enough cardamom pods left, I would also make an ancient Indian drink called panaka (the variation described as ‘a cold ginger-cardamom drink with lemon and mint’). In fact, I hope to make all of these in the week to come – once the counters are again cleared of hammers, drills, and drawer fronts!

Muhammar
p 249 in The Complete Middle East Cookbook

serves 5-6 (“1 if you are diving”)

1/4 tsp saffron threads
3 cardamom pods, cracked
2 Tab rose water
2 cups basmati rice
6 cups water
1 Tab salt
1/3 – 1/2 cup granulated sugar or honey
1/4 cup ghee or butter

1. Place saffron and cardamom in the rose water and leave aside to steep.
2. Pick over rice and wash until water runs clear.
3. Bring 6 cups water to the boil in a heavy pan. Add salt and rice and stir occasionally until water returns to the boil. Leave uncovered and boil for 8 minutes. Drain in a colander.
4. Pour sugar or honey onto hot rice and mix through with a fork.
5. Heat ghee or butter in pan in which rice was cooked and add sugared rice. Sprinkle rose water mixture on top. Make 3 holes in rice with end of a wooden spoon.
6. Cover rim of pan with a paper towel and place lid on tightly. Cook rice over low heat for 20-25 minutes until tender.

This almost sounds like a dessert, but the author recommends you “Serve with grilled fish and roast lamb.” She also explains that it was eaten by pearl divers on the belief that “they could dive more frequently and with less ill-effect if they had sweet [...] and sustaining foods” beforehand. This recipe has two less common ingredients (besides the cardamom pods), but as it turns out, I do have saffron on hand (purchased for a Paper Chef challenge that I didn’t actually complete) and rose water (purchased with this cookbook in mind, but not yet opened).

In addition to the rice and in the spirit of multicultural eating, I was also intrigued by this sweet potato recipe in my favorite cookbook (Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, as frequent readers may recall). I figure the heat from the chiles will be a nice foil to the sweet rice and mild chicken. Tonight I would have made a half batch, because I’m down to 1 sweet potato.

Bathala Theldada
(Sri Lankan sweet potatoes with cardamom and chiles)
p 285 in  Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian
Serves 6

2 very large sweet potatoes (about 2.5 lbs)
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
5 Tab peanut or olive oil
3 whole dried hot red chiles, broken into halves
2 whole cardamom pods
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
20 fresh curry leaves (“substitute fresh holy basil or basil leaves for a different but equally interesting flavor”)
3 onions (about 1 1/4 lbs), cut into halves lengthwise and then into very fine half rings
1 to 3 tsp coarsely crushed dried hot red chiles
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tab fresh lime juice, or to taste

Peel the sweet potatoes and quarter lengthwise, then cut into chunks about 3/4 inch. Put in large pot and cover well with water. Add the turmeric and bring to a boil. Stir well to mix in the turmeric. Boil, uncovered, for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender but still firm. [I suspect you should drain them, but it doesn't specify in the recipe.]

Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the red chiles. Stir once and when the chiles darken, a matter of seconds, put in the cardamom and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the curry leaves. Stir once and put in the onions. Stir and cook the onions for 5 to 6 minutes, or until they are lightly browned. Put in the sweet potatoes. Stir and fry for 5 minutes. Put in the crushed red chiles, salt, and lime juice. Stir and cook, lowering the heat as needed, until the sweet potatoes are tender enough for your taste.

Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving.

And finally, I was intrigued by this drink recipe, also in World Vegetarian (I told you it is my favorite!). Jaffrey writes that it was popular “about three thousand years ago. It does not exist today. That is probably a dangerous statement to make. There may well be some pocke of India [...] that still prepares it [...]. Perhaps I should say that I have not seen it served, nor have I ever seen a full recipe for it, just a mention in ancient texts.” But it seems to me like (non-fizzy) ginger ale with cardamom, so it can’t be too bad… I’m definitely going to try this soon.

Panaka
p 644 in World Vegetarian
serves 6

2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 Tab dark brown sugar (or Jaggery if you have it)
10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
6 Tab fresh lemon juice
fresh mint

(cold lemony-minty variation) Combine the ginger, sugar, cardamom pods, and 2 cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium low heat about 15 minutes, or until you have 1.5 cups left. Strain and cool. Add lemon juice, mix, and refrigerate. Serve in small quantities with lots of ice and mint springs. (I might mix it with fizzy water, if it’s as sweet as I suspect.)

So on Pi Day Eve (Sunday), we held our Third Annual Pi(e) Day Party. Of course, I made pecan pie (increased the pecans, used some dark Karo in place of the standard). Knowing that I was going to make a chocolate chip pie to send to school, I convinced the youngest to let me make something different for the party. I thought about making cherry pie, but heard a rumor that someone else was bringing one. I flipped through my Moosewood Desserts cookbook and was intrigued by the lemon chess pie (we had some lemons in the fridge) but decided to make the mango pie (using a package of mango chunks from the freezer). I almost used the crust from peach pie in a gingerbread crust, but decided to stick with my standard flaky buttery pastry recipe. However, it did inspire me to add diced candied ginger to the mango. Too bad I didn’t use cardamom, or it could have been my entry for this month’s Spice Rack Challenge! My version of the recipe follows.

starry, starry pie...

Mango Ginger Pie
based on Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts, p 56

top and bottom pie crust (use your favorite)
4 1/2 cups mango cubes
1 tsp freshly grated lime peel (I had to resort to lemon)
2 Tab fresh lime juice (I used jarred)
1 scant cup sugar (next time I might just use 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
3 Tab cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Roll out half the pie crust and arrange in the pie pan.

Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to coat the fruit evenly. Fill the pie shell with the fruit mixture.

Roll out the remaining crust and place on top of the filling. Trim the top crust and then crimp and flute the edges. With the tip of a paring knife, cut small sits in the top crust to allow steam to escape (or use my friend Roger’s trick, and cut out the shape of the pi-symbol).

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the pie is lightly browned. (Mine baked for 55 minutes.)

Somewhere in the past couple of weeks, I saw a lovely pie that was covered with star-shaped crust cutouts (and a solitary moon) – maybe this one at Instructables? I thought that would be more fun than a solid crust, so that’s what I did. It didn’t require that much extra time.

pies, before cutting (and before the peach arrived)

With about 30 people, 9 pies (including one savory; see above – peach not shown), 1 homemade batch of raspberry sorbet, lots of chatting, a round of capture the flag in a muddy field, and a post-party D&D game, I’d say the party qualified as a big success! I liked the mango ginger pie, although it was not a huge hit (nearly half remained at the end of the party). T-boy tried pecan pie for the first time since he didn’t have his standard chocolate chip available, and he liked it. Now if I could just convince myself to like it, it could be the family standard!

Next year Pi(e) Day will be on a Wednesday – maybe we should have a mid-week pie dinner party? We can’t start at 1:59, but traditions have to be flexible if they are to survive…

at the end of the party