(from “Coconut & Lime: by Rachel Rappaport)
Small round tomatoes ( 1 lb or however many people you are serving)
1 lb cooked shrimp (I used northern)
1 dill pickle, minced
¼ C finely minced celery
2 T finely minced onion
2 T mayonnaise
2 T chopped parsley
1 T Old Bay seasoning
juice & zest of 1 lemon
Mix everything together and stuff into hollowed out tomatoes.
( a la Laurie, adapted from many recipes)
2 kgs. Large ripe tomatos
Bunch of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
dash of white wine vinegar
Puree all of the above ingredients and then put into a cheesecloth over a sieve or hang from something(?) add some sea salt and pepper and let it drip through until you get a nice clear broth.
(you could add ginger, vodka, etc.)
Chill served and garnish with grape tomatos, green onions, basil or a parmesan tuile.
8 or 9 roma tomatos
3T Butter
3T dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 puff pastry sheet
Parboil the tomatos to remove skins, seed and cut in half. In a cast iron frying pan melt the butter and sugar and add the tomato halves in a nice concentric circle.
Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or until nice & syrupy.
Splash the vanilla over.
Carefully place the puff pastry around and under the tomato mixture and cut a hole in it. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and golden.
Let cool for 10 minutes and then turn onto a plate. Serve with whipped cream
(Note from Laurie: I don’t use the cast iron – I found it stuck and was hard to turn out. After I sauté the mixture I turn it into a pie plate sprayed with Pam (or well greased) and then continue. This seems to work much better).
(Note from Paul: This was great. Tasted a little like peach pie).
From Linette Green’s “A Taste of Cuba”
1 – 3lb frying chicken, cut in half
12 garlic cloves, minced
¼ C lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin 1 cup white wine
1 tsp salt
1 small onion
2 shallots
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ C olive oil
1. Rub the chicken with the mince garlic.
2. In the workbowl of a food processor, place all the remaining ingredients except the olive oil. Pulse until the onions and shallots are liquefied.
3. Place the chicken in a glass bowl, pour the marinade over the top and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Remove the chicken from the marinade and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. In a frying pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. When pan is hot, brown chicken on both sides, one half at a time.
6. Remove and place in a shallow roasting pan, skin side up and roast 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.
7. Cut chicken into serving pieces and serve immediately.
(Note: this will be modified the next time I make this cake as I found the buttercream too overpowering. Also diverting from the recipe I used unsweetened coconut for the cover when sweetened was called for, and did not brush the cakes with a simple syrup. That did take the sugar content down slightly, and on that note, the alternate cake in the book with which he was competing had roughly 10 C of sugar so that one piece would have had more than a cup of sugar….I like dessert but that is absurd. Bobby’s cake on the other hand has about 2 cups altogether and is sweet enough. Also Bobby’s directions used a standalone mixer and not having one, I did it with my old trusty mixmaster.)
Cake:
1 C milk (asked for whole but 1% worked just fine)
6 egg whites
1 vanilla bean split and scraped, seeds reserved
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 C cake flour (used all purpose and it worked just fine)
1 3/4 C sugar
1 T and 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 C unsalted butter slightly cold cut into about 12 pieces
To make the cake.
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Flour and butter two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
3. Whisk together milk, egg whites, vanilla seeds and extract.
4. Mix together in another bowl, the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
5. In that bowl with mixer at low speed add the butter one piece at a time beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs.
6. Add all but 1/2 C of milk mixture and beat at low for about about 2 minutes, add the last of the milk and beat at medium for another minute.
7. Divide evenly between the pans.
8. Bake for around 25 minutes until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
9. Cool on rack for about 10 minutes then remove from parchment paper and let cool completely (around 45 minutes).
Coconut Custard (for use in filling and icing):
3/4 C milk (again used 1% instead of whole)
3/4 C coconut milk
1/2 vanilla bean split and scraped, seeds reserved.
4 egg yolks
1/3 c sugar
3 T corn starch
2 tsp rum
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
To make the Coconut Custard:
1. Combine the milk, coconut milk, vanilla bean and seeds and bring to simmer over low heat.
2. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch together in large bowl.
3. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture.
4. Return mixture to pan and over medium heat bring to a boil. Cook whisking constantly until thickened.
5. Scrape mixture into bowl, remove vanilla bean, and whisk in rum and vanilla extract.
6. Let cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Coconut Filling:
3/4 C Coconut Custard
3/4 C heavy or whipping cream
To make Coconut Filling:
1. Combine custard and cream and whip until soft peaks form.
Coconut Buttercream:
1 1/2 C unsalted butter at room temp
1/3 confectioners sugar
3/4 c Coconut Custard
pinch of salt
To make Coconut Buttercream:
1. Beat butter and sugar til light and fluffy.
2. Add Custard and salt and beat until smooth.
To assemble the cake:
1. Cut each of the cakes horizontally into equally sized cakes.
2. Spoon 1/3 of the filling between each layer.
3. Frost the top and sides with the buttercream.
4. Toast about 2 C of unsweetened coconut and apply to top and sides.
5. Serve and receive compliments.
Take:
1 onion skinned
2 or 3 carrots
3 sweet potatoes
Place into roasting pan, pour 1/4 C olive oil over and
roast at 375 for about one hour.
When cooked, remove skin from sweet potatoes and dice
all vegetables finely. Place into pot.
Add:
2 tsp microplaned ginger root
4 cloves garlic chopped finely
1 bunch spinach
2 T curry powder
1 tsp cumin
2 seeded and finely chopped hot (at least a serrano) peppers
1 can coconut milk
some black pepper
Cook mixture for 20 minutes on low heat. Remove and let cool.
The cookbook has a dough recipe which I forwent and instead used frozen tart shells…putting mixture into the bottom one and then pressing down the top one.
Bake for around 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
(Sometimes the top lag so you may have to put them back in for a little longer).
I served this with Dwight’s Mango Chutney.
Both the patty and chutney recipe come from the Bamboo Cooks (a great but out of print cook book).
4 ripe mangoes peeled and diced
3/4 C white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 red pepper diced
1/4 C raisins
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 hot pepper seeded and finely chopped
1 T ginger root microplaned
Bring vinegar and salt to a boil and stir constantly for 1 minute.
Add sugar and boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly.
Add remaining ingredients, return to boil then simmer on low heat for
20 – 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool.
This will keep for up to a month refrigerated.
Do not freeze.
From the great Bamboo Cooks.
¼ C rice vinegar
2 T soya sauce
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 T sugar
1 T minced Serrano pepper
1/3 C olive oil
2 T Sesame oil
6 drops Tabasco
2 and 1/2 pounds Halibut cut into kabob size cubes
48 small shitake or cremini mushroom caps
½ half medium onion, peeled and cut into ¼”squares
Combine vinegar, soya, ginger, garlic, sugar and Serrano.
Whisk in olive oil, sesame oil and Tabasco.
Add fish and mushrooms, marinate for 1 hour. Alternate on skewers, onion, fish and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, grill medium high for 3-4 minutes per side.
To prepare the tandoori:
Ingredients:
1/2 C plain yogurt
1/2 lemon (juice)
1/2 small onion (grated)
1 T garlic (grated)
1 T ginger (grated)
1 T garam masala
1 T hot smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin (toasted and ground)
1 tsp coriander (toasted and ground)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt to taste
1 pound chicken (boneless and skinless, but into 1 inch pieces)
Directions:
1. Mix all of the ingredients save the chicken.
2. Place the chicken in the marinade and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably several hours to overnight.
3. Pull the chicken from the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and skewer it.
4. Grill the chicken until cooked, about 3-5 minutes per side.
To prepare the salsa:
Mix together roughly two cups of watermelon diced with about one cup of ripe pear diced. Add about a third of a cup of red pepper finely chopped and one seeded serrano pepper finely chopped.
In a jar mix the juice of a couple of limes, about one half of a teaspoon of sugar and a little salt. Shake well and then add to watermelon mixture. Make sure it all gets mixed together.
Finally:
Place some salsa on a fajita tortilla, add a skewers worth of chicken, spritz the chicken with just a little soy sauce, wrap, and take a bite.
The tandoori aspect of this comes directly from Kevin at Closet Cooking; everything else was me (Paul).
Ingredients:
1 T peanut oil (I used sesame instead)
1/4 C panang curry paste
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
1 lime (juice)
1 T fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 pound shrimp (peeled and deviened)
1 red pepper (sliced)
1 handful peas)
1 handful cilantro
1 birds eye chili (thinly sliced) -optional
1 handful peanuts (roasted and chopped)
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a sauce pan.
2. Add the panang curry paste and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Add the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and simmer for 15-20 minutes to thicken.
4. Add the shrimp and red pepper and simmer until the shrimp is cooked, about 5 minutes.
5. Serve garnished with peas, cilantro, chilies and peanuts.
(I found this recipe at http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2008/01/penang-kung-prawn-penang-curry.html and made no real changes; when something turns out so well why bother.) Did not use the chili garnish since it was already fairly hot. -Paul
