Black Cardamon

So Lady Sally was up in Washington DC last weekend, visiting her daughter, and my phone rings: "We're at this Indian spice shop... what spice was it you're out of?"   "Cardamon."  "OK, thanks."

A couple days later she hands me a bag containing Black Cardamon seeds, and another of Black Cardamon pods.  That was my introduction to Black Cardamon as distinct from the more common Green Cardamon often used in cookies, coffee, and in my signature Butternut Squash soup.

Since I had to do some data-mining to figure out how to use it, I thought I'd pass on to you the results of my searches.

Interestingly, Cardamon is recognized as the third most expensive spice, by weight, in the world -- right behind #2 Vanilla and #1 Saffron.  Two different genera and several species give us the Green or "true" Cardamon and the Black or Java Cardamon.  Both are members of the Ginger family of plants.  Suprisingly, Guatamala is the largest exporter of Cardamon, ahead even of India where it's native.  Gautamala has only been growing Cardamon since about 1914....

Photo from FoodBloggers of Canada

Both types of Cardamon have a similar unique flavor, but the Black pods and seeds have distinct, but not unpleasant, overtones of smokiness from being dried over smoky fires.  Personally I like smoky.   Some folks claim Black is stronger or more intense than Green.  I don't think so.  Different, yes, but not stronger.   Get some of each and do your own taste test.

I'll say it again, as I've said it before -  buy and use whole spices when you can, not ground/powdered/processed stuff.  They last longer and taste so much better.   Particularly Ginger, Nutmeg, Horseradish, Garlic, Cloves, Allspice, Cardamon, Peppercorns, Caraway, Cumin, Celery, Vanilla and Mustard.

So last night for dinner I found a recipe for Black Cardamon Chicken Curry and gave this new-to-me spice variation a try.  As always, this is my version of a recipe you might find elsewhere.  Forgot to bring the camera to the table, so there's no picture -- sorry.

Black Cardamon Chicken Curry
2 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless
6 whole Black Cardamon Pods (Yep, 6.  Trust me on this)
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1/2 White Onion, chopped
3 whole large Carrots, sliced into thin rounds
3 sticks of Celery, cut into 1" pieces, tops and all
6 large Crimini mushrooms or one Portabello, chopped
1 large Tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt

I prepared this in my SaladMaster tm MP5 - think electric skillet with really, really deep sides - 5 quarts worth of side!  If you haven't switched to SaladMaster tm cookware yet, you can use any 3-5 quart "stock pot".

Saute the chicken in a splash of oil to get a nice sear on the surface.  Remove from pot.  Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute until until the onions start to get translucent.  Cut the chicken into 1" pieces and return  to the pot, add the cardamon pods, mushrooms,  tomato, and a cup or four of water.  Reduce heat, cover and cook on low for 20-30 minutes.  Add the Garam Masala and yogurt and simmer again for 20-30 minutes or until the liquid/gravy gets to the 'curry thickness' that you like.  Remove the cardamon pods before serving.  Serve with cumin rice or spicy dal.  Yuuummmm!



Chef Ken's Butternut Squash Soup
I make this at least once a month for Lady Sally's work lunches.  A batch lasts her all week long.

1 medium Butternut Squash (about 2 pounds)
1 large sweet red Apple, diced.  Not a tasteless Red Delicious or green Granny Smith
1/2 Red onion, diced
1/2 Sweet Onion, diced
Chef Ken's Five Spice mix:

• 5 Black Cardamon pods or 1/2 tsp of dried seeds in a bouquet garne cheesecloth packet
• 1 whole Star Anise pod
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 5 whole cloves
• 5 whole Allspice berries

 Cut the squash into 1" rings and discard the seeds.  Use your chef knife to slice the skin off the rings and cut the meat into 1" pieces or smaller.  Par-cook the squash for 10 minutes in the microwave.
. 
Combine everything in a 5 quart pot with 5-6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 45 minutes on medium-low.   

Transfer half mix to a blender or food processor and take it for a whirrrr to puree.  Mash the remaining large chunks in the pot as best you can (potato masher or Pampered Chef tm 5 Blade Mix n' Chop).    If you have a stick blender, even better and safer!  Skip the blender and go straight to the pot.  

Return the puree to the pot.  Simmer again for an additional 30-45 minutes.  Then remove the spices and bouquet garne before serving.  Serve with nice crusty garlic bread, and a dollop of yogurt for garnish.

========

Throughout this blog I'm going to be mentioning cookware products and tools that I have found to be exemplary, such as the Saladmaster tm line of cookware and the Pampered Chef tm Mix n' Chop tool.  If, along the way, I miss anyone's trademark, I apologize up front.

Oops!

Foods that aren't what you think they are...

A cook friend (who refuses to be called a chef, even though she creates fabulous dishes) asked me the other day if I'd heard of Oopsie Bread or Oopsie Rolls.  Nope.  Nary a word. She suggested that I check them out.   So I fired up the netbook and started datamining the 'Net to see what I could find. 

Seems like 'back in the day' (the mid-60s day, that is), the Atkins Diet folks (Dr. Robert Atkins and his associates) discovered that folks on a low/no carb diet craved, of all things, bread.  So they set out to try and come up with a substitute.  The result was called the Atkins Diet Revolution Roll.  The original recipe contained eggs, cream of tartar, salt, a couple tablespoons of cottage cheese, and a packet of sugar substitute. 

What???

Fast forward a couple decades.  One day an enterprising dieter discovered s/he didn't have any cottage cheese or sugar substitute handy.  Oops!  But s/he did have some cream cheese.  The result was the Oopsie Roll or Oopsie bread.

Dead simple.  Quick and pretty easy to make.  Tasty (sorta).   BUT IT STILL ISN'T BREAD!  No way Jose!  Not even close.  If I were really craving bread, I'd eat a styrofoam packing peanut first, then have this as a snack.

Don't get me wrong.  They are pretty tasty in an eggy sort of way, and certainly, as advertised, no-carb. 

But to call them a bread substitute is an insult to breads everywhere!  In spite of the photos I've seen, I can't imagine trying to eat a juicy hamburger between two of these.  They'd fall apart right after the first bite. 

Here's the recipe.  Try 'em and see what you think.

Preheat oven to 300F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick spray.

Separate the eggs.   With an electric beater, whip the egg whites and the cream of tartar until very stiff.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the yolks, cream cheese and salt, until smooth.

Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture, in batches.

Spoon 6 large mounds of the mixture onto the baking sheet.  Bake 30-40 minutes, until GB&D.

I made these with an added half teaspoon of Italian Seasoning in the batter:



Cool a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a slightly open zip top bag in the fridge for a couple of days.

They're light and airy and delicate.  And taste sorta like clafouti without any fruit.  Similar to pate choux but not sweet.  Stack a couple up and make a different kind of strawberry shortcake.  Put a couple slices of bacon between a couple for a different bacon & egg sandwich.  They could be interesting as mini muffins, split open and topped with fruit or a fruit couli -- that's what I'm going to do with the second batch.

JUST DON'T CALL THEM BREAD or ROLLS or BREAD SUBSTITUTE!!!!!!!!

March 17

St. Patrick's Day ...of course.

Can't tell you how many people have asked me whether I'm cooking for "my" holiday, or some such.  "My" holiday??  I'm Scottish!  Some people failed high school geography and can't tell the difference between Irish and Scottish!

Scots wear kilts, the Irish wear shamrocks, of course (GRIN).  Sham-rocks.  Now there's a word.  Like sham-poo.  What's wrong with the REAL THING?  That's what I want to know.

Actually the Irish traditional garb is called a leine, and was a traditionally yellow-dyed, sleeved or sleeveless, knee to ankle length linen shirt or smock (Think Ebenezer Scrooge's nightshirt).  The longer the leine, the high the status of the wearer. 

What most people don't realize is that the Irish peasants weren't particularly enamored of (read couldn't afford) corned beef.  Cabbage and potatoes and carrots, surely.  That's food for the common folk, why why they left in droves when there was a potato famine.  Corned beef was for those rich English overlords who ran Ireland for King and country.

Why is it "corned" beef, anyway?  Turns out "corn" is an Olde Englishe word for "small hard particles or grains".  In this case the "corn" is the salt (or perhaps old fashioned black powder) used to preserve the meat in wooden barrels.

That's why we Americans eat "corn" instead of maize.  Those English settlers found the Amerindians using hard dried yellow kernals, and called it "corn" rather than use the perfectly good native word "maize".  And since the winners write the histories and dictionaries, its obvious which word has prevailed.   "Corn" meal is also coarsely ground dried maize.  Biblical (English King James translation) references to "corn" had folks believing (wrongly) for hundreds of years that the Egyptians and Hebrews had maize.  It is true that cultures since before the earliest Egyptians have been "salt curing" meats either wet or dried.

In honor of the Irish, this week's recipe is Irish Countrywomen's Spinach Pie.  The basic recipe I borrowed from Irish Countrywomen magazine.  But of course I've modified it The Kilted Cook way.  I made this for Lady Sally to take to her office lunch party today.

Irish Spinach Pie

2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 pre-made pie crusts
2 Eggs, cold, separated
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
8oz shredded Parmesan or mixed white cheeses
16 oz cottage cheese (small curd would be better than the large curd that I used)
1 sweet onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine the spinach, egg yolks, cheeses, onion and spices.  Beat the eggwhites and cream of tartar into VERY stiff peaks.  Carefully fold the stiff whites into the spinach mixture.  Transfer into two pie crusts.  Bake 30-45 minutes until GBD (golden, brown and delicious).  Rest for 15 minutes before cutting, to allow filling to stiffen.

Option:  Fry up 4-8 oz of bacon, drain and crumble.  Add bacon to mixture, or sprinkle as topping on cooling pie.

Gotta start someplace...

 Welcome to Fooding Around With The Kilted Cook -- a personal exploration of cuisines, recipes, ingredients, and techniques for making delicious, nutritious food for friends, family and clients.

My name is Ken Hulme, and I'm a foodie.  

I live on the Gulf coast of Florida in a 26 ft. sailboat.  Professionally I'm known as The Kilted Cook, a Personal Chef.  I go to people's homes and cook for them - either two weeks worth of meals on one Cooking Day, or dinner parties varying from two to two hundred.  That's why I'm a foodie -- to improve my creative abilities with food.

The Kilted Cook Logo

Why am I The Kilted Cook? In the 80s and early 90s I learned to "cook good" in self defense (long story there), and found that I enjoyed the creativity of cooking.  Before there was Food Network or The Cooking Channel,  I spent Saturday mornings watching PBS and studying with the great early TV chefs -- Julia Childs, Jacques Pepin, Graham Kerr, Martin Yan, Jeff Smith, Rick Bayless, etc.  I copied their recipes and techniques, read their books, and thought that it would be neat to be able to go to folks' homes and cook dinners for them.

However, I couldn't figure out how to make a living doing that sort of creative cooking.  I'd been a restaurant cook, and burger-burner, and knew I hated the repetition of that as much as I would working on an assembly line. 

Fast forward 20 years.  In 2001 I got laid-off (once again) from my career as a Technical Writer.  A friend showed me a magazine article about a woman who was a Personal Chef.  It told how she worked (and made money at it), gave one of her recipes, and had information about the organization she belonged to called the United States Personal Chef Association.  So I contacted the USPCA, read their propaganda, and attended their Culinary Institute in Phoenix, AZ just 90 miles south of where I was living at the time.  I became the first Personal Chef to hang out his skillet in Yavapai County, Arizona.  A county bigger than the state of New Jersey!   I had to be "portable" to work for clients as much as an hour and half away, so I called myself The Portable Gourmet.

Fast forward again.  I moved to Colorado, then to Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, then to Sarasota, Florida, cooking for folks all along the way.  When I came to Florida, I decided I needed a new company name, and because the area was originally settled by quite a few Scots, and I've been a Celtophile for decades, I became The Kilted Cook in 2007.  I now live in Fort Myers, FL and cater (in all senses of the word) to clients from Sarasota to Naples.

Check out my website  www.TheKiltedCook.info

Bass Drummer for the Kwajalein Pipes & Drums, 2006

 Enough with the personal stuff.  On with the food!

Making Marmalade in Ten Minutes
One of the things I love about living in Florida is the wealth of citrus fruits we have here - oranges of various kinds, tangerines, clementines, lemons, Meyer lemons, limes, Key limes, loquat, pommelo, grapefruit - as well as other tropical fruit like mango, lychee, starfruit/carambola, Barbados cherry, kumquat, and papaya.  I can harvest any and all of those because I have friends and acquaintances who have those trees and have more than enough fruit to go around.

Any fruit can be made in to jam/jelly/marmalade with the addition of pectin - the substance that allows fruits to gel.  Citrus fruits naturally have very high levels of pectin in the skin and pith, which make them perfect candidates for handmade marmalades, the likes of which you simply cannot buy.  Here's how:

Chop some citrus fruit into thumb sided pieces, meat, skin, pith, pips and all, and toss it in a blender or food processor.   A single grapefruit; or one lemon, one lime, and one orange (my favorite combination) will make about a quart of marmalade.

Take the chopped fruit for a spin until it more or less looks like marmalade -- bits and pieces of skin in a fruit puree.  Measure the pureed fruit into a large microwave safe glass bowl (don't use plastic).

To that measure of fruit puree add the same measure of sugar (white, brown, demerarra, turbinado, even Splenda (tm),  whatever you like).  Stir and taste.  Too tart?  Add a bit more sugar. Too sweet?  Add a bit more fruit.

Microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Stir and microwave again for 5 minutes.  Ladle into glass jars or snap top containers fresh from the dishwasher, and cool before refrigerating.  Will last for months in the fridge. 

Marmalade is good for so much more than slathering on toast or English muffins.  I love it on slow-cooked oatmeal.  Or as a glaze for chicken and Cornish hens.  A dollop of nearly-tart grapefruit marmalade on a plank of pan-poached grouper is fabulous.  A spoonful of marmalade on a serving of Greek yogurt makes a great dessert, too.