Starfruit x 2, Mulled Plums, Applesauce substitute for Egg

Applesauce Dredge
On Fridays Sally and I usually have one of her favorite dishes -- my cornmeal-crusted Cod with our favorite roasted Brussels Sprouts dusted with Cavender's Seasoningtm and Everglades Seasoningtm. 

But when I cracked my last duck egg to make the avgolemono (egg and lemon) liquid part of my dredge, I discovered that it had gone "off" (phew!)....   Oh no!  What to do!     All I can say is Thank Murphy for the Internet. 

 Before the oil in the skillet could get hot, I had found a substitute for an egg when making a two-stage dredge -- unsweetened applesauce!  

Luckily I keep some shelf-stable small containers in the cupboard, so it was easy to pull the lid and get out my kitchen brush. Applesauce is too thick to dip the filets in, so I brushed it on both surfaces before pressing it into the dish of panko.

I gotta say -- I actually like this better as a crust-maker.   Give it a try the next time you're making crusted fish!!

Starfruit Salad Dressing
I must admit, starfruit isn't very pretty  once you chop it and cook it, but the flavor is certainly interesting!

I got this idea from the Blue Osa Yoga Retreat & Spa in Costa Rica.  They of course, have starfruit trees growing on their property like many of us here in Florida.  Unlike many of us, they have created some interesting things to do with starfruit other than just put star-shaped pieces on a salad or a dish of ice cream!

3 Starfruit --  points just turning dark
2+ Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/4+ tsp Salt
1+ Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1+ tsp Honey

All those + signs mean you can adjust the amounts to suit your own starfruit harvest -- some fruit are sweeter than others at any stage.  The numbers here worked great for 3 average size fruit that were barely ripe.

Trim the ends of the fruit and chop into pieces.  Put them in your blender as you build the rest of the recipe right in the carafe.  Take everything for a nice long spin so that the oil and acids emulsify.  Makes about a cup of dressing.

Starfruit "Butter" 
Like apple butter, but with starfruit!   Again, not particularly pretty, but excellent flavor. 

Chop and puree the fruit to a coarse texture.  Cook low and slow to reduce 25-50% of the liquid and thicken things.  Adjust the sweetness level with some brown sugar,  and add cinnamon and clove to give it a nice flavor palate.   

You can see the difference in texture here, between the thin salad dressing and the starfruit butter.  Great on toast, spooned on salmon filets, or as a coulis for any occasion.

Mulled Plums
Based on a recipe from the BBC.  This past week I got a ton of different kinds of plums in our produce boxes from SWFL Produce, and there were more than enough for something besides just 'out of hand' eating.  This is an old British dessert recipe. 

4-6 Plums halved or quartered and pitted
Water to cover
1/2 cup Red Wine
2 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp ground Cardamon
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

Bring water to a simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar and blend the spices.  Add the plums and continue cooking 20 minutes or so until they are tender but not falling apart.

Serve warm, topped with a big dollop of custard -- Bird's Custardtm or made from scratch. 

You can find Bird's Custard powder in the British part of the International food section of Publix or World Market --  red/yellow/blue short, round container.     Great for all sorts of dessert applications!

Mango Nicecream, Boiled Veggie Supper, Purple Latkes, BEST Focaccia EVER!

Mango Nicecream
Four cups of mango pureed with 1 large chopped banana.  A dash of cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamon if you like.  Freeze at least 4 hours.  Then puree a second time to make things even smoother.   Refreeze again or eat immediately as "soft-serve".   Simple.  Yum.

Boiled Veggie Supper
A classic Southern boiled vegetable side dish elevated to a vegetarian main dish.   Classically the boiled veggies -- cauliflower, green beans and new potatoes -- would be served as a side for a slice of ham or fried chicken.  As a pescatarian I could have served it alongside salmon or another seafood, but I chose to serve it simply on it's own.  

Spicing is the key to making this dish palatable rather than bland.  I used chopped garlic and diced onion in the 'pot likker' for the cauliflower/green bean mixture; and thyme and marjoram in the purple potato pot likker.  The other trick is to not overcook any of the veggies -- another reason (beside the color leeching issue) to cook the potatoes separate from the other veg.  Purple potatoes want a bit more cooking time than white potatoes, else they can be mealy and dry in the mouth, but don't over cook them.

Purple Latkes
Latkes, or potato pancakes, are an old German/Eastern European tradition.  I made these with purple potatoes for extra healthy eating!

4 Purple Potatoes (about 1lb) 
1/2 cup Red Onion, finely diced
1/4 cup AP Flour
2 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp  Garlic & Herb Spice Blend

Grate the potatoes on the large side of your box grater.  Wrap the mass in a non-pretty tea towel (one you don't care about staining) or several layers of strong paper towel, gather it up and squeeze like a mad-man to get as much liquid out as you can.

I got nearly half a cup!  This lets the latkes fry up crisper.  Then let them drain for an hour or so before making up the batter and frying.

Mix together the potato shreds, diced onion, flour, spice, and beaten eggs.  Drop golf-ball sized spoonfuls of batter in a lightly oiled hot skillet, and pat them flat with the back of a spoon.  Fry for a few minutes until the bottom is brown, then flip carefully and repeat. 

Remove finished latkes to a paper towel covered plate and keep warm until the batch is done. 

Best Focaccia EVER!
I picked up a $2.99  e-book of Suzanne Dunaway's No Need To Need:  Handmade Artisan Breads  the other day, and if you like to bake breads I suggest you do too! 

What a revelation!  Simple, basic ingredients:  flour, water, yeast, salt.  A little olive oil and fresh herbs for brushing and topping.  Simple tools.  No kneading, just stir things into a shaggy dough, proof, pan, proof again and bake a short time.

One of the things that she wrote which I appreciate is that (of course) bread tastes best the day it is baked  -- so bake bread often.  Most recipes however have you making enough bread for 4-6 people for one day.  By the time the two of us get to the end of a bake it's just not as good as the first day.  So I took her basic Focaccia recipe and halved it, figuring that would be plenty of bread for two for one day. 

Following the halved recipe below, I made two beautiful 6" diameter x 1" thick rounds of thin crispy crusted, airy mouth-watering perfection.  Absolutely the best bread I have ever made! 

1 cup warm Water
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast (better than rapid rise) -- half a packet.
2 cups Unbleached AP Flour
1 tsp Salt
2-3 tsp EVOO for brushing
3 Tbsp fine chopped Rosemary for topping
2, 6" round baking tins
Baking Spray or butter for prepping the tins

Put the water in a largish bowl, sprinkle the yeast on the surface and with a large spoon stir to dissolve.    Now stir in half the flour and the salt, and stir for about 2 minutes.  Lastly stir in the remaining  flour and stir for another couple minutes until the dough just pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Cover and let it rise in a warm place (it's Florida -- I put it outside in the shade on our lanai) for 30-45 minutes.

Prep two 6" diameter baking tins (or one 9-10" tin) with baking spray or butter, then "pour" the dough into each tin carefully (so as not to squeeze out any air).  Brush with the EVOO and let it rise, covered, another 15-20 minutes on the counter.  Bake at a pre-heated 400F for 30-40 minutes until nicely browned and it sounds hollow when thumped (190F internal temp if you're measuring).   Let it cool 10-15 minutes before removing from the tins.

Here's a full-sized loaf made with whole wheat bread.

One of the few marginally specialized tools the author recommends is a Risotto Spoon -- a mixing spoon with a large hole in the center.  When stirring risotto it lets you mixing things more gently, without breaking up  lot of the rice grains.  With the doughs, the spoon lets in a bit more air and likewise makes the mixing more thorough and gentle.   Risotto spoons are hard to find, as the author mentions.  I didn't want to buy one, but I have an electric drill, a 1" diameter Forstner bit to drill clean-edged holes, and a spare wooden spoon.  Five minutes of set-up and drilling and another few minutes fine sanding things, and voilà -- Bread Spoon (not to be confused with Spoon Bread (which is one of the more than 80 bread recipes for all occasions in the book).  I don't know if it helped, but it was fun to turn an ordinary spoon into a Risotto Spoon.

For my WW readers, half of one 6" loaf is 7 points, and is the perfect size for a chicken or turkey sandwich, or for mopping up the dregs of a home-made Zero Point Soup (lots of recipes for those here...).

Algerian Chakchoukha, Pesto Stackers, Roasted Cauliflower, Salmon Casserole

Algerian Chakchoukha
Note -- this Algerian stew is not a variation of Shakshuka --  the eggs-poached-on- diced-tomatoes dish -- which also comes from North Africa.   I suspect that the "shuka" or "choukha" element of both words means something like 'stewed' or 'simmered'.  You can make this with canned beans and tomatoes (the quick way), or cook up a bag of garbanzos and dice up a couple tomatoes for a fresher approach.  I used canned garbanzos and a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes quartered.   This is a Blue Zones recipe except I used a red bell pepper rather than green.

2/3 cup Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Black Pepper
2/3 cup diced Carrot
1 stick Celery, chopped
1 can (3/4 cup) low/no sodium added Garbanzos, drained & rinsed
1 can (3/4 cup low/no sodium diced Tomatoes
1/2 large Bell Pepper (any color), diced
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Caraway seed
2 slices of Bread, toasted and cubed/crumbled
2 cups Water

Start by sauting the onion in a splash of EVOO until it starts to go translucent.  Add everything else except half of the water, the bread and the beans.  Cover and simmer for  few minutes.  Last, add the bread and beans, and continue cooking until the bread cooks down to and the beans are heated through.  

Depending on the bread you use, you may need to add more water.  I used a total of 3 cups to get a stew-like consistency.  Serve with rice or lentils.

As written, the dish is tasty but bland.  I strongly suggest taking the spice level up a few notches unless you like bland.

From the cumin/caraway spices that Blue Zones wants you to use, I suspect they were trying to imitate Tabil, a classic Algerian spice blend of  1/3 cup of coriander seed with a tablespoon each of cumin, caraway and garlic powder.  Take those for a spin in your spice grinder and add about a tablespoon to the stew!   

Another Algerian spice you could use here is the ubiquitous North African/Moroccan Ras El Hanut which we've discussed here several times, and included a recipe for making your own.

Pesto Stackers
We do love our eggplant, and are always looking for new ways to prepare it.  Can't for the life of me think why I never  combined pesto with eggplant before.  But here it is!   Simple layers of thin sliced broiled (but still al dente) eggplant schmeared with basil pesto, with thin slices of onion and tomato between.  Then topped with grated parmesan and shredded cheese then baked to marry all the flavors.

Garlic & Herb Roasted Cauli
Sally came back from a weekend visiting her daughter Holly up in Alexandria, and brought me one of the wonderful Women's Bean Project spice blends.  This one is Garlic & Herb. 

I just happened to have a head of cauliflower begging to be roasted and spiced.   

If you can't find these spice blends locally, you can order them online.  

Women’s Bean Project is a nonprofit social enterprise which operates a food manufacturing business tied directly to their transitional employment program for women in need.

Salmon & Pasta Casserole
I first created this dish back in 2017 and it seemed like the thing to do last week when I had to pick Sally up from the airport and have "something" ready to eat when she walked in the door.

This is simple to make in stages, then assemble and bake.  

1/2 bag frozen Peas

2 Salmon filets

Spice Blend of choice

4 oz sliced Mushrooms

2 cups classic White Sauce

1/2 box Large Shell pasta

Shredded cheese and Panko for topping

Dust the salmon filets with your favorite spice blend (I used smoked paprika and Evergladestm).  Broil the salmon filets for 12 minutes, until flake-able, discard the skin.  Allow the fish to cool while you boil up the pasta to package directions for al dente.  Cool the pasta.   

In a large bowl, fold together the pasta, flaked fish, frozen peas and mushrooms. 

Make two cups of a traditional roux using butter, flour and milk.   Pour it into the fish/pasta mix and fold to combine and coat everything.

Turn the mixture out into 9x9 baking dish and pat it flat.  Top with a handful of shredded cheese and then a handful of Panko.  Bake at 450F for 45-60 minutes.  

I baked it for 45 minutes, then turned the heat off and left the casserole in the oven, just before I went to pick up Sally at the airport.  When we got home an hour later, the casserole was still nice and hot and ready to eat.