Baba Ghanoush

Eggplants have been everywhere. I was getting sick of dicing them up and putting them into only curries or stir fries. Then I remembered the ever so delicious baba ghanoush, and low and behold, I realized that all the ingredients I needed I could get here. The roasted walnuts added a nice crunch and flavor. I love this dish, and although it's a bit time consuming, if done right, you will not be disappointed. The eggplant is supposed to be blended, but I like the bigger chunks so I used a fork to smash what I could and then cut up the other large pieces with a knife. Also, if you cannot find a paper bag to sweat the eggplant in, you can just put them in a clean plastic bag instead. Ideally, the eggplant should be baked or roasted for long periods of time, but the paper bag trick was something I read on the grand internet and seems to have worked just as well. That said, this dish is the stuff of my dreams, so delicious!



Makes about 3 to 4 nice sized servings [or 1 serving if you are really hungry like I was]

Ingredients:

Eggplant, 3 medium, or 2 large, cut in half lengthwise
Oil for cooking, like olive oil
Garlic, about 4 or 5 cloves, diced up
Cumin seeds, a small pinch
Onion, 1/2 of a medium one, diced up
Walnuts, about 1/4 cup's worth, chopped up finely
Lemon, 1/2 or 1 small lime
ねりごま(練り胡麻) sesame paste, which you can usually find next to the sesame seeds at your grocery store, or tahini paste (which is basically the same thing), about 1 to 2 tablespoons worth

Spices and dried herbs to taste, such as:
Curry powder, I used 1/2 teaspoon
Black pepper
Oregano
Basil

Sesame seeds, for garnish, about 1/2 teaspoon

Using a knife, poke a few wholes on the purple skin of each eggplant slice.

In a large fry pan, heat up some olive oil. Add the eggplant skin side up and let it fry. Be careful not to burn it too much, or to allow the eggplant to stick to the pan. Cover the pan to let the eggplant steam itself while frying it.

Flip the eggplant over to the skin side and again be sure not to let it stick to the pan. You want the eggplant to cook enough to where the inside is super moist and rather mushy. Remove from the heat and place all the eggplant in a paper bag and close. Let sit for 20 minutes or so to let the skin become soft.

Meanwhile, heat some more oil in the pan. Add the cumin seeds and the garlic. Fry this over medium heat for a bit, right before the garlic begins to toast. Then add the onions and allow the garlic to becomes a bit brown and crispy, but not burnt.

Remove the garlic and onions and any excess oil from the pan and put aside.

In the same fry pan, add the walnuts and turn the heat up to medium. Use a wooden spoon to constantly move the walnuts around. The walnuts will go from seemingly fresh to burnt VERY quickly, so watch them carefully and move them constantly. When a nice toast begins to develop, lower the heat and let them roast a bit while continuing to move them around with a wooden spoon or spatula. Be sure not to burn them, you want them roasted and fragrant, not burnt.

After letting the eggplant sit in the bag for 20 minutes, use a spoon to scoop out the insides of each eggplant slice into a large bowl. Once all the insides are scooped out, use a fork to smash it all up. If the insides are not mushy enough to mash up with a fork, simply cut up all the inside scooped out stuff on a cutting board using a knife (that's what I did). Cut it into very small pieces.

Add the desired spices to the bowl with the eggplant and mix. Add the lemon juice and the sesame paste to the bowl and mix. Add the onion and garlic mixture you had set aside, mix. Finally, add the roasted walnuts and mix everything well.

Place the mixture in a serving dish and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. You can use the baba ghanoush to spread on stuff, with chips, or just eat it plain while still hot. It tastes great cold too, so it's something you can add to a bento if you'd like. Now you've found something delicious to make with all that eggplant currently in season. Happy nom nom!

Note: don't throw the eggplant skins away, eat them! They are delicious. What I did was in a tortilla (or I guess you could use naan or pita if available) I placed the skins, topped them with the baba ghanoush, the guacamole, the Pico de gallo, and some leftover beans I had to make a makeshift taco. In other words, you can restuff the skins with the baba ghanoush for some more wonderful eggplant flavor.

Pico de gallo

As mentioned before, nice little spicy peppers are in season here. They're being sold by the bagloads and so I'm finding many ways to make these delicious beauties part of my everyday meals. Pico de gallo is something I really enjoy and love to just slop on just about everything. It's a pretty simple salsa, and the flavors come from the freshness of the ingredients. Instead of the traditional jalapeños I'm used to using, I used the tiny little peppers I've been buying. They are quite a pain in the ass to cut and seed, but they are quite spicy and delicious, so well worth it in the end. If your hands are extremely sensitive to the chile burn, I suggest wearing gloves, or at least being very careful to touch the inside of the chiles as little as possible. I added some fried diced garlic I had left over as well, yum! I made mine in the jar I would be keeping it in for ease, but you could just as easily put everything in a bowl, mix, and then jar it.



Makes about 1/2 cup of salsa, so adjust portions accordingly for larger batches

Ingredients:

Tomato, 1 small
Onion, 1/2 of a large one, diced up.
Fried garlic, diced and fried in oil, about 1/2 tablespoon [optional]
Chile peppers, seeded and diced, about 3 tablespoons worth, more or less depending on your spice preference
Lemon, 1/2 or a small lime, squeeze the juice out into the jar
Black pepper, to taste, mine was about 1 teaspoon
Salt, very small dash (my preference)
Fresh cilantro if available [I didn't put in this batch because I cannot find, I don't like putting parsley in Pico de gallo, but I guess you could as a substitute)

Basically, add all the ingredients to a jar, cover, then shake it up until everything is integrated well and you have your salsa. What I did was add each ingredient to the jar as I finished chopping it up. When I was done, I added the lemon juice, the pepper, and a tiny amount of salt and shook. Easy, fast, delicious :)

Serve with tortilla chips (ha ha ha, as if I'd find that on this island), a more realistic idea is just with some sort of crispy potato chip. Or you could mix it into rice, etc. I get creative with my salsas because of the lack of tortilla chips here.

Note: a restaurant I used to frequent back in the U.S. would add diced strawberries or pineapple to their Pico de gallo. I've done it before, and trust me, it was delicious! So if you want to see if you like the taste, by all means, branch out and expand those taste buds!

Good Old Guacamole

Guacamole. Fantastic for just about everything. Most people have their own recipe, but the ingredients are basic. So feel free to adapt as you like. I usually make guacamole with fresh jalapeños, but since those are very hard to come by here, I use the fresh variety of peppers that are currently in season and I can get at my farmer's coop thingy. Because you know, I love fresh spicy food. I made a bit of a twist and added some diced garlic that I fried up as well.



Makes about 10 or so servings if used as dip

Ingredients:

Garlic, 4 or 5 cloves, diced into small pieces
Oil for cooking, about a tablespoon (I use olive)
Avocadoes, 3 medium and ripe
Spices and dried herbs, such as pepper, dash of salt, oregano, basil
Tomato, 1/2 of a large one, or 1 small tomato
Onion, 1/2 of a small one, diced
Fresh spicy peppers, seeded and diced up, to taste [optional I suppose]
Lemon or lime, 1/2 of a lemon or 1 lime
Fresh herbs, if you're lucky enough to find some in Japan... [not included in my batch, but so desired :( ]

In a fry pan, heat the oil a bit. Add the garlic and fry it up until the garlic becomes crispy and fragrant, but not burnt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, scoop out all the avocado. Use a knife to cut it up a bit inside the bowl. Using a fork (or a masher if you have one), mash up the avocado until it becomes a smooth mixture.

Add the pepper, salt, and any other spices and dried herbs you like.

Add the tomato, and mix everything well. Add the onion, mix well. Pour the garlic and the remaining small amount of oil from the pan into the mix as well. Add the peppers, mix, then squeeze the lemon and add the juice, mix. Add fresh herbs [if any], mix well.

Enjoy! You can put this stuff on sandwiches, eat it with rice, chips, snacks, etc.

Sweet Potato, Tofu, and Onion Mole

Again, no recipe. However, my recipe was adapted from an online one (link at bottom). Sorry, but I'd say it's rather impossible to find the ingredients in Japan. Mole is quite a culturally significant dish for me. Nobody I know in my family has ever made it from scratch, we have always relied on the pre-made jar of sauce. So for me to make it in Japan (using ingredients I brought back with me that my grandma and extended family helped me acquire when I visited this past summer) is sort of a personal accomplishment for me. Food for me is one of those things that touches our cores, and so the dried smoked chiles, the block chocolate, and the almonds in this recipe are more than just ingredients, they're expressions of my individual culture. Making the mole is how I pay respect to my roots, many of which I still don't know much about, while simultaneously creating my own traditions and customs. Mole is an ancient food, very complex in flavors, chock full of vitamins, incredibly stunning in color and fragrance, and of course, excellent in taste. So here's a picture of the beautiful mole I made today:



Not to mention, it came out so much better than the jar we are used to. I can't wait to make a fresh batch for my family. Here's the link to the recipe I used as a sort of "guideline," because of course I adapted it to my tastes. I also substituted oil for the lard to make it veggie friendly (another reason I'd prefer to make my own):

http://allrecipes.com.mx/receta/775/mole-poblano.aspx

Hummus

No recipe per se. Just a picture. I'm still figuring out what sorts of spices and portions I want to use in my hummus, so it's a work in progress. I would search the web to get ideas and adapt the recipes to your likes. If you can't find garbanzo beans (chickpeas), you can actually use the red adzuki beans instead. And if you can't find tahini, ねりごま(練り胡麻)"nerigoma" is basically the same thing. You should be able to find it next to the sesame seeds at the grocery store. Also, I read (and it works) that if you whip the lemon juice and the oil in the blender first before adding the other ingredients, it makes the batch of hummus fluffier. My batch this time around:

Veggie Charro Beans

Beans, such an important asset to my diet. Charro beans are pretty traditional Mexican fare. Basically, you throw a whole bunch of stuff in a pot with the beans and cook it. They tend to have some sort of pork, but obviously, my version does not. I add some dry chipotle I brought back with me to add a very nice smoky and spicy flavor. You can toss in any seasonal vegetables as well. I've used okra, but you could also throw in some zucchini too, add this in when you add the chile peppers. Anyway, this recipe is fairly easy to make (just takes a long time to soak overnight and then cook), and you can use whatever beans you like really, not just the black beans I used. I'm sure you can even mix types of beans too (my next idea!). I usually make a huge batch and eat them throughout the week. Beans always make me light up inside ha ha. ALWAYS be sure to clean your beans. I usually dump out all the dry beans on my table and put them into a pot after I've inspected them in small batches removing any ones that are super grungy and of course any rocks or pebbles.



Makes one hell of a large pot of beans, so adjust portions accordingly. 8 hours overnight soaking plus 1 and a half or up to 3 hours cooking time.

Ingredients:

Beans; pinto, black, any type of bean should be alright, but keep in mind taste will differ. I use about 5 to 6 cups.
Clean, wash, and rinse the beans. Place the beans in a large pot, and add water to cover them with twice as much water as there are beans. The beans will soak up the water and the amount will about double. Leave them in a pot overnight or for at least 8 hours. Yes, this amount of time is essential. You will be very disappointed if you try to cook unsoaked beans.

Oil, for cooking
Mild to Spicy Chiles of any kind, cleaned and seeded, about 1 cups worth, less if they're really spicy
Onion, about 1/2 cup, diced
Garlic, 5 to 7 cloves, diced

Herbs and spices such as:

Black pepper, 2 teaspoons
Oregano, to taste
Cilantro, to taste
Cumin seeds, a small pinch
Whatever else you have in your cabinet really

Tomato, 1 to 2 medium sized, diced
Tomato paste, about 6 tablespoons (because the paste is sold in little packets here, ok...) or one small can if you can get it
Bay/Laurel leaves, about 4
Salt, to taste. I don't like salt much so I use only about 1 teaspoon for a batch this huge, but you can add more

Strain the overnight soaking water out from the beans. Place the beans in a different pot than the pot you'll use to cook them in.

In a very large pot where you will cook the beans, heat some oil on medium heat. Add the onion, and the garlic. Mix around with a wooden spoon. Once the onions and garlic are well toasted, add the spices, lower the heat, and let everything cook for about another 2 minutes or until everything smells nice but isn't burnt.

Add the chile peppers and cook everything for a bit. Then add the diced tomato and cook for about another minute, mixing constantly.

Add the beans, and use a glass to pour water into the pot. Put enough water to cover the beans well. You don't want watery bean soup, but you also don't want the beans to run out of water while cooking (because then they won't cook). Finding this amount may take practice, but is well worth the effort. If you put too little, be sure to add a bit more during cooking and make a mental note for next time. The beans should always be submerged by at least a small amount of boiling liquid.

Once the water is added, add the tomato paste, the Laurel/bay leaf, and the salt. Mix around to integrate the tomato paste. Cover the pot. Turn up the heat to medium. Once everything is boiling, turn the heat to the lowest setting and allow the beans to simmer for 1 and a half to 3 or more hours. Beans are ready when they are soft and not crunchy when you bite into them. Try not to uncover the pot too much during cooking either.

Note: How long it takes to cook will depend on your range. Back at my parent's house I cooked it on a super low flame for 4 hours, but the lowest setting on my stove here is still rather high for my likes, so my beans cook in about 1 and a half hours. The lower heat with longer time really allows all the flavors to get deep into the beans, so try not to make a "super quick" batch of beans. You will taste the difference ;)

Green Coconut Curry with Eggplant, Goya, and Tofu

This green curry was relatively simple to make, just took a bit of prep work. The key ingredients here are the fresh peppers, the coconut milk, and the garam masala. Peppers seem to be in season on the island right now, so I'm buying massive amounts of these green pepper like things that look like jalapeños, but are not very spicy. So I add some of the red peppers I get there too that have a bit more of a kick. You can honestly use whatever spices you have around and that you might like, I got creative. It came out delicious! If you have any fresh herbs like basil or mint, I would definitely throw that in their too. P.S., I now have a blender[YES!!], so many of my recipes may require one (as this one does).



Makes a medium size pot of green curry

Ingredients:

Lots of fresh peppers, more green than any color for a green curry, or whatever color you like really. Cut and seeded. About 2 to 3 cups worth
Shallots, peeled. Or about 1/2 cup diced onion
Garlic, I like garlicky flavors, so I used about 7 cloves (peeled of course)
Ginger, about 1 tablespoons worth, diced up coarsely

A Shitload of dried herbs and spices, to taste, such as:

Garam Masala, about 1/2 tablespoon (this is required)
Cumin seeds, a pinch
Anis seeds, a pinch
Dried basil, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Curry powder, to taste (the one I buy is usually just ground turmeric, coriander, and cumin)
Oregano, to taste
Cilantro, to taste
Cinnamon to taste

Cooking oil (I like olive oil, but any veggie oil is good)
Coconut milk, 2 eight ounce cans
Laurel/Bay leaves, about 3
Red chile powder, 1 teaspoon (optional)
Eggplant, 2 medium, cut in half and then into thick pieces
Goya (bitter melon), cut in half, seeded, then cut into thinnish pieces
Soft Tofu, 1 block, diced

Put the seeded peppers aside in a blender.

In a medium fry pan, heat about 3 tablespoons of oil a bit, then toss in the shallots(or onion), garlic, and ginger. Use a wooden spoon to make sure nothing burns and turn down the heat. Once the stuff in the pan has fried a bit and become lightly toasted, add the shitload of spices, fry a bit longer, and let everything become wonderfully fragrant, making sure not to burn anything to the pan.

Add the contents of the pan into the blender. Shake 1 can of the coconut milk (because it settles), rinse the top off, open, and pour the contents into the blender. Cover the blender and blend until everything is smooth and there are no more chunks of anything, about 1 or 2 minutes.

Pour the contents of the blender into a deep medium pot. Shake the other can of coconut milk, rinse the top, and pour it into the deep pot as well. Throw in a teaspoon of chile powder (optional). Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the eggplant, goya, tofu, and bay leaves (and any chopped fresh herbs you may be lucky enough to have). Bring everything to a boil on medium heat, then turn down the heat. Simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. The curry might be thick, so be sure to mix it every so often while simmering so nothing boils over and makes a mess. It's ready when it smells nice and the eggplant is no longer spongy but is now soft.

Note: You can taste the sauce once it starts to boil to see if you think it may need any other spices. Keep in mind that the boiling at low heat for a long time makes all the flavors pop out, so don't add too much spice just yet if the curry doesn't taste "spicy" enough quite yet. The heat and time will make stuff mesh better, trust me.

Enjoy!