Stomp The Savoy

When you tell a child that they can't have something, they inevitably want it even more. Years ago, as my mom tried the cabbage soup diet, I was told that I was not allowed to have any. Since then, I have loved cabbage. My cabbage of choice is savoy - there must be something about those wrinkles that I love. Today, I made my own cabbage soup, with savoy cabbage and potatoes.

Creamy Savoy Cabbage Soup
1 small onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp bacon fat
1 carrot, sliced
150 g potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 small head of savoy cabbage, chopped
1 L chicken stock
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 c milk
bacon bits

In a large saucepan over medium heat, sautee garlic and onions in bacon fat. When the onions are translucent, add potatoes and carrots. After potatoes are shiny with bacon fat, add cabbage. Stir and wait until cabbage shrinks. Add chicken stock. Cover and allow to cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, carefully puree the soup. In a small jar, mix the flour and milk so there are no lumps. Slowly add the milk to the soup. Allow to simmer for 5 further minutes. Garnish with bacon bits.

Frankly, I think I could have done without the bacon bits. But then it would have been too much like the forbidden soup of the past. And although I'm daring, I'm not about to break the rule my mom has set.

Plantain Pancakes

Living so far away from home, I sometimes forget and idealize certain things. Recently, I found some plantains in the store & excitedly called my mom to ask what I should do with them. "Why on earth did you buy plantains?" was the reply. Apparently my mom was not the link to plantain pleasure. I think it was a friend's mom or grandmother. Someone from either western Africa or India. Maybe even South East Asia. The benefit of growing up in a multicultural city was going to friend's houses for food.

Recently, I bought some more plantains, convinced I'd find a use for them. I ran into a friend on the way home from grocery shopping and we compared. I had riper plantains than she did but she had something I didn't: a plan. Pisang Goreng - fried plantain in Indonesia and Singapore. She just slices her ripe plantains, dips them in batter & fries them and has them as a snack with tea. I'm not a big fan of dipping things into batter, so I just made pancakes with a coconut sauce.

Plantain Pancakes
(Pisang Goreng)
2 ripe plantains (skins should be black)
1/4 cup flour
pinch salt
oil to fry

Peel plantains, mash with a potato masher. Add flour to create a batter-like consistency.
Drop tablespoons into hot oil. Fry until there is a slight caramel-crust. Turn once. Drain on paper towels.

Coconut Sauce
1/4 c grated cocnut
3 Tbsp coconut milk
1 small red chili, chopped
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds

In a small bowl, add coconut, coconut milk and chili. Allow the coconut to absorb the liquid. Roast seeds over medium heat until the mustard seeds pop. Add seeds to coconut. Serve with plantain pancakes.

I was happy with the result and will be making this again. This time, when I find more plantains in the supermarket, I'll be calling my friend over for a snack. Then I'll tell my mom what to do the next time she sees plantains.

Don't Tell My Mom I Miss Her!

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the family. It wasn't under the best of circumstances, but it made me realize how long it's been since I've seen my extended family and how far away I am from everything I grew up with. There wasn't the same food that normally waits for me, but I was only home for a few days. As luck would have it, on the flight back to Germany, I met a woman who comes from a neighbouring island of my parent's home. We chatted and discovered that we had much in common. She asked me if I cooked traditional Caribbean food, and I said, I try. Do you cook eggplant choka, she asked, to which I said Yes.

It isn't really true. I don't cook eggplant choka. I try to cook it and I don't get it right. I eat it when my mom makes it, when she leaves it unattended on the stove for a few minutes, only for it to be half-gone by the time she returns. And me, of course, I have an unusual lack of appetite. My mom never says a thing, and I think she's come to some bizarre recipe calculation of how much she has to make so there's enough left for dinner.

This evening, I thought of the woman in the plane & I thought of my mom & I realized I really wanted eggplant choka. I called my mom and she walked me through as I made my snack. It was simmilar, but 1) I didn't listen to my mom & I added too much tomato and 2) it's just not the same if I'm legitmately allowed to eat it before dinner.

Eggplant Choka
1 medium eggplant, roasted
olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
pinch cumin
salt & pepper to taste

Slice eggplant open, extract seeds, press out water.

Sautee onions & garlic in olive oil until translucent.

Add tomatoes & cumin and continue cooking over med-low heat until tomatoes fall apart.

Add eggplant and cook until warmed through.

Salt & pepper to taste.

Serve warm, ideally with roti (West-Indian flatbread) or just eat from the stove. It's a snack before dinner, which feels like being at home, but moreover, it was a good chance to talk with my mom.

Hamstering the Goat

Since I've moved to Germany, I have been made aware of the traits of animals. Raccoons, known to me as "nocturnal garbage eaters", are here viewed as hygienic because they wash their food. They are even literally called "wash bears" (I know - they aren't bears). Hamsters go out, find food and store it for later. The word "hamster" is even a verb in German, referring to the act of hoarding. Stores in North America normally buy a surplus of stock & sell the excess at reduced prices (think Boxing Day, or post-Christmas shopping specials). Stores here do not buy excess inventory - when they're sold out of Christmas decorations by Dec 6th, all the better for them, not extra stock to get rid of. Being the product of classical conditioning that I am, I have learned to buy things when I see them - I have learned to hamster.

I went to the goat farm a few weeks ago & scored huge with the goat ribs. Because baby goat is seasonal, I went back & got more. When it was time to actually cook my goat, I tried to call my mom to ask her how to make a curry. Somehow, whenever I actually need to talk to my mom, I get the machine. At least she's normally home when I just want to talk.

In spite of having watched my mom cook for decades, I haven't really learned all that much from her. I know how to wash meat in lemon, I know that spices should be toasted - I even learned how to grind cumin. I know, in theory, how to cook a curry. I just have no idea how to do it in practice. I do know that thyme is a mysterious part of Carribean cooking, just as cinnamon is a mysterious part of Greek cooking (did I just let the cat out of the bag?). With that knowledge & with a bit of backup spices from Thailand, I set to work.

Kid Goat Curry for the Pseudo- Carribean Kid
600 g kid goat
lemon juice
1 Tbsp minced garlic
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp ghee (clarifed butter)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp corriander
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp Thai curry paste
1/4 red wine
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Wash goat in lemon water, rub with garlic, salt & pepper. Place in a Zip-loc bag & allow to marinate in the fridge for 2 - 8 hours.

In a large pot, melt ghee, & toast spices, add paste & stir. Add meat, wine, bay & thyme, allow to simmer over a low heat for 45 minutes.

I wanted to call my mom to ask her how to make Roti, but I've seen her do it - it involves a lot of rolling. The time she tried to teach me, I got bored & left. Of course, now I regret having let that lesson of my personal cultural heritage slip away. At the time, I was more concerned about how much my arms hurt. Next time I'm home, I guess. And I'll let my mom make her curry (chicken or shrimp - not beef!) and I'll try to take notes. But I know she cheats too. I saw a jar of Thai chili paste in the fridge last time.

Kid Goat, Taken from Mom

Through a series of unfortuntate events, I tried to escape work early after work before a long weekend, and instead found myself at the local goat farm. All I can say is that Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) was not working well yesterday.

Normally, I visit the goat farm's stand at my local farmer's market, but while I was out in the middle of nowhere, why not pop by the farm itself? As coincidence would have it, I was at the farm exactly 1 year ago for a wine & cheese tasting, where I got a tour of the farm. As a life-long city girl, I never really thought about where my cheese comes from. I know that goat cheese comes from goat milk and that mammals produce milk after children are born. Well, in order to ensure that the milk ends up as my cheese, and not as the food for some young kid, the "excess" kids are slaughtered, usually the males, as the females will produce more milk in later years. It all makes so much sense, and had I ever bothered to think about it, I would have figured if out on my own, I'm sure. Really.

Springtime is the time to get the young male kids. I did not grow up in a household with goat, but I have fond childhood memories involving my mother's excitement upon finding goat dishes in the most unusal places. Against my jeuvenile judgement, I tried the goat, and although I never insisted that my mom make it at home, I wasn't turned off by it. My mom is a picky eater, and if it's good enough for her, then it must be good.

The first thing I did after I bought my 600g rack of goat was call my mom. When I was at the farm, I told Stefanie (the lady of the farm) that my mom would be jealous. My mom wasn't exactly jealous, but she had more ideas then I knew what to do with. Ideally, I'll be buying meat exclusivly from the goat farm for the rest of the season. I never really listened to my mom in the first place, but she did give me some good ideas. And I think the next time she'll visit will be in springtime for goat season. If she cooks, I'll certainly welcome her visit.

Roasted Kid Goat
600g piece of kid goat back (loin with ribs - bone in)
1 lemon
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped rosemary
2 bay leaves
salt & pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 c french apple cidre (or substitute water + 1 Tbsp honey)
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme

Grate zest off of lemon & set aside. Clean meat, if necessary. Squeeze lemon & wash meat in juice. Salt & pepper meat. Place meat, along with thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, garlic and2 bay leaves in ziploc bag and allow to marinate overnight, or at least 4 hours.

Put goat in pan, add a splash of cidre, along with 2 bay leaves and 4 spigs of fresh thyme. Roast goat at 220° for 10 minutes, then turn the heat to 180°. Add more cidre. After ca. 45 minutes, turn heat down to 150°, and continue to roast. Baste continually (or whenever you remember). Keep the thing in the oven for a total of 2 hours.

I was thrilled with the tenderness of the meat, as well as the slightly sweet sauce I got out of it. To accompany my springtime treat, I made some simple quinoa, tossed in the wild leek pistou my friend gave me. Right now, I'm so content that I've forgotten about yesterday's traffic troubles. I might even pop by the farm again on the way home from work. And, yes, I'll call my mom to tell her how to cook goat.

What to do with overpriced Okra

I found some okra in my regular supermarket. The exorbitant price of 17.80 € / KG did not deter me from purchasing a few hundred grams.

I was recently in a Southern Indian restaurant where I had an amazing okra dish as a part of the banana leaf meal. The banana leaf meal, for those who have never had one, is a richly exotic experience. A banana leaf is placed on the table like a placemat, but food is placed on it, like a plate. Overwhelmed by all the food and the sensual lack of utensils, I focussed on the food and not on the names.

Back at home, with my overpriced okra waiting in the fridge, I knew I didn't have time to experiment. I had time to slice & sautee. I sliced the okra, diced some onions, and realized I needed to call my mom. I'd eaten okra many times before but had never cooked it. The result of a 3 minute phone call outshined the rest of the meal. I can't even remember what I made. But I will make the okra again.



Sauteed Okra in a Light Dry Curry

2oo g okra
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 small tomato, chopped
salt to taste

Wash okra, pat dry. Slice in 1/4" slices. Dice onion. In a pan over med heat, saute onion and garlic. When the onions and garlic are softened, add spices while stirring continuously. When the spices start to release their perfume, add okra, and cover. Allow to cook for a few minutes, when the okra are nearly cooked through, add chopped tomato. Stir until tomato seperates from skin. Add salt to taste.

Although I was incredibly happy with the dish, it wasn't the okra that caused inspiration. I think that dish is called okra kichadi. Next time I buy okra, it will be from the green grocer down the street (for 5.90€ / KG) and I will vaguely follow the following recipe: http://indianfoodrocks.blogspot.com/2007/03/amminis-okra-kichadi.html. And I'll call my mom to tell her how it all goes.