Crab and Mango Salad

Two of my favorite foods in the world are mango and crab. To pair them together is like tasting heaven. This salad has a simple composition. Chopped mango, green chiles, onion, a handful of herbs, a squeeze of lime and a mound of crabmeat, all piled on shredded lettuce. You taste briny carb, tart lime, sweet mango, spicy chile and the peppery freshness of herbs.....all in one bite! How good is that!

CRAB AND MANGO SALAD

Serves 4

DF, GF, EF

2 cups Crabmeat

1 large Mango

1 tablespoon chopped Onion

1 Green Chile

2 tablespoons Lime juice

2 tablespoons Mint 

2 tablespoons Cilantro

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Several grounds of Black Pepper

2 cup shredded Lettuce ( I used Iceberg Lettuce)

Let crabmeat drain in a sieve. 

Peel mango and chop flesh into small cubes and put them in a bowl. 

Slice green chile thinly and add to mango. 

Add onion, lime juice, mint, cilantro, salt and pepper to mango. Mix well and let flavors develop for 1/2 hour. 

Mound the shredded lettuce on a plate. 

Top with mango salad. 

Scatter crabmeat over mango. 

Season with a little salt.

Chill the salad for 1/2 hour in the fridge before serving.

Enjoy it as a salad or as part of the main meal.

I can think of many words to describe the salad....refreshing, crunchy, a melange of contrasting flavors......I hope my favorites become yours!

Tostones with Mango Salsa

 

A red-letter day needs something special to mark the occasion. My daughter graduates with her Masters. We proudly watch Zoom- style, champagne in hand and an array of small bites to nibble. Since chewing with your mouth full on Zoom is an absolute no-no in my book, we save the nibbles for later.

All of Shauna's favorites are up for grabs. Literally! Finger foods like mini crab cakes, fava beans on Boursin-slathered crostini and a new take on the platanos she loves. Double fried discs of green plantains called tostones, dusted with salt. Our dear friend Rosa introduced us to these marvelous morsels many moons ago. We are well and truly hooked. This time I go one step further and top these crisp discs with a spicy mango salsa. Shauna loves them! One more for the blog!

TOSTONES WITH MANGO SALSA

Serves 5-6 as appetizers

DF, GF, VN, EF, V 

3 Green Plantains

Oil for frying

1 large ripe Mango

2 tablespoons Cilantro leaves

1 green Chile

1 Shallot

2 tablespoons Lime Juice

Kosher Salt

Feta Cheese

Trim the ends of the plantains. Make shallow slits down the ridges. Peel the skins, using the tip of your knife to coax the skins apart. 

Use the blunt end of your knife to gently scrape the surface of the plantains. This gets rid of the sticky outer layer. 

Slice the plantains into 1/2" pieces. 

Heat about 2 cups of oil in a wok or deep saucepan.

Fry the plantains in batches on a medium high flame till they turn light brown. Turn them frequently so they brown evenly. Do this over 5-6 minutes as the plantains need to cook and soften.

Drain on paper towels. Cool the pieces.

Place one piece on a cutting board or plate. 

Use another plate to smash the plantain gently till it is slightly flattened.  If you have tostonera or a plantain smasher, this part goes faster. 

Heat the oil once again. 

Fry the flattened pieces on a high flame till crisp and golden, just a few minutes.

Put all the plantains in a bowl. Season with kosher salt heavily. Toss well. Keep them aside till you are ready to plate.

Peel the mango and chop the pulp into small dice. 

Mince chiles, cilantro leaves and shallot finely. 

Season with a pinch of kosher salt and the lime juice. 

Mix well and allow flavors to develop.

When you are ready to plate, arrange the tostones on a plate. Top with the mango salsa. 

Sprinkle feta cheese over the top liberally.

Munch away!

  

I can only feel happiness as the family polish off the tostones. Love comes in all forms....radiating from proud beating hearts and replete bellies...

Guava Cheesecake

I am meeting cherished friends after six months! So lunch is to be a small  spread.  Fresh baked bread, fish tagine, potatoes and black beans, fava bean salad, devilled eggs and the sweet finish is a guava cheesecake. 

I discover a pouch of raspberry-pink guava pulp. It is thick and viscous, ideal for my no-bake cheesecake. My sister makes a strawberry one that I can polish off all by myself. I substitute the strawberry puree for guava. Whipped with cream cheese, cream and sugar, the batter is mixed with gelatin and set in a graham cracker crust. I love the ease of this fast setting dessert.  Unusual and delicious too!

GUAVA CHEESECAKE

Adapted from Prasanna Gokhale

Serves 8

1 cup Graham Cracker  crumbs ( 9 Graham Crackers pulsed in a food processor)

4 tablespoons melted Butter

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 envelop unflavored Gelatin

2 tablespoons Water

1 cup Guava Pulp plus 2 tablespoons more for garnishing

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 1/4 cup Cream

1/3 cup Sugar

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Use a fork to mix the crumbs till they resemble wet sand.

Transfer the crumbs to a 9" pie or quiche plate. I like one with a fluted edge.

Press the crumbs into the plate with a spatula going all the way up the sides of the dish. Keep aside. 

Heat the gelatin and water in a double boiler. I used a small pan of simmering water, over which I placed a larger pan that held the gelatin and water. Whisk till gelatin has dissolved. It should take about 4-5 minutes.

Process guava pulp, cream cheese, cream and sugar in a food processor till smooth. 

Add gelatin and pulse a few times.

Pour this mixture over the graham cracker crust. 

Smooth the top with a spatula. 

Dot the top with small portions of guava pulp. 

Poke the guava dots with the tip of a skewer. Move the skewer clockwise to make swirls in the top of the cheesecake. Or leave this step out and proceed.

Cover and refrigerate for 4-5 hours or until firm.

Cut slices and enjoy!

Lunch is a languorous al fresco affair. Wine flows, appetites are sated and the magic of friendship lives on.

Baba Au Rhum

 

Since my wanderlust has been put on hold, I take consolation in memories. Last year my daughter and I spent a few days in Paris to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit. Culture and cuisine go hand in hand, a mantra we truly believe in! So it was days at museums and nights at Michelin starred restaurants. The in-between moments merited visits to farmers markets, quaint shops and patisseries. Do you eat a macron or a pain du chocolat? Patisserie Stohrer with a line out the door, are known for their baba au rhum. Needless to say we joined that queue, made sure the baba had no nuts and proceeded to enjoy a whole baba each! The joy of eating a freshly baked baba, dripping with syrup, emanating alcoholic fumes, is a profoundly enjoyable moment. You wont mind those sticky fingers!

I had my first baba au rhum as a teenager in a white tablecloth restaurant at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Bombay. That dessert at Rendezvous was my first taste of exquisite French pastry. I was enamored and enchanted. The quest for that perfect baba ended last year in Paris. That confection is the real deal. No matter how good my baba is, it will not be a patch on the real thing. 

BABA AU RHUM

Adapted from Davis Tanis

Makes 24-26 

2 cups all purpose Flour

1/2 cup Butter, softened

2 teaspoons active dry Yeast

3 tablespoons Sugar

1/4 cup lukewarm Water

4 Eggs

Pinch of Kosher Salt

1/2 cup Golden Raisins 

SYRUP

1/2 cup Honey

1/2 cup Sugar

1 large Cinnamon stick

3 Cloves

Skin of 1 Orange cut into thin strips

1 1/2 cups Water

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup Brandy or Rum (I prefer brandy)

Soak raisins for 10 minutes in the brandy for the syrup. After 10 minutes strain the brandy and keep aside for the syrup.

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl. Cover and leave for 10 minutes till yeast is frothy.

Beat eggs well.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour and butter. Use the paddle blade. Let the mixer go on low till flour and butter look like sand. 

Add yeast, eggs, salt and raisins to the flour and whisk well. The dough will be tacky and loose. 

Cover and leave in a warm place till dough has doubled.

Butter 2 mini-muffin tins.

Spoon some flour onto the countertop.

Break off a lime-sized ball of dough using two tablespoons.  

Use the tablespoons to scoop the ball on to the floured counter.

Roll the ball in the flour. Then drop it into the muffin tin. Repeat with all the dough. If you have any dough left, grease ramekins and place dough in them. 

Cover muffin tins with a cloth and leave to rise for 30 minutes. 

Heat oven to 375F/190C.

Bake for 25-30 minutes till golden brown. 

Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Pop them out of the pans.

Make the syrup while babas bake. 

Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange strips in a saucepan. Add water and whisk well.

Place the saucepan over low heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the flame.

Then add vanilla and brandy. 

Place the babas in a deep dish and pour hot syrup over the babas. Turn babas every 15-20 minutes. Do this about 4 times. They should be soft and spongy to the touch. 

Enjoy this baba but go to Stohrer in Paris for the real thing. 

I am making do with an imitation.... the siren song of Parisian confections calls out to me....

Sweet Potato Nachos

Geets makes these and I drool over her  pictures.  So much that I am compelled to try them out for myself! 

Before I begin I must say that making nachos is a feel-it thing. The amount you add or subtract goes by the flavor of your palate. The recipe below is just the framework. Make what you savor. With that caveat I start with the base. Sweet potatoes slices are tray-baked till crisp. They are topped with warm corn kernels. I interchange the black beans in Geets' recipe for avocados. Pico de gallo takes the place of store-bought salsa. Cilantro and dollops of sour cream dot the nachos.  Such a pretty picture!

SWEET POTATO NACHOS

Adapted from Geeta Rodrigues

Serves 4

GF, VN, EF, V

2-3 Sweet Potatoes

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Ground Pepper

1 cup Corn Kernels

1 Avocado

Cilantro leaves

Sour Cream

Pico De Gallo

1/2 cup chopped Red Onion

1 Tomato, chopped

1 Green Chile, Minced

2 tablespoons Cilantro , minced

A large pinch of Kosher Salt

3 tablespoons Lime Juice

Mix all the above well. Keep aside for 1/2 hour for flavors to bloom.

Heat oven to 350F/180C.

Slice the sweet potatoes thinly. 

Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil in a sheet pan. 

Lay the slices in a single layer. Coat them with the residual oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Bake till slightly crisp. 

Spoon them into a serving bowl.

Heat remaining oil in a saucepan. 

Saute corn till is it tinged brown.

Scatter the corn over the potatoes.

Top with avocado chunks.

Season with salt.

Scatter some pico de gallo over the nachos. 

Garnish with cilantro and dollops of sour cream.

 

All that drooling comes to fruition with a fork in hand. Chewy, crispy sweet potatoes are the perfect vehicle for crunchy corn, buttery avocados, spicy salsa and tangy sour cream....you should be able to hear my satisfaction! Thanks Geets!

Spicy Beef Noodles

 

My sister is a fan of Marion Grasby. She swears by her recipes. Then I hear my daughter praise her as well. So I look through Marion's repertoire. She is an Australian based chef with an enormous following.  Since I have two people who sing her praises, I figure there must be something there. To my delight I discover there is....a treasure trove of easy to follow Asian foodie delights. 

Today's  noodles come together with very little effort.  She proposes this technique for browning ground beef. I love it! Spread the beef in a single thin layer in the pan and let it brown before you flip it over. Nuggets of crusty beef are the result. So much flavor and texture in one simple approach. Sliced onions, garlic, tomatoes, oyster sauce, chile garlic paste and kecap manis are added to the meat. Dump the noodles in. Give it a stir. Scatter toasted sesame seeds, cilantro and mint leaves. This is one sumptuous noodle dish.

SPICY BEEF NOODLES

Loosely adapted from Marion Grasby

Serves 4

1 pound ground Beef

1 tablespoon Canola Oil

1 Onion

4 Garlic cloves

1 Tomato

3 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

2 teaspoons Chile Garlic Paste

2 tablespoons Kecap Manis or Sweet Soy Sauce

1/2 pound Shanghai Noodles or any wheat Noodles

1/2  teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon toasted Sesame Seeds

Cilantro leaves

Mint leaves

Cook the noodles till done. Save 1/2 cup of noodle water. Rinse noodles in cold water.  Drain and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok or saucepan. 

Flatten the beef in a thin layer in the wok.  Cook undisturbed for 5-7 minutes until the underside is brown and crusty. 

Flip beef and brown the other side as well.

Slice onion and tomato thinly.

Mince garlic fine.

Once the beef has browned break it up into bite size chunks.

Drop onion and garlic into the beef. Saute till onion is soft. If the wok looks dry, add a teaspoon of oil to the pan. 

Add tomatoes to beef and saute till they are soft and pulpy.

Add oyster sauce, chile garlic paste and kecap manis to beef. Stir fry well so meat is coated. 

Season with salt.

Add reserved water and simmer meat for a few minutes. 

Drop noodles into the wok. Stir so noodles are coated with sauce.

Once the noodles are hot, ladle them into a bowl.

Top with sesame seeds, cilantro and mint leaves.

I love the ease of this recipe. I trust the word of my sister and daughter. Marion Grasby has a new fan!