Alebele or Coconut Pancakes

 

I make a last meal for Prassy before she leaves. Another request, coconut stuffed pancakes. We reminisce about ones we have eaten in the past. We remember that delicious flavor and we set about making these rolled beauties.

Egg, butter, coconut milk, flour, baking powder and a hint of salt make up the pancake batter. Unusual in style, an egg is beaten and then whisked with soft butter. The coconut milk gives it a different taste. The filling is shredded fresh coconut and sugar stirred till the sugar melts. Simple Goan nuances in a small package.

ALEBELE OR COCONUT PANCAKES

Makes 8

1 Egg

1 teaspoon soft Butter

1/2 cup plus a little more Coconut Milk

1/2 cup AP Flour 

1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder

A pinch of Kosher Salt

1 cup shredded fresh Coconut

3 tablespoons Sugar

Break egg into a bowl. Whisk till well beaten.

Add butter to egg and whisk well till butter is mixed in. The butter will break up into small flecks.

Add coconut milk in and whisk again till batter is smooth.

Add flour in small batches till all of it is mixed in.

Add baking powder and salt. 

Set batter aside for 1/2 hour. 

Heat a small 6" nonstick pan on high heat. 

Brush the pan with a little butter.

If the batter seems a little thick, thin it out with a little coconut milk.

Pour a ladleful into the pan and swirl pan to spread batter. 

Cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip and cook the other side for 30 seconds. Remove from pan ans stack on a plate.

Repeat until all the batter is finished.

Make the filling in the same pan. Place shredded coconut and sugar in the pan. Place over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring often till sugar melts. Cool and keep aside.

To assemble, place a heaping spoon of coconut along the center of the pancake. Roll and keep aside. Make the rest of them the same way.

Serve at room temperature.

These pancakes are a pleasure to make and make for a pleasurable dessert!

Shrimp in Tamarind Sauce

As the light fades, the patio becomes a gathering place. Drinks are mixed,  we nosh a little ,the table is laid and we dine with the fireflies. My sister's visit has culminated in a flurry of cooking. Cornbread is requested. Garden beefsteak tomatoes, basil and buffallo mozzerella is our salad.  Shrimp with a tamarind sauce rounds off the meal.

I make a sauce with tamarind, sugar, sambal olek, star anise and fish sauce. Sliced onions, chiles, garlic and cashews are stir fried till light brown. Shrimp get a quick saute in the pan. The tamarind sauce is poured in. A quick stir and we eat sumptuously in the fading light of day.

SHRIMP WITH TAMARIND SAUCE

Serves 4

1 pound Shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 tablespoons Canola Oil

1 large white Onion

5-6 Garlic cloves, minced

3-4 Green Chiles, sliced

1/2 cup unsalted Cashews

1 cup thick Tamarind water 

1/2 cup Brown Sugar  

1/2 cup Fish Sauce

2-3 tablespoons Sambal Olek

1 Star Anise

1/2 cup Water

Cilantro

Marinate shrimp in chile powder, paprika and garlic powder for 5 minutes. 

Heat tamarind water, sugar, fish sauce, samabal olek star anise and water in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a nonstick saucepan.

Drop onion, cashews, garlic and green chiles in hot oil and saute till light brown. 

Push veggies to the outer rim, add a teaspoon more of oil and drop the shrimp in the center of the pan. 

Cook shrimp on high for 2 minutes each side. 

Pour tamarind sauce into the pan. Stir to coat.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or 
tortillas. 

The sauce has a mouthful of zing and a forkful of zest! Happiness on a plate!

Croatian Tomato Salad

I eat a remarkably fresh salad on my European travels. The idea of eating this salad in this phenomenal heatwave in the US is temptation enough for me to source the ingredients. 

Backyard cherry tomatoes, orange and yellow peppers, red onion, feta and a slew of pomegranate arils are doused in an orange lemon vinaigraitte. Find a fork and dig in!

CROATIAN TOMATO SALAD

Serves 4

1 heaping cup of Cherry Tomatoes, halved

1 mini Yellow Pepper, seeded and chopped 

1 mini Orange Pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup thinly sliced Red Onion

3/4 cup Pomegranate Arils

1/4 cup Feta, crumbled

Basil Leaves

1/4 cup Orange Juice

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice 

4 tablespoons extra virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt 

Ground Black Pepper

Place the tomatoes, peppers, onion, pomegranate and feta in a bowl. 

Whisk orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil and a little salt to amke a dressing.  Pour over the salad. 

Garnish with basil leaves and serve. 

It is amazing that this salad is so refreshing! The heat goes on the backburner!

Mexican Lobster Salad

Lobster is still on the menu! This recipe is rooted in the delicious camepchana Madeleine treated me to many moons ago. Goode and Co makes a pile-high version. Mine takes some of the goodness from their recipe. It echoes the same flavor palate with some amendments. 

Cooked lobster chunks are mixed with Clamato, ketchup, fresh chiles, onion, cilantro, parsley, avocado, olives, cherry tomatoes and lime juice. Clamato is a clam and tomato based juice. Use regular tomato juice if it is hard to find. Yes.. there are a slew of ingredients, but the reward is quite something!

MEXICAN LOBSTER SALAD

Serves 4

2 cups cooked Lobster meat

1 tablespoon finely chopped Red Onion

10 pitted Castelveterano Olives

6 Cherry Tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped Parsley

1 Red Chile, seeded and chopped

1 Avocado, cubed

1/3 cup Clamato

3 tablespoons Ketchup

10-15 splashes of Tabasco

1 Lime, juiced

Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl. Stir carefully. Cool in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. 

Serve with toasted pita chips or tortilla chips.

 This salad is a summer delight! A surefire appetite pleaser!

Loaded Lobster Tails

I write after an age, dusting the rust of my trusty laptop. I am cooking after an age, dusting the cobwebs off my idle fingers. The way to step back into my kitchen is with a bang...so lobster it is. 

Lobster tails are cooked in a briny broth. The meat is chopped into bite size pieces and sauteed with onions, garlic, shimegi mushrooms and creme fraiche. The filling is spooned into the empty tails, topped with a grated gruyere and baked till melty. 

My sister drools and gets the biggest one.

LOADED LOBSTER TAILS

Serves 3

3 Lobster tails

1 Onion

3 Garlic cloves

1 cup Shimegi Mushrooms

1 tablespoon Butter

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1/2 cup Creme Fraiche

Kosher Salt

Fresh ground Black Pepper

2 tablespoons chopped Parsley

Gruyere Cheese, grated

Dunk the lobster tails in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Remove them and put them in ice cold water. When they have cooled, remove the flesh from the shells. Leave the shells intact. 

Chop the lobster meat into bite sized chunks.

Mince onion and garlic finely. 

Heat butter and oil in a saucepan. 

Add onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes till soft.

Drop mushrooms into the saucepan and cook till soft. 

Add lobster chunks, salt and pepper. 

Saute for a few minutes before adding the creme fraiche. Mix well. 

Add chopped parsley to sauce.

Heat oven to 350F/180C.

Pile the lobster sauce evenly between the lobster shells. 

Place shells in an oven proof dish. 

Cover the shells with gruyere.

Bake for 10 minutes till bubbling.

Serve with a flourish!

Empty shells tell it all......