From my Programming Connections

Recently, my feed reader has received several posts from Joe Pastry, with plenty of great tips for desserts and other fabulous-sounding foods. The odd part is that they come from an acquaintance introduced to me through my work on Parlance; we're only connected in case we ever start active development on a web front-end.

This is on top of Joseph Hall's entries in the Utah Open Source Planet, which dives into cooking on an irregular basis, as well as ruminations on an ideal recipe storage program. This year has also seen a Summer of Pie there, with more description than real recipes for (you guessed it) pies.

Then today, I get a kohlrabi dish via Planet Python, which usually discourages non-pythonic posts. I'm beginning to think there's a deeper connection between geekdom and cooking. Or is it really just baking?

Top Ten Spices Ever

Inspired by Taryn's favorite condiments and the rearrangement of my spice cupboard (had to put chipotle powder in the lineup), here are my top ten spices. I'm only counting dry spices here, arranged (sort of) in order of favoriteness and frequency of use.

1. basil
2. oregano
3. chili powder (the mild stuff)
4. cumin (whole or powdered, depends what I'm doing)
5. red pepper flakes
6. coriander
7. ginger
8. mustard seed
9. rosemary
10. turmeric

Honorable mention goes to:
cayenne pepper and hungarian paprika, nutmeg, allspice, dill, and Luzianne Cajun spice blend.
I'm not counting garam masala even though I use it a lot because I use it in paste form and keep it in the fridge.

Eric would probably add thyme to the list, but I'm actually not a fan. He can write his own favorites list. So there. But really, I'd love to hear everyone's favorites, I love new spices. Yay! Maybe we'll redo pastes and condiments in another post.

Okinawan bitter melon stir-fry (Goya chanpuru)

This is like Okinawa's national dish (or it would be, if it were a nation). We like it, but I'd never made it myself because of rumors that the key ingredient is hard to handle. But I saw some in the farmer's market last Saturday, so I had to try it. And, hey, it came out good.

The key ingredient is goya, or bitter melon. If you can find it at all, you may find two varieties, a larger smoother version called Chinese bitter melon and a smaller bumpier version called Indian bitter melon. (Oh, that makes me realize, most of you may be familiar with this vegetable after all!) It's the Indian version, I think, that's standard for this dish. At least, that's what I used, and it tasted right.

So here's what you need:
1 bitter melon
10 or so baby carrots (optional)
1 block firm tofu
2 eggs
salt
soy sauce
half can Spam (optional)
vegetable oil

1. Cut the ends off the bitter melon, then slice it lengthwise. With a spoon scrape out the seeds. Then slice the melon into thin cross-sections. Put in a bowl and sprinkle some salt over it. Let it sit until the melon turns rubbery. Then rinse the melon in water and pat or squeeze dry with paper towels. The object here is to take some of the bitterness out. It'll still be bitter no matter what you do, but this helps some.

2. Cut the carrots into quarters lengthwise. Carrots are not a standard ingredient in Okinawa, but I saw one recipe that listed them, tried it, and they were awesome. The sweetness of the carrots is a great contrast to the bitterness of the melon.

3. Cut the Spam into small slices. Spam is optional: most recipes you'll find in cookbooks and on-line won't even list it as an ingredient, but believe me, Spam is a key ingredient in the classic everyday Okinawan version of this. Of course if you're vegetarian it can be left out: there're plenty of other proteins in this dish.

4. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat.

5. Cut the tofu into small cubes.

6. Heat a little vegetable oil in a wok and stir fry. Start with the carrots; when they're starting to soften up, add the Spam, then the bitter melon. Then add the tofu. Stir fry everything until the veggies are done, the Spam is browned, and the tofu is crumbled. Splash some soy sauce over it.

7. Add the egg and keep stir frying until the egg is cooked.

8. Serve with rice.

Bitter melon is an acquired taste, but once you acquire it, the bitterness works really well in the summer.

Stewed Tomatoes

I really like tomatoes in pretty much any form and although stewed tomatoes are good out of a can, I like to make my own for a little variety. They're really easy actually and you can adjust the flavor to suit you and what you're in the mood for. This is what I did the other night:

7 over-ripe tomatoes, quartered, leave the skins on (normally you're supposed to remove them for stewing and saucing)
2 fresh chilies (i used cayennes from my yard but anything will really do, even dried stuff)
1/2 a head of garlic, peeled and root ends cut off
1 tbs. capers (don't rinse them)
2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 springs fresh oregano (use dried, whatevs. About 1 tbs. dried)
Salt to taste
pinch of sugar

Heat your oil over low heat in a large non-stick pan. Throw your garlic cloves in and let them get a little brown on the outside (just a little). Add your tomatoes and let them start cooking. Stir well and mix them in with the oil and garlic. After about ten minutes, start mushing up your tomatoes and your garlic with the back of a spoon (it'll be pretty easy). They don't need to be uniformly mashed or anything, just break up all your chunks and let the juices and flavors come out. Throw in your chilies, oregano, sugar, salt, and capers and let everything simmer for about ten minutes. The end result should be soupy still with nicely softened chunks of tomatoes and garlic. Serve over pasta. This improves with age so enjoy it the next day too. Warning: it'll get spicier the next day if you use fresh chilies.

indonesian pilaf

OK. I made this last night - the recipe came from a kashi advertisement. i halved the amount of rice, but then we didn't have leftovers...i think the actual amount would work for dinner, then lunch the next day for two.

ingredients:
2 packets kashi 7 whole grain pilaf (8 cups of any cooked whole grain would work)
1 c whole peanuts
4 tsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 med red onion, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
3/4 c raisins
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 c red cabbage, diced
1 pinch salt
1/4 c. water
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar (i ran out and used cider vinegar - it was ok)
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
2 tsp evaporated cane juice (i used some brown sugar)

directions:
cook pilaf according to package directions. saute garlic and onion in 2 tsp sesame oil until limp. add cumin and coriander, stir. ad carrots, raisins, cabbage, salt, and water- stir well. cover with lid, reduce heat to low, simmer for 3ish minutes, then remove from heat. in a large mixing bowl, combine everything (including uncooked pepper and peanuts). In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, whisk together, and add to the pilaf mixture. stir well and enjoy.