If you follow our posts, you may have realised by now that we enjoy the creativity and inventiveness of harvesting and processing our own food. Peach Palm Miso was borne out of a fusion of an Asian preservation technique with a farm grown ingredient. I would like to give a special Thank-you to Julian Obererlacher of Itz’ana, Placencia for his resourcefulness in using our Peach Palm Miso as an ingredient in his menu.
Another Thanks to Enrico Cordenons for providing us with the Itz’ana Menu as follows:
WEDNESDAY 17 FEBRUARY, 2016
Sweet/spicy soup of Belizean vegetables with masa
King Estate Pinot Gris 2013 (USA – Oregon)
Poblano pepper stuffed with arugula, lentils, Caves Branch ricotta and parmesan
Zolo Malbec 2014 (Argentina – Agrelo Valley)
Snook, Casa Mascia Peach palm miso glaze, coco yam puree, grilled zucchini Itz’ana garden chinese greens
Pacaya is in season right now and is being sold in bunches at Punta Gorda Market. Don’t miss out on this delicacy because it is only harvested for a short time. These are the male inflorescences of the palm Chamaedorea tepejilote and are hand-picked in the wild rainforests of Toledo.
Pacaya From Market.
To prepare pacaya simply make a slit lengthwise (see upper picture) to reveal the flowers which are the edible part (lower picture).
Pacaya Peeled.
The Mayans at the market recommend that I chop the pacaya into pieces and cook it with egg. I haven’t tried this yet. I actually boil the pacaya for about 5 minutes and then I drain the water. You can boil it for up to 20 minutes if you would like to remove the bitterness. I like the bitter taste and I think that it is part of the whole culinary experience.
Pacaya Boiling.
I’ve been eating the pacaya with a dash of soya sauce served with a bowl of miso soup. This food has a crunchy texture with a pleasant bitterness.
Pacaya and Miso Soup.
I am sure you will find traditional recipes for pacaya on the Internet but if you are used to reading my Blog, you will be aware that I enjoy creating my own dishes. Next on the list is pacaya tempura…ooooh, can’t wait!!
A couple of weeks ago we harvested fresh cassava from the farm to make “Cuppa Cassava” which is our own home-made version of an instant noodle meal. As described in an earlier post, we prepared the root by peeling, cutting into pieces and steaming. After that, we put the cooked vegetable through a meat grinder in order to homogenize it and obtain a “noodle-look.” Then it was placed in the sun to dry for three days.
Instant Cassava Noodles.
We made an “instant” quick meal by adding boiled water (about 1+1/2 cups) to a handful of dehydrated cassava noodles; we covered this and allowed the vegetable to soften and cook for 10 minutes. At 7 minutes, a teaspoon of miso (our famous Peach Palm Miso) and a 1/4 cup of finely chopped green spinach were added to the mixture. And Hey Presto…Cuppa Casava Ramen was ready to eat!
Cuppa Cassava Ramen.
The cassava noodles had a chewy, firm texture with a bite. We both agreed that this was a good preservation method and this was definitely worth having in the pantry as “farm-made fast food.”
We have had a great response with our Peach Palm Miso. A Big Thank-you to all the people who bought it last week. Their support is much appreciated. We even sent one packet on Tropic Air to Placencia. So, yes we can send this food product to anyone within the country via Tropic Air. It is a fermented product so does not need special refrigeration. Once you receive it, it should be refrigerated or stored in cool, dry place. It is best consumed within 6 months but can be kept indefinitely…like all fermented products it actually gets more flavoursome with time.
Peach Palm Miso.
To start with basics, to make a simple miso soup, dissolve one teaspoon of peach palm miso in hot water and simply enjoy! Miso is a healthy pro-biotic food which can aid digestion and helps maintain healthy digestive flora. Moreover, our miso, is made with peach palm and white rice koji only so it is completely gluten-free.
Anyone interested in purchasing Peach Palm Miso, please contact us by email or Facebook. We can deliver within Punta Gorda on Wednesdays (tomorrow) or send by Tropic Air to the destination of your choice within Belize. Check out The Apothecary for prices.
Hello Everyone. We have fresh produce from our farm to sell and will be in Punta Gorda tomorrow (and every Wednesday) to sell our stuff. Email or Facebook us if you are interested and we can drop it off for you in town tomorrow.
We have the Peach Palm Miso for sale. This product is made in the same traditional way as normal miso but we have used Peach Palm (Pejibaye) instead of soya bean.
Peach Palm Miso.
This is a gluten-free, vegan natural flavouring for soups, sauces and marinades. Simply use this as an alternative to a bouillon cube. You only need to use a teaspoon at a time so one bag goes a long way. Check out The Apothecary for prices.
We will also have our coconut cream for sale which can be used for curries, stews, coconut rice and smoothies.
Hello everyone!! It has been raining all day today so thankfully, our rain water shortage has been temporarily solved. The rainwater tank is almost half full and we have another full tank as back-up. Phew!! We are so pleased!!
Anyway, onto the subject of chili peppers…yesterday, was town day and it was a hectic run-around of seeing patients for the whole morning, meeting up with people for lunch and the usual in-between hailing of passerbys and acquaintances. Not to mention, the rushing around for supplies in between a packed day. By the time I got home at 4pm, I was exhausted. At this point, I started feeling lethargic and then it got worse because I started feeling sorry for myself. One thing led to another and I developed a headache, sore throat and a low-grade fever. I immediately recognised it as the beginnings of the ‘flu (or some sort of viral infection). Gnome knew there was a problem when I reached over to the computer to write a Blog post and I simply couldn’t even muster up the energy to type out the WordPress address. Gnome admonished me gently for being such an awful patient and told me to have a teaspoon of chili sauce, in a drink immediately.
Munchkin Sick and Feeling Sorry for Herself!
I happened to have a glass of beer in front of me (therapeutic dosage to warm myself up of course…honest) so I stirred in a teaspoon of chili sauce and downed it. As soon as I drunk it, it really hit the spot and the I felt an immediate release in my sinuses and head. I felt so much better.
Gnome’s Medical Prescription: Beer
Beer.
And one teaspoon of Chili sauce:
Red Bird Chili.
Culpeper describes this experience very nicely:
“…will so pierce the brain by flying up into the head through the nostrils, as to produce violent sneezings, and draw down abundance of thin rheum, forcing tears from the eyes…”
I went to bed soon after this, feeling nice and toasty. And so today, I still feel tired from fighting off the ‘flu and my energy levels are considerably lower. However, I have managed to keep the other symptoms at bay (fever, headache and cough) with a teaspoon of chili sauce in miso soup three times a day. By no means is this an instant cure-all but it does cut short the length of an ailment and lessons the symptoms so it is worth doing. I will probably continue this regime for the next 3 days at least. I have noticed that with natural remedies, it is not usually a once off dosage but rather a course.
Miso Soup with Chili.
Also, Chilis have nutritional value which can aid in mounting a proper immune response: vitamin A, C, E, B6, Potassium and Manganese and Riboflavin.
It is still raining here in Toledo…yay!! Have a Good Night everyone!!
I originally made this meal at the beginning of the week and was all ready to post up the recipe until I discovered that Gnome had unwittingly erased my photograph.
Double Miso Pan-Fried Chicken. Second Picture.
When I told him that I would have to re-create this dish today, to get a picture, he said rather half heartedly, “Oh dear. That is a shame.”
That is a Shame!
This recipe is so-called because the chicken is marinated in miso before being pan-fried and it is served with miso ketchup. If you follow our blog, you will know that we make buckets and buckets of home-made miso. Because I have so much of it, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experiment with this wonderful live food in more creative and innovative ways. In fact, I use miso in all our cooking now instead of salt and soya sauce. The miso adds a distictive umami flavour which adds a whole new dimension to a meal. In this recipe, I used our shiro miso which is made mostly of white rice which has a sweet and mild taste. No flour is used in making our miso so it is also gluten-free.
Hello there every-one!! Hope you are having a good day. Today, I have two miso tastings from the time when we “were mad about the beans” and made buckets and buckets of home-made miso.
The Shiro Miso: has a higher proportion of white rice to bean (we used blackbeans instead of soya beans since we live in Belize). We have actually been eating through our supply for the last month or so and I was afraid that I would munch my way through it all without doing some proper feed-back.
Shiro Miso.Shiro Miso Ready to Eat.
Shiro Miso Tasting:
Gnome says: overall, it is a light fermentation product; will continue to build complexity with aging. Less salty, sweet and mild tasting.
Munchkin says: I have used the shiro miso in soups, marinating of meat and to flavour pot roasts. All flavour packets have been replaced with a dollop of shiro miso (in fact, we have ramen noodles with this miso). It is so mild tasting, you need a whole tablespoon in a bowl of miso soup.
Hatcho Miso with Beef Jerky: Miso made from bean (blackbean) koji alone. We also added beef jerky and black pepper to make it into “Meat Lover’s” Miso.
Meat Lover’s Hatcho Miso.Meat Lovers Miso.
Meat Lover’s Miso Tasting:
Gnome says: Obviously needs more time to develop but at this stage, still very, very tasty. Has strong mushroom overtones with meat undertones. Can do with more black pepper. Will certainly reach an exquisite taste and will peak in ten years or so. A true masterpiece that has to be waited for.
Munchkin says: Beefy!! Let’s start eating it!! Yum. So rich and creamy. This miso has such intensity of taste, you only need one teaspoon to make a bowl of miso soup.
There is nothing like home-made miso…you can’t buy it for love nor money!!
THIS IS A PAID ADVERT!!!
TOMORROW, ONLY ON MGNEWS PRIMETIME SUNDAY.
WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE CANDIDATES FOR THE MAYORAL ELECTIONS 2015, PARADISE PASTURES.
It has been two months since we made our Good Friday Shiro Miso; so, I reckoned it was time to try it out!
Shiro Miso.
Shiro miso contains a higher white rice to bean ratio, therefore it can ferment faster and be ready to eat in 2 months. Compare this to hatcho miso which is only made of fermented beans which takes at least 12 months to mature.
I also had a huge pumpkin (14lbs/7kg) in weight, just waiting to be eaten:
After eating this, we both agreed that the miso was ready to eat…it gave a unique umami savoury taste to the dish. What a treat and the miso and pumpkin are fresh from our farm!
If you follow our posts, you may have realised by now that we enjoy the creativity and inventiveness of harvesting and processing our own food. Peach Palm Miso was borne out of a fusion of an Asian preservation technique with a farm grown ingredient. I would like to give a special Thank-you to Julian Obererlacher of Itz’ana, Placencia for his resourcefulness in using our Peach Palm Miso as an ingredient in his menu.
