Tag Archives: Recipes

Amusing, Belize, Food

Shepherd’s Pork and Mango Pie (a la Munchkin).

Together.Eating.Fire.PotI told Gnome that I had a new recipe called “Shepherd’s Pork and Mango Pie.”

Shepherd's Pie.
Shepherd’s Pie.

Gnome: Is there any “Shepherd’s Pie” to this meal?

(Gnome is referring to the well-known dish of baked minced beef topped with mashed potato).

Munchkin: Yes, the mashed potato on top.

Gnome: Well, there you go.  One can not go against the word of a Munchkin!  Shepherd’s Pie, it is…a la Munchkin!

(Gnome distinctly dislikes using French terms…I think he was being facetious, if you ask me).

Munchkin.Funny.Look.Yet.AnotherSo, here we go:  This dish is made with minced (ground) pork (instead of beef) and mango (instead of the tomatoes in Shepherd’s Pie) and shiitake mushrooms (instead of button mushrooms).  This gives it a sweet, tangy exotic taste.  It is baked and topped with mashed potato with coconut cream (instead of butter).

The authentic part of the recipe is the potato!

I used these little wild mangoes for this recipe; as they say here in Belize they are Sweet Sweet Sweet!

Little Wild Mangoes.
Little Wild Mangoes.

A bit like Shepherd’s Pie, don’t you think?

Belize, Farming, Food

Cooking with Cashew Fruit.

Munchkin.More.EatingI have discovered the wonders of cooking cashew fruit and Ioving it!  I have managed to get most of the tannic properties out of the fruit by peeling them.  At first, I thought that I would peel them llike tomatoes (boil them, take them off the heat quickly and then peel) but when I actually got down to peeling the raw fruit, it wasn’t that difficult.  So, here is a picture of the peeled fruit:

Peeled Cashew Fruit.
Peeled Cashew Fruit.

Here is a picture of the chopped fruit:

Cubed Cashew Fruit.
Cubed Cashew Fruit.

For all you vegetarians out there, this fruit has the texture of chicken breast so you could use the following recipe but omit the sausage.  It has a good enough texture to give a satisfying bite.

My recipe is: Pork Sausage and Cashew Fruit Casserole.

Pork Sausage and Cashew Fruit Casserole.
Pork Sausage and Cashew Fruit Casserole.

I used some curry leaf in the recipe.  The Curry plant actually grows very well here in Belize:

Curry Plant.
Curry Plant.

We were both very pleased with the cooked cashew fruit!  The only problem is that that every single fruit is getting gobbled up by the paca (gibnut) community and as soon as one drops from the tree, it disappears.  Gnome says that this is fair exchange for eating two gibnuts a year.

Belize, Farming, Food, Mushrooms

Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes.

Together.Eating Hello Everyone, you are getting two posts almost back to back because our Internet was down for most of the day.  The day started off with a thunderstorm and stayed stormy for most of the day; there was also a power-cut for most of the morning.

As promised, I have posted up my recipe with the Witches’ Eggs which I foraged yesterday.  I seasoned the sliced immature stinkhorn mushrooms with paprika and white pepper.

Stinkhorn Mushroom Egg Sliced.
Stinkhorn Mushroom Egg Sliced.

The dish actually turned out nicely and Gnome commended me for my efforts.  Prior to eating, he had been giving me a sideway neophobic ducky look in preparation for the slimy quality of the mushroom.  However, when he did eat it, he looked surprised and likened it to oysters; he said that they should be called “vegetarian oysters” or “faux oysters.”

Cooked Stinkhorn Eggs with Nori Flakes.
Cooked Stinkhorn Eggs with Nori Flakes.

The toasted nori flakes complimented the “seafood” taste of the mushroom very well.  For the full recipe, check out Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes in Belize Wild Recipes.

At this point, I would like to thank our Chinese friend (real Chinese, not like me!) for emailing us to give us some more information on this fungus.

Ruri.Chan

This is what she said (more or less):

This mushroom is called Zhu Sun in Chinese.  The  Zhu means bamboo (because it grows on bamboo litter) and it also has the same sound as congratulations.  The Sun means smooth and successful.  Zhu Sun also means longevity.  This mushroom is usually eaten during Chinese New Year but can also be eaten all year round.  The Chinese eat the mature mushroom and the recipes are usually found under “bamboo pith” on the Internet.

This information was a great help and we will be collecting some fresh mature specimens to eat.  I can’t wait!

Yes, she is right, they do grow on bamboo litter as you can see:

Stinkhorn Growing on Bamboo Litter.
Stinkhorn Growing on Bamboo Litter.

May we all have the pleasure of eating such an auspicious mushroom!

Belize, Farming, Food

Baked Wax Apples Stuffed with Chilli Beef.

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Together.EatingWe have so many wax apples on our farm this year…we have even been giving them away to our piggies.

Guinea Pigs Eating Wax Apples.
Guinea Pigs Eating Wax Apples.

We have been eating a lot of them raw.  Because they have the crispy texture of an apple, I thought that they would do well baked.  And, then I thought of chilli beef and hey presto, I came up with this recipe: Wax Apples Stuffed with Chilli Beef.

To stuff the wax apples, you just need to cut a wedge into the bottom.  Like so:

Wedge Removed From Wax Apple.
Wedge Removed From Wax Apple.

Stuffed wax apples:

Wax Apples Stuffed with Beef.
Wax Apples Stuffed with Beef.

I slow-baked the stuffed wax apples with onions so that the onions could form a nice gravy.

Wax Apples and Onions.
Wax Apples and Onions.

We ate it with a side of green vegetables:

Wax Apples Stuffed with Chilli Beef.
Wax Apples Stuffed with Chilli Beef.

We really enjoyed this dish and this is also a great way of cooking  other fruits in the Syzygium family, notably the Malay (Molly) Apple.

Enjoy your evening!!  It has been raining all day.

Belize, Food, Plants

Glazed Cashew Fruit and Ham with Basmati Rice.

Munchkin.More.EatingWe have discovered the wonders of cooked cashew fruit because they absorb flavours really well and they have the texture of chicken breast.  Cashew fruit can be eaten raw but tends to have tannins in them which stops you from eating too much of them.  Cooking this fruit in sugar helps to off-set the tannin taste.

Cashew Fruit.
Cashew Fruit.

We had some left over roast ham so I came up with this recipe: Glazed Cashew Fruit and Ham with Basmati Rice.

Cashew Fruit Ham with Basmati Rice.
Cashew Fruit Ham with Basmati Rice.

After eating this, we both agreed that the cashew fruit was worth eating.  In previous years, we have just let this fruit drop to the ground and rot…what a waste!  The only problem is that there seems to be a health community of pacas (gibnuts) feasting on the fruit as soon as they drop to the ground.  This means that we have to get up at the crack of dawn to collect the fruit before all the critters (including doggie) get them!!

Belize, Food

Mamey Sapote Beef Burgers.

Munchkin.More.EatingIt is mamey sapote season in Belize.

Mamey Sapote.
Mamey Sapote.

A ripe mamey sapote is soft to the touch when you press hard with thumb and fore-finger.  Cut around the shell lengthwise (like an avocado) to obtain the two halves of the fruit with a central large seed.  Remove the seed and spoon out the pulp to eat.  The flesh should come off easily in a ripe fruit. You can eat this fruit out of hand or you can transform it into a savoury burger meal:

Maney Sapote Beef Burgers.
Maney Sapote Beef Burgers.

This is a unique and tasty way of eating this tropical fruit.  Mamey sapote has a reddish-brown, smooth and creamy flesh with a sweet flavour reminiscent of caramelised brown sugar.  This marries very well with beef giving a caramel velvetiness to the ubiquitous burger.

Check out the recipe for Mamey Sapote Beef Burgers in Belize Wild Recipes!

Belize, Farming, Food

Miso Pumpkin Bake.

Munchkin.Another.Eating.ShotIt 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.

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:

Big Pumpkin.
Big Pumpkin

So, this is what I came up with; Miso, Pumpkin and Onion Bake:

Miso, Pumpkin and Onion Bake.
Miso, Pumpkin and Onion Bake.

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!

Belize, Farming, Food

Let’s Make Noodles!

Together.EatingIf you are thinking of fun things to do at home, why not make noodles?  It is a great, short and satisfying project especially when you can directly benefit from it straight afterwards.  Can also be a romantic thing to do together if you are so inclined to spend every waking hour together (like Munchkin and Gnome).

So, this is what we did:

We took:

2 cups of wheat flour

2 cups of rice flour

and added about 1 and 1/3 cups of water to make a dough. We Kneaded it until it was smooth and uniform in consistency:

Dough For Noodles.
Dough For Noodles.

Next, we rolled it out on a board.  We used a wine bottle because it worked well and I have never seen a rolling pin for sale in Punta Gorda.

Rolling out dough.
Rolling out dough.

Next, we cut the the sheet of dough into strips.  This is a really neat way of doing it…you take a piece of card or wood and you cut against it to get even strips.  We picked this idea up from watching a Japanese Anime in which the characters were making noodles.

Cutting Pasta
Cutting Pasta

The cut noodles were transferred onto a clean dish cloth and sprinkled with flour to stop them from sticking:

Noodles.
Noodles.

With the quantities of flour, we were able to make 4 dough sheets in total.  This amount of noodles serves 4 very hungry people or 8 conservative eaters.

At this point, you can dry them to keep or freeze them fresh.  The wet noodles can be kept in the fridge for 48 hours.

To cook, place noodles in pot of boiling water and cook for 5 to 8 minutes until done.  Then, serve it with anything your heart desires…pasta sauce, stir fry, whatever you want.

We then had a hearty meal of noodles cooked with char sui and tomatoes.  Delicious and simple:

Noodle Yum Yum.
Noodle Yum Yum.

These noodles can be varied according to flour types, thickness of rolling out and size of strips.  By varying these parameters, you can achieve different tasting noodles with varying textures and degrees of bite.  We cut our noodles quite thickly so ended up with a chewy bite from the rice flour.

Belize, Food

Brown Rice, Pineapple and Ginger Casserole.

Munchkin.More.EatingI am writing early today because it is thundery and blustery outside and I don’t know how long the Internet will hold up today (touch wood).  Today I am posting a recipe for a warming and exotic vegetarian dish made with fresh pineapple and ginger.

Fresh Pineapple.
Fresh Pineapple.
Fresh Ginger.
Fresh Ginger.

This slow cook casserole allows the spiciness of the ginger to complement the sweet taste of the pineapple and the brown rice absorbs all the flavours really well.  A dish recommended for stormy days like this one…feels like the Flood Flies might be coming out tonight!

Brown Rice, Pineapple and Ginger Casserole.
Brown Rice, Pineapple and Ginger Casserole.

Check out my recipe Brown Rice, Pineapple and Ginger Casserole in Belize Wild Recipes.

Belize, Food

Pork and Cassava Hotpot (Not Lancashire).

Together.EatingToday, it has been raining all day non-stop.  It is a cool 28 C (or 82 F) so I am still continuing along the theme of hotpots.  If you haven’t read the last post, Gnome had asked me to cook a Lancashire Hotpot for him.  Those people who are not familiar with this dish, it is a meal made with lamb (sometimes beef), onions and carrots with a layer of sliced potatoes on top.  This traditional stew is cooked slowly in the oven at a low heat to make the meat and vegetables tender and succulent.

Well, anyway, the running joke is that I keep on intending to cook a Lancashire Hotpot but instead of using the traditional ingredients, I substitute alternatives so that the resulting dish isn’t really Lancashire.

So, the Pork and Cassava Hotpot was another attempt at being Lancashire…honestly!!  This time, there are carrots included and I had to use pork because I could not find beef or lamb!  Also, I can’t bring myself to buy potatoes when I have a huge plethora of exotic roots on the farm.  The cassava does make a lovely hotpot; it is warming and comforting and is great for these cooler spells in Belize.

Pork and Cassava Hotpot.
Pork and Cassava Hotpot.

I have to admit though, that I am a bit of a rebel cook at heart and I love to tweek and change recipes.  Only once in my life, I actually made a serious whole-hearted attempt to follow a recipe to the letter.  This was for Duck a l’orange and it took three days to prepare…it was excellent!  It was solely tempted to change it to Duck a le pampelmousse but made a deliberate effort to follow instructions!

Have a good day everyone…may we all revel in being rebel cooks!