Tag Archives: Vegetarian

Home-made Miso Tasting.

July 18, 2015 Munchkin

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 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 Lover’s Hatcho 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!!

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Belize, Food, Mushrooms

Leftover Greens, Jackfruit, Mushrooms and Guinea Pigs.

July 15, 2015 Munchkin

I have a plethora of photographs, taken at opportune moments which are used for the purposes of writing posts for this Blog. I try to use up most of the photos but sometimes some are “left-over.” So, here are some pictures that can hopefully tie up some loose ends.

I still have not had the chance to add on to the Belcampo Foraging Tour (eco-lodge in Toledo, Belize) which was conducted a couple of months ago. There will be more of this coming soon. Anyway, this is a picture of hierba mora found growing wild on Belcampo grounds. This is a tasty green leafy spinach-like vegetable which is similar in taste and texture to the local callaloo.

You can also buy a bunch of the cultivated variety of hierba mora at the market in Punta Gorda. The vendors use the name “callaloo” interchangeably between this and the Amaranth sp.(true callaloo).

This is another jackfruit off-shoot. I had mentioned in my main article on this fruit that the seeds were also edible. The seeds just need to be boiled for about 20 to 30 minutes until they are tender. In this instance, I boiled the seeds and then stir fried the seeds with sliced garlic and garnished the dish with spring onion (I threw in some left over cassava). Needless to say, the meal was tasty!

And, of course, I can write ceaselessly about mushrooms! We can’t get enough of fungus and we love eating them! Last week, we had spotted a whole load of lovely oyster mushrooms in somebody’s yard in Punta Gorda. We sliced and slow cooked them in butter. We have found that this is the best way to enjoy the delicate tastes of a wild mushroom.

Oyseter.Mushrooms.Beaty — Wild Oyster Mushrooms.

A couple of weeks ago, we stumbled across these mushrooms in our coconut plantation. We identified them as of the Russula sp.; many of the mushrooms of this family can cause gastric upset but none are known to be lethal. We decided to eat a test batch of these wild mushrooms…they turned out to be very good…and no stomach upset!

One more mushroom picture! I raved on about the bamboo pith (stinkhorn) a while back because it was a revelation to me that the Chinese cultivated this particular fungus to eat. Here are some fresh specimens ready for chopping in our soup:

Cooked bamboo pith has the texture of bubbly honeycomb with the firmness of agar. There is no distinct taste. We like them!

And last but not least. Matilda’s little piggies are doing fine. They are still in the maternity ward and they have started eating grass already. Everything on Paradise Pastures seems to be pretty hunky-dory at the moment. More on the Mayor Elections over the next few weeks!

Belize, Farming, Food

Curried Ripe Jackfruit with Lentils

July 14, 2015 Munchkin

Remember a couple of weeks ago we had the big baby?

And I had explicitly mentioned that all parts could be eaten…even the unformed arils:

Well, here is a recipe for this part of the jackfruit, which is usually discarded. I recommend that you do not eat this part raw because it still has some sticky latex attached to it. The best thing to do is to cook it and so this is a yummy recipe for Curried Ripe Jackfruit.

The ripe jackfruit caramelises nicely to compliment the mustard seeds, cumin, tumeric and paprika. Fresh curry leaves are used to enhance the flavour of the whole “sweet and savoury dish.”

We both enjoyed the curried jackfruit with lentils and agreed that NO part of the jackfruit should be thrown away!!

Belize, Farming, Food

Cooking with Cashew Fruit.

June 21, 2015 Munchkin

I 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:

Here is a picture of the chopped 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.

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

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.

June 19, 2015 Munchkin

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.

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.”

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.

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:

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

Belize, Farming, Food

Miso Pumpkin Bake.

June 4, 2015 Munchkin

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 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:

So, this is what I came up with; 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, Food

Brown Rice, Pineapple and Ginger Casserole.

May 15, 2015 Munchkin

I 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.

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!

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

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Pets, Saving Money

Tuesday Night Storm, Internet Down and Pineapple Melomel.

April 30, 2015 Munchkin

Hello There!! I will try to catch-up with this post and bring you up to date. On Tuesday night we had a scary, gusty storm that resulted in a power-cut for most of the night and of course, the Internet went down with it. The storm has brought cooler weather with grey clouds and it even rained heavily this morning. The Internet started up again today…yay…it is so insidious how we feel that “we need Internet” and life just isn’t the same without it. When I down-loaded my bunch of late emails, they weren’t all that exciting and most of them were spam, anyway!

Well, since it was a Rainy Day, we made Pineapple Melomel (mead with fruit). Yesterday, I had bought 20 ripe pineapples from the market for BZD 30.00 (USD 15.00) in an attempt to excite Gnome into making some more booze (nice, sparkling, champagne-like stuff) for me. After I got the pineapples loaded onto the truck, he gave me a whiny look and said that he was hoping that I had bought the plantains instead of the pineapples. That remark got him a “Chinese Woman Look” and stopped the complaints quick smart.

This is what we did.

We removed the heads and scrubbed them in the sink:

I then started chopping up the pineapples. Whilst I was doing this, I kindly asked Gnome to take some pictures of this process. All the pictures were soooo baaaad!! They were out of focus and made my hands look stumpy and small…or, are they really like that? I had to re-take some photos:

Chopping Pineapples...Look No Hands!! — Chopping Pineapples…Look No Hands!!

Gnome put the pineapple chunks through the juicer to get the juice and the pulp:

We ended up processing 10 pineapples in all because it was actually a lot of work and the juicer was over-heating and complaining with the work-load. So, we managed to get about 6 litres (1 and 1/2 gallons) of juice from it all.

We got an extra 2 litres (2 quarts) of juice from the squeezing of the pulp:

We waste nothing!! We gave this and some pineapple peel to the duckies this morning. It was a Pineapple Feast…look closely at silly white duck…he even has a bit of pineapple stuck to his head.

We have noticed that our duckies are totally neophobic with food unless it is yellow in colour. So, I was received by joyful and frenzied quackings today when I brought out the basin of pineapple waste.

While I was out playing with the duckies, Gnome proceeded with the making of his pineapple melomel; honey and fresh Toledo rainwater (very fresh!) was added to make the batch up to 5 gallons. Gnome will be posting up the recipe in Bored-in-Belize over the next few days.

Heating Melomel:

Yes, I know…it all looks very yellow (just like all the other pictures) but believe me, this will taste great! Tomorrow, we will be processing the rest of the pineapples and adding honey and fresh ginger. In the words of Gnome, “Make it a Metheglin.”

Belize, Food

Hibiscus (Sorrel/ Roselle) Spring Rolls.

April 21, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone!! There was no post yesterday because we had a power-cut in the evening. We had to rummage around in the dark for all our candles…it was most inconvenient. We really need to get energy independent one of these days.

Again, boredom and excitement (what an oxymoron) are stimulating us to run around like busy little bees. Right now we are starting our day at 5.30am… as soon as the sun comes up. After that, it is a race to get things done before the on-slaught of heat! Today, Gnome was mashing and his comment of the day was, “I had good results from the Mashing today, tomorrow I will be Sparging.” Other than that, he didn’t say much else. He also made some nice sandal-wood scented soaps.

I have posted up a recipe for Hibiscus Spring Rolls…catching up an a back-log of old recipes. Hibiscus is also known as Roselle; here in Belize, everyone calls it Sorrel.

And these are my yummy Hibiscus spring rolls with shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots (my own, of course) and water chest-nuts. No meat, so they are vegetarian spring rolls. The hibiscus adds colour, crunch and a mild sourness to the whole culinary experience. Lovely!!

Belize, Food, Our Products, Plants, Saving Money

Sticky Rice, Nori Flakes, Kun Batz and Stinky Tofu.

April 17, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! I am back in top form and promise that there will be no complaints today! Many thanks to the readers (namely, Erin and Adriana) who wrote back with a positive word and encouragement. Thanks to Gnome’s Mum for looking at 9 pages and the flurry of visitors after last night’s post. We indeed felt that life was worth living again. 😉

In a bid to increase our Stats, Gnome kindly wrote a post earlier on Ballistics…Hmmm…I am sure everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at this must-read! Gnome reveals all in his mind-blowing revelations on pellets! Just out of interest, I don’t give Gnome any pocket money for his pellets and so he funds his pass-time through coconut products. So, if you have bought any coconut cream, water or flour, you have helped Gnome out.

Gnome says, “Buy more of my coconuts!!”

Because it is a lot hotter, we have not been feeling so hungry hence the reason for less recipe posts. However, I thought it would interesting to let you know what we had for lunch today. In our last trip to Belize City, we stopped by the Taiwanese store to buy some goodies…interesting that when we think of buying yummy treats we always go for Chinese or Japanese food. We found some short grain rice (the kind that you use to make sushi), nori seaweed and stinky tofu.

Today, I boiled the sticky rice in our coconut cream…yes, the one that we sell in little bags! I also added whole black peppercorns to spice it up a bit. I toasted the nori flakes in a skillet and I brought out the stinky tofu.

The vegetable featured on the top right is Kun Batz. This is a wild passiflora vine which grows voluntarily in cleared areas. This plant produces fruit which can be eaten green like a vegetable; here I have cut it into pieces, steamed it and added soya sauce.

With plenty of vitamins and minerals from the sea-weed and B Vitamins from the stinky tofu, there was no need to include meat into the meal today. It was yummy!! Hooray for smelly (sorry, I mean fragrant) Chinese food!

Some pictures of Kun Batz (This is the Ketchi Mayan name):

Kun.Batz.Green.Fruit — Kun Batz Green Fruit.

Here in Belize, the Mayans prize this fruit considerably and like to eat it in its ripe form. Once ripe, the flesh turns yellow, spongy and inedible. The pulp around the seeds is eaten and has a fruity floral taste which is esteemed by the people here. It can eaten out of hand or used to flavour cool drinks. It is very similar to the giant granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis).

Good Evening everyone!! May all our lives become so simple that Blog Stats become the most important thing!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Tag Archives: Vegetarian

Home-made Miso Tasting.

Leftover Greens, Jackfruit, Mushrooms and Guinea Pigs.

Curried Ripe Jackfruit with Lentils

Cooking with Cashew Fruit.

Paprika Stinkhorn Egg with Nori Flakes.

Miso Pumpkin Bake.

Brown Rice, Pineapple and Ginger Casserole.

Tuesday Night Storm, Internet Down and Pineapple Melomel.

Hibiscus (Sorrel/ Roselle) Spring Rolls.

Sticky Rice, Nori Flakes, Kun Batz and Stinky Tofu.

Everything Handmade in Belize.