Lentil Curry

Manoa Valley is one my favorite places on Oahu--green, cool, deep, and wide. At the back of the valley are the Lyon Arboretum and Manoa Falls; at the mouth is the tree-lined campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. While in graduate school, I volunteered at one of the campus literary journals. I xeroxed files, posted and collected mail, and helped proofread stories, essays, and poems. I enjoyed my time there and made several good friends. One of them gave me the recipe for lentil curry that is subject of this post. She brought the curry to a staff potluck held high up on the side of Saint Louis Heights overlooking Manoa Valley. I don’t recall many details from the party, but I remember the warm company, the beautiful view from the livingroom window, and my friend’s delicious curry. She recommends serving it with raita and rice. It is wonderfully easy to make, it just takes a little time. As usual, I’ve adapted the recipe, but I believe the spirit remains true to the original.

To serve 4 to 6 people you need: 1 cup French green lentils, about 3 1/2 cups water, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 cup pureed Italian-style canned tomatoes, chili powder to taste, salt to taste, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and ½ cup heavy cream or coconut milk.

Cook the lentils in a pot of boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes, then drain and return them to the empty pot. Add fresh water to the lentils to cover them by two inches and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, put the lid on the pot, and simmer for one hour. Remove the lid to the pot. Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, salt and chili powder to taste, and remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the curry and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Lastly, add the cream or coconut milk and continue cooking another 10 minutes for the flavors to meld.

I like to serve this family-style over a bowl of rice. It’s also good with chapatis or tortillas and chutney.

Here are the curry ingredients:

The curry simmering in the pan:

And alongside rice, raita, and chutney:

Twilight and Tortillas

We love soft tacos, and sometimes take them for a picnic supper at Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. I make half-and-half tortillas with half masa marina (finely ground corn flour) and half wheat flour. They are wonderfully pliable and good with most any bean, meat, or vegetable filling. I got the recipe many years ago from a San Diego friend. I still have the printout she gave me. On one side are recipes for flour tortillas, corn tortillas, half-and-half tortillas, and a syrup (to go with “Bunelos”); on the other side is the cross-hatched score of a cribbage game that my friend and I played one long afternoon while waiting for a train.

The recipe couldn’t be simpler, though rolling out the tortillas takes a bit of work. I use a tortilla press, but a rolling pin will do, as will a smooth-sided drinking glass.

To make 16 to18 half-and-half tortillas use: 1½ cups masa harina, 1½ cups wheat flour,1 teaspoon dried yeast, a pinch sugar, 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt, 1½ cups warm water (or a little less), and 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Mix the yeast with 1 cup of the water and the pinch of sugar. Add the masa harina, wheat flour, olive oil, salt, and as much of the remaining water as needed to mix the dough. Knead the dough on a floured board until smooth. Let rest (covered with a damp cloth) 1 hour. Divide into 16 to 18 balls, flatten, and let rest 20 minutes (again covered with a damp cloth). With a tortilla press, rolling pin, or smooth-sided glass, roll out the balls, adding a little flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Heat a dry skillet to medium-high heat. Bake the tortillas a few minutes on each side. The sides will bubble up a bit and brown in places. Once baked, place the tortillas singly on a rack to cool. Reheat as desired in a dry skillet or wrapped in foil and placed in a 375 degree F oven for 15 minutes.

Here are the balls of tortilla dough resting:

The tortillas being cooked in the skillet:

 And alongside a bowl of guacamole:

Scallops Makiki

I love cookbooks, and have to be careful not to buy too many or else I will have to replace (again) the pantry shelves where I keep them. The present shelves are sturdier than the original, bowed ones, but each time a new cookbook arrives, an old one departs. It’s hard to choose which book should go, and I almost always regret the loss. The best solution is to give the book to a friend.

One cookbook I can’t imagine doing without is MEDITERRANEAN COOKERY by Claudia Roden. I’ve had it many years, and when the spine started cracking, a good friend repaired it for me. Now, despite a few food stains on well-used pages, it’s better than new.

Roden’s recipes are very forgiving of substitutions. One day I was looking for a recipe for scallops, something delicious and easy that our across-the-hall neighbor, who was coming to dinner, would like, and found Roden’s recipe for shrimp Provencal. I adapted the recipe--adding peas; using more brandy and wine; substituting shallots for onion and garlic and scallops for shrimp; and dusting the finished dish with Parmesan cheese. I serve the scallops on top of saffron rice and call them “scallops Makiki.”

1 1/2 to 2 pounds scallops (bay scallops are just the right size, or you can quarter or halve large scallops)

2 to 3 shallots, chopped fine

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

A 28-ounce can of San Marzano or other Italian tomatoes (chopped and including juice)

¾ cup sweet peas, fresh or frozen

3 ounces cognac

¾ cup white wine

Thyme, mild chili powder, salt, and paprika to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese to taste

In a wide skillet, cook the shallots in the olive oil till soft. Holding the peas and scallops aside, put in the other remaining ingredients. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce thickens. Then add the peas and scallops, cook another 3 to 5 minutes until the scallops are cooked through. Serve over saffron rice with a dusting of Parmesan cheese on top.

Here is the finished dish:

Maria's Black Beans

Before moving to Honolulu, my husband and I lived in a small redwood bungalow at the end of a flag lot near Kailua beach. A friend had given us a batch of Latin-music tapes with recordings by Juan Luis Guerra, Alfredo, Gypsy Kings, and Los Flamers. Most days, driving home from my hospital job, I'd play the tapes in the car. The vibrant music--que rico!--whisked me over the Koolau mountains in no time. Once home, I'd take a long mind-clearing walk on the beach and return wet, tired, and hungry. When I'd thought ahead there'd be a container of black beans in the refrigerator or freezer, and with tortillas or rice and a bit of salad, dinner was in hand.

A young nurse named Maria, whose paternal grandmother was from Nicaragua, gave me the recipe for the beans. "You can refry them after they're cooked," she said, "or eat them soupy like I do." I lent Maria the music tapes for a few months--I wish I'd given them to her--and still think of her when I make her grandmother's black beans. The beans are delicious both ways, and they keep well in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer for a month or so.

For a big pot you need 1 pound black beans, 1 whole bunch cilantro, 1 whole peeled onion, 3 to 5 whole peeled garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, water to cover beans by 2 inches, salt, pepper, 1 to 2 tablespoons wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, and 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil.

Rinse the beans and soak overnight (or use the quick-soak method: cover beans with water, bring to a boil, boil 4 minutes, let sit 1 hour), then rinse the beans again and place them in a large pot with fresh water to cover by 2 inches. Add the cilantro, onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Bring the beans to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the beans are soft. Discard the bay leaves. Remove the cilantro, onion, and garlic cloves from the pot, place them in a blender with a cup of the beans, and blend well. Return the mixture to the pot, add salt and pepper to taste, and simmer another 30 minutes or so. Then add the wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and a tablespoon of olive oil. These are the soupy beans that Maria likes.

To refry the beans, put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a deep skillet and fry a chopped onion until translucent. Add chopped garlic, chopped cilantro, minced chili peppers (or dried chili powder), and cumin to taste. Then add the beans with their liquid to the skillet. Roughly mash the beans with a potato masher and cook uncovered (stirring now and then) over moderate heat until most of the water has evaporated and the beans are at a consistency you like.

Here are the ingredients for the beans:

The beans in the pot:

And ready to serve, both refried and soupy, along with tortillas and Spanish rice (plain rice is a good accompaniment too):

Locavore Cake

It was summer, and a crew was painting the outside of our condominium building. The workmen had run steel cables from the ground to the penthouse, and on mornings when the tradewinds let up, honeybees, gray moths, and, once, a dragonfly rested briefly on the cable outside our 34^th floor lanai. About the same time, friends were coming to Saturday lunch. One of them, a free-lance writer, was halfway through an eating-local challenge for a magazine article, and her diet was limited to foods grown in the Hawaiian Islands. What to feed her? Not rice, not bread, not pasta…

I had fresh tomatoes and basil from the farmers’ market, macadamia nut oil, and limes, as well as locally made and sourced yogurt cheese, but I was stumped for something to round out the meal. Then another friend’s recipe for a Middle Eastern cake made with ground almonds, boiled oranges, and eggs came to mind. I substituted mac nuts for the almonds and pineapple for the oranges; used local eggs, sugar, and salt; and topped the cake with fresh papaya, lychee, and banana. So that was our locavore lunch--probably not a perfectly balanced meal, but as close as I could get.

To make the cake, you need 2 cups chopped pineapple, 6 eggs, 1 ½ cups ground macadamia nuts, 1 cup sugar, a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lime (optional), and a tablespoon of macadamia nut oil (optional).

Boil the pineapple in water for 15 minutes, drain, and set aside to cool. After it’s cooled, puree the pineapple in a blender or food processor. Separate the eggs and set aside the whites. Beat the yolks until thick, then add the pureed pineapple, ground macadamia nuts, sugar, salt, and, if using, optional squeeze of lime and macadamia nut oil. Mix well. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold them into the batter. Put the batter into a oiled springform pan lined with oiled parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees Farenheit for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan, leaving the parchment paper on. Let the cake cool on a rack before removing paper. Serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Here are most of the ingredients for the cake:

The cake just out of the pan (it tends to subside a little as it cools):

And with fresh sliced bananas, mangos, and lychees on top: