Breakfast on Ice: a Survey of Fruits (Part 2)

Here's yet another update on some rather unusual fruits that one can find in Honolulu farmers' markets (and specifically, the Kapiolani Community College Farmers' Market just north of Diamond Head, where I encountered a phenomenal fruit stand specializing in unusual specimens from Asia, Central America, and God knows where else).  Anyhow, the question remains: how do these specimens fare in fruit smoothies?  Well, I'm glad you asked...

Canistel

The canistel is one of the oddest culinary specimens I've run across in local markets to date.  Yet another Mesoamerican specimen, the canistel has a flavor (and a texture) eerily similar to that of pumpkin, only sweeter.  However, its flesh is creamier than a baked pumpkin's, and perhaps the overall experience of eating a canistel is roughly a midpoint between eating pumpkin and eating pumpkin pie.  So yes... they're a bit starchy, and a canistel smoothie can be pretty filling, but it can also be practically ambrosial if done correctly (with a little brown sugar added).  So starnge, yes, but the canistel was one of the most pleasurable produce discoveries for me in many months.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up!  

Mamey Sapote

Similar to the chiku in texture (creamy), flavor (custard-like with chocolate overtones), and provenance (Mexico and Central America) but larger, the mamey sapote is a fruit I learned to love during repeated sojourns in Mexico city, but have seldom if ever encountered since.  However, upon seeing them for sale at this last weekend's KCC farmers' market, I knew I couldn't pass up the chance to conver them into liquid breakfast — and the result surpassed even my high expectations.

Mamey Apple 

The mamey apple takes a while to ripen, but when it finally does, it provides a bright flavor halfway between that of an apricot and that of a nectarine, but with a little bit of extra ascorbic acid flavor.  Not bad in a fruit smoothie (especially when lehua honey is added), but not quite strong enough that I'd recommend this method of consumption over simply cutting pieces off with a knife and eating them. 

So once again, that's it for this week's roundup.  Stay tuned for further updates as a new set of autumnal fruits begin appearing at a stand near you (or at least near me).

Soy-Custard Flan Tarts [GF]

With a plethora of eggs in my possession and an invitation to a garden party imminent, I finally had a perfect opportunity to attempt the soy-milk-based custard imitation I had long been hoping to turn into a flan-like reality.  As the guests at said garden party would certainly attest, the tiny pies which resulted from this experiment are yet another testament to the ability of soy milk to serve as a magnificent substitute for actual cow's milk in situations in which it really has no right to do so.  Indeed, while the consistency of the filling is admittedly more flan-like than creamy, this is actually an asset in terms of longevity: these tarts retain their consistency and flavor after refrigeration for a few days (or perhaps longer, but it's difficult to refrain from consume them for any longer duration).   

The recipe given here yields enough crust and custard for four tarts.  These can be flavored in the same manner if you prefer, or you can easily flavor the portion of custard that is to become into each tart independently.  Some suggestions for combinations of flavorings and icings/toppings for the tarts are provided below, although I'm sure you can imagine plenty of other possibilities which would be just as tasty of better.   

For the pie crust:

• 1½ cups white rice flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup vegan butter substitute
• 4 Tbsp. water

For the custard:

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 cups vanilla soy milk
• 1½ Tbsp. flavored liquer or ½ tsp. flavor extract

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 425°.   Mix the dry ingredients, cut the butter substitute into the mixture, and form the resulting mixture into crusts in four tart pans.  Bake the crusts for 10 minutes at 425°, remove from the oven, and allow them to cool to nearly room temperature.  Immediately upon removing the crusts from the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°.

To make the custard, place the eggs, sugar, salt, and soy milk into a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat well with a wire whisk.  If your goal is to flavor the whole quartet of tarts in an identical manner, stir in the liqueur or flavor extract and partition the mixture into the crusts.  However, if your goal is to flavor each tart differently, you can also divide the custard mixture into four equal parts (each of which turns out to contain almost precisely 1 cup) and flavor each with a different extract or liqueur.  Once the temperature of the oven has decreased to around 350°, place the tarts on a rack in the center of the oven and bake for 35-45 min. until the custard has set into a flan-like consistency.

Remove the tarts from the oven and place them on a rack or trivet on a countertop to cool.  Once they've cooled to slightly above room temperature, cover them with icing, jam, fruit, or whatever else you choose.  Ideally, these tarts should be served within about 30 minutes of preparation, if the goal is to serve them warm (they don't stand up terribly well to reheating).  However, if the goal is to serve them cold (which, given the similarity to flan, is actually a very good idea), they retain their initial consistency quite well even after refrigeration.

Some of the topping and flavor-infusion combinations which I've either tried and deemed successful, or else which am sure would work brilliantly if I had had the ingredients on hand when I'd had the inclination to make a batch of these tarts, are listed below.

Chocolate-peanut-butter icing:

• ½ cup roasted peanuts
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• ¼ tsp. almond, hazelnut, or vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup water

Place the peanuts in a food processor in process until the mass clumps and has the consistency of peanut butter (this may take several minutes).  Add all additional ingredients excepts for the water and process again.  Add the water incrementally while processing until the icing has a creamy consistency.  After spreading the icing on top of the tart, garnish with chopped medjool dates.  This icing is complemented well by infusing the flan with hazelnut liqueur, almond extract, or coffee liqueur.

Blackberry icing:

• ¼ cup fresh blackberries
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• ⅛ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. corn starch
• 1 pinch nutmeg

In a small saucepan, heat the blackberries on low heat with the water and mash them into bits with a fork.  Add the salt, sugar, and nutmeg and stir the mixture.  While stirring, sprinkle the corn starch into the mixture and continue to stir until its viscosity perceptibly increases.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before spreading over the custard.  This icing is complemented well by infusing the flan with blackberry liqueur.  Variants of this recipe are easy to imagine in which blackberries are replaced by raspberries, peaches, strawberries, mangoes, etc.

Gnocchi Florentine with Tomato-Basil Sauce [GF]

Rice flour may be a fit substitute for what flour in many foodstuffs, but as much as one might want to convince oneself otherwise, Italian pasta is not one of them.  Indeed, those familiar with the foibles of commercial rice pasta know that to achieve that sought-after al dente texture requires monitoring the noodles like one would a nuclear reactor, awaiting that sixty-second window within which, if promptly rescued, it will best approximate the desired texture.  Withdrawn from the pot a moment too soon, they're wooden dowels; withdrawn a moment too late, a limp mush whose most appealing attribute is that it imparts to the water enough flavor that it can be converted, without too much ado, into a batch of consolation horchata.  However, fortunately for the gluten-free gourmet, rice flour suffices far better as a wheat-flour substitute in many other Italian dishes.  Pizza is one such delicacy, and, thanks to the high potato content, gnocchi are another.

The gnocchi recipe which appears below is extremely adaptable, and while this specific version is far from vegan, it can be easily be made so by a substitution of pine nuts for chicken bits and the use of some sort of egg substitute to hold the dumplings together.  Others who favor consuming the flesh of beasts may find ground beef or minced bacon pieces to their liking.  In any incarnation (and so seldom do I get such mileage out of that Latin root), it's a fine repast: pleasing to the eye, nutrient-rich (thanks primarily to the spinach), and quite filling.   

Sauce:

• 1½ cups fresh basil leaves
• 4 small vine-ripened or roma tomatoes, quartered
• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• ⅛ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1 large bunch fresh spinach
• 2-3 Tbsp. finely minced roast chicken meat, finely minced

Gnocchi:

•  1¾ cups white rice flour
• 5 medium-sized russet potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. dry basil
• 2 tsp. dry oregano

To prepare the gnocchi, set a pot of water on to boil.  Prepare another pot as an ice bath by filling it a third of the way full with ice and then filling the rest of it with cold water.  Peel the potatoes, chop each in half, and boil them for 30 min. or so, until they're soft.  Once they are, immediately remove them from heat and while they're still warm, dump thim into a food processor, add 1 cup of rice flour, the salt, and the egg, and process until a smooth dough forms.  Transfer the dough from the food processor to a mixing bowl, add the spices, and stir in the remaining rice flour incrementally until the dough forms a ball solid enough to stick together in reasonably solid clumps.  Using a metal soup spoon or similar utensil, scoop up a dumpling-sized wad of dough and scrape it off the spoon into the pot of boiling water with a butter knife.  Continue to do this with the remaining dough, in batches about 8-10 dumplings at a time.  As soon as each dumpling floats to the surface of the water (a minue or two after immersion), remove it with a small strainer and transfer it to the ice bath.  After 2-3 minutes in the cold water, transfer it to a plate to dry off.           

To prepare the sauce, begin by  placing the tomatoes, basil, spices, vinegar, and oil in a blender and puree until smooth.  Set the spinach simmering in a small amount of water on low to medium heat.  When it has softened, add the chicken pieces and continue to cook for 5 minutes or so.  Add the tomato-basil puree to the pot and cook for five more minutes or until the mixture is reasonably hot.

To serve, place the gnocchi in bowls and ladle a generous portion of the sauce over each set of dumplings.