This Dame Cooks A Collection of Recipes from Alaska to the South Pacific and Caribbean

Pumarosa fruit grows throughout Latin America, Caribbean and South Pacific.  It looks very much like an elongated delicious apple, slightly tart with a delicate rose flavor.  Hence, the name rose apple.  Its also known as a red-skinned pear because the skin and flesh is more like that of a pear.  The flesh is white and there is a small pit inside like an avocado.  

While living in Tonga, I actually made an apple turnover with this fruit that had everyone fooled into believing it was a real apple.  The flesh is actually bland in flavor and the texture is condusive to absorbing whatever spices and seasonings are added. 

My neighbor has a huge tree of pumarosa fruit dropping like mad right now and he was more than happy to part with some.  The plan is to make pastilillos (sweet empanadas) with some guava paste and cream cheese, slice and freeze some for later use, and make a fresh salad for tonight.  Cole slaw with pumarosa fruit  and a sweet/sour dressing will go well with grilled pork chops, burgers, ribs, or chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or 1/2 of a fresh habanero or Scotch Bonnet chili, minced)
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
• 6 strips of smoked bacon, fried crisp and crumbled (reserve 2 Tbsp for garnish)
• 1 small napa cabbage, shredded on a mandolin or with a knife
• 1 small red cabbage, shredded on a mandolin or with a knife
• 2 medium carrots, pealed and shredded
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
• 4 or 5 pumarosa fruit, washed, pitted and julienned (reserve a little of the julienne for garnish)
• 1 green mango, pitted and julienned

Method:

1. In a blender, whirl to combine vinegar, honey, soy sauce, fresh ginger, chili, salt and pepper.
2. Slowly add oil until emulsified.  Taste and adjust as desired.  Set aside until ready to serve.
3. In a large bowl toss remaining ingredients.  When ready to serve toss with dressing and garnish with reserved bacon and pumarosa fruit.

A chutney with its sweet and sour components really rounds out a meat or fish dish.  This recipe, Jamaican in origin, which I’ve used for years, utilizes unripened mangoes to perfection, especially those little native mangoes that tend to have stringy flesh.  I sold a lot of this condiment under the brand name of Island Gourmet while living in Nuku’alofa, Tonga.  When you have a mango tree right outside your back door heavily laden with fruit every year you can find plenty of ways to use the bounty and even make a buck or two.   Even if you don’t have your own mango tree you’ll love this preserve enough to hunt for green mangoes at your supermarket, Asian or Latin markets.  Its a great accompaniment to grilled fish steaks, fish fritters, pork roast, baked ham, lamb kebabs, or West Indies Meat Patties.  Make a batch for gourmet hostess gifts and share the recipe. 

You’ll need very firm green (unripe) mangoes for this condiment so they don’t break down in the cooking process and retain some texture and sour fruity flavor.  Chilies are a must and the hotter the better to balance out the sweetness.  Bell peppers, onions and garlic lend more texture and flavor.   Green papaya, peaches, pears or apples can be used in place of mango.   Yellow or green tomatoes can be substituted for ripe tomatoes.  Add some tamarind or lime juice to mellow out the vinegar flavor.  Get creative and make it your own! 

Ingredients:

• 6 cups green mango diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 cups fine chopped onion
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 6 Scotch Bonnet chilies, seeded and chopped (or habaneros)
• 4 bell peppers (2 red, 2 green), seeded and chopped
• 2 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 cup golden raisins (sultanas) (optional)
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2-1/2 cups granulated sugar

Method:

1. Place all ingredients except sugar in a stainless steel or porcelain stock pot over medium high heat.
2. Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add sugar, uncover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces.  Stir more frequently towards the end of the 45 minutes until very thick.   Take care not to burn bottom.
4. Sterilize 4 pint jars and lids.  Fill to within 1/2 inch of rim, cap, and process in boiling water bath for 12 minutes.
5. Store in cool, dark pantry.  Refrigerate once opened. 

In 1986 I moved from Alaska to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to get warm, write and finish my degree in Math.  The summer before classes started I went to work as a free-lance charter cook aboard some beautiful yachts sailing around the British and American West Indies.  There was a food truck just across the street from the Ramada Yacht Haven Marina from where we sailed with 4 to 8 charter guests about every week or 10 days.  The West Indian cook who owned this food truck made these delicious savory fried patties every day except Sundays and if you didn’t get there before 1 p.m. you’d miss out on her patties.   She made meat patties and salt-cod fish patties, goat water soup, Callaloo, fried snapper in coconut milk with fungi (a cornmeal and okra dumpling) and stewed oxtail with green bananas. 

West Indies Patties are a version of Spanish empanadas or Cornish meat pies.  They’re popular street food throughout the Caribbean islands and every island has their own version.  St. Thomas’ version of patties combines spicy hot Scotch Bonnet chilies in a picadillo with just a hint of allspice, a local spice berry indigenous to the Caribbean.  The patties are not juicy but they are moist inside with a short crust envelope, fried to perfection, so the dough is not greasy or leathery but rather flaky and heavenly crisp on the perimeter.  You can’t eat just one, I guarantee.

Goya Discos can be used for this recipe in lieu of homemade dough and you can find them at Walmart and Latin markets. They come 10 to a 14-ounce package.  The other option is to use Pillsbury pie crusts from the dairy section of your supermarket and one double crust package will make 6 (5-inch) patties.  The recipe below can be used for empanadas also and will yield about 20 (3-inch) empanadas for baking.  Serve with mango chutney, papaya chutney or pineapple red pepper chutney.

Ingredients for meat filling:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil or bacon drippings
• 1 pound lean hamburger
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped fine
• 2-3 Scotch Bonnet chilies or habanero chilies, seeded, veined, and chopped fine
• 1 small can diced Roma tomatoes in sauce, or 2 large ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and diced
• 1 tsp thyme or 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 1 cup water

Method to prepare filling:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add hamburger and fry until crumbly and brown.  Remove meat and keep warm.
2. Saute onions, garlic, chilies, and bell peppers until translucent and just starting to brown.
3. Add tomatoes, herbs and spices.  Stir to combine.
4. Add back the cooked meat.  Stir and add water.  Bring to a boil.
5. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until nearly all liquid evaporates.  (You want this to be moist but not soupy.)
6. Let cool until ready to assemble patties.  May be made a day in advance.

Ingredients for patty dough:

• 3 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp. shortening (chilled)
• 1 egg (well beaten)
• 3/4 cup ice water
• Vegetable oil for frying

Method to prepare patty dough:

1. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Cut shortening into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter.
3. Whisk the egg and water together well. 
4. Add liquid mixture to flour and toss using a fork until flour is moistened and can be formed into a ball.  Do not over handle the dough.
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, wrap with plastic and chill for 20 minutes.
6. Sprinkle counter top and rolling pin with flour.  Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut out 5-inch circles.  A saucer works well for this.  

Assembly:

1. Place 2 Tbsp of filling on each pastry disc slightly off center. 
2. Fold pastry in half over filling.  Crimp the edges with a fork dipped in flour.
3. At this point you may freeze patties on a baking sheet and place in a bag in freezer for up to 3 months.  To cook, thaw and bake or fry as directed here.
4. If baking patties, preheat oven to 400° F.  and bake for 15-20 minutes. 
5. If frying, in a large skillet pour 1-1/2 inches of oil and heat to 375° F.  Slide 2 or 3 patties into the hot oil and cook until first side is golden brown.  Turn and cook until brown on second side.
6. Remove patties to paper towels or brown bags to drain.  Serve hot.

Lemon sorbet is a refreshing treat for a hot summer day.  Made with a little lemon liqueur it’s even better and easier to scoop.  Limoncello is made all over Italy and there are as many recipes for this elegant liqueur as there are groves of lemon trees.  The liqueur may be served chilled as a digestive after the meal or mixed in a cocktail.  It really makes a Dacquiri sparkle.  Barbequed chicken and fish dishes with limoncello are to die for. 

Limoncello is available in most liquor stores but the best is homemade.  Its very simple to make.  The video below by Chow demonstrates how to remove the zest.  Bottles are are available at IKEA and home-brew supply shops…or re-use clear-glass alcohol bottles.  Give this a try and make enough for hostess gifts while you’re at it.  Everyone will love it.

Lemon Sorbet with Limoncello 

• Remove the zest from 5 lemons (a potato peeler works well for this)
• Juice the lemons (you’ll need 2/3 cup of lemon juice)
• In a blender (or food processor) chop the zest with 1 cup of sugar. 
• Add 1 cup hot water and whirl 10 seconds. 
• Add 3 cups of cold water and the juice, whirl another 10 seconds. 
• Add 1/4 cup of homemade limoncello (recipe below)
• Chill thoroughly.
• Freeze in ice-cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.
• Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Let ripened at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before scooping.

Limoncello

• Scrub 5 large lemons under hot water to remove any wax
• Remove zest of lemons with a potato peeler (you do not want any pith, just the yellow skin)
• Place zest in a clean glass jar with a lid.
• Add 1 bottle of Everclear grain alcohol (98% alcohol) and cover with lid.
• Let set in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks.  Shake jar every 2 or 3 days.
• Dissolve 2 cups of sugar in 4 cups of boiling water.  Let cool completely.
• Strain lemon/alcohol through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.
• Add sugar water to bowl and mix.
• Pour into bottles.

The latest box office hit Eat, Pray, Love is a keeper.   The book was a good read with lots of food for thought, yearnings of adventure, rejuvenation of spirit, and an education in discipline plus a lot of self-indulgence.  Sounds like life on a grand scale only few of us will ever know or have known.  No matter what age you are,  travel makes us more tolerant, opens our minds and hearts to celebrate our differences and commonalities.  Food, music, beauty are the equalizers.  Every place on this planet offers up a book of experiences through all our senses.   Those experiences change us…eventually.