Guavas have just come into season and their bitter sweet skins will go into the jam pot along with some ripe mango. Guava skins are 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick and tasty when stewed in a light syrup.  Guava puree and strawberries with a kiss of rosemary is my next jam creation.  More about guava in a coming up post.

Be sure to drop by again for more recipes with fresh local produce from Rincon, Puerto Rico. 

• 1 ripe avocado, chopped
• 1 Tbsp jalapeño peppers, chopped
• 1 scallion, sliced thinly
• 8 black olives, chopped
• 1 heaping Tbsp picante salsa
• 1/4 salt-pickled lime (2 tsp lime juice plus salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together just until combined.  Try to leave some chunky texture.

One of the advantages to this recipe is its replenishable without having to add more chilies or start from scratch again…at least a couple times…all that is needed to fill up the bottle again is more brine and time.

Any size glass bottle or jar will work depending upon how many chilies you have.  If a gallon jar is used, strain the sauce through a fine-mesh and fill smaller bottles for table use.  If you can’t find fresh pequin chilies in local markets, there are dried pequin chilies available in most Latin markets or check out chilepequin.com for seeds and all the instructions to grow your own pequins.  They also have several good salsa recipes.

Use this sauce like Tabasco.  It adds a little sparkle to just about any savory dish.

Ingredients for 1 pint bottle:

• 2/3 cup fresh pequin chilies, red and green, stems removed
• 3 sprigs of fresh oregano
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed slightly
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp sea salt
• enough white vinegar to fill bottle

Method:

1. Sterilize a pint bottle in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Drain.
2. While still hot, add chilies, oregano, garlic and lime juice to the bottle.  With a wooden spoon handle, crush the chilies slightly.
3. To make the brine:  In a small saucepan heat the water, sea salt, and vinegar to simmering.  Stir to dissolve salt.
4. Pour brine over chilies.  Cap or seal.  Let set for 7 days.  Refrigerate.

Notes:

1. For large batches, water-bath all bottles in boiling water for 15 minutes.  Water level must be 1-inch above bottle tops.  Remove from bath to draft-free area to cool.  Check that tops are sealed and store in cool, dark pantry for 1 year or longer.  Refrigerate after opening.
2. When sauce loses piquancy its time to start another batch or open another bottle.  When a bottle runs low on sauce but the chilies are still pleasantly piquant, just add more brine.

Tomato pulp with milk powder makes a wonderful facial mask that will actually help heal acne and defoliate skin.  Idea of Beauty claims vitamin C and potassium found in tomatoes help heal the skin.  We know the vitamins and minerals in tomatoes are internally good for our bodies so if you’d rather absorb  those nutrients in a pampered facial mask than eat them, so be it.  Certainly anything good to eat will not harm your skin unless you’re allergic to it.

There are dozens of varieties of tomatoes.  Beef steak tomatoes are good for salads, sandwiches, salsas, and stuffed with chicken salad, tuna salad, herbed cottage cheese, tabbouleh or couscous.

Roma tomatoes are more fleshy and make excellent Italian sauces, canned whole tomatoes, or dried tomatoes.  Even the sauce can be dehydrated for tomato paste.

Cherry tomatoes and salad tomatoes on the vine are wonderful roasted and preserved with olive oil for antipasto, meze plates, and everything in between.

There has got to be at least one new dish created everyday that uses tomatoes.  Try a few of the recipes given here.  Add your own herbs and spices, make them your own.  And while tomatoes are at their peak, preserve some for winter.

Homemade V-8 Juice:

• 2 lb tomatoes, washed, cored, and chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, washed and chopped with leaves
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 small red beet, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, washed, seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
•  2 tsp of Old Bay Spice
• 1 Tbsp horseradish

Method:

1. In a stainless steel pan, cook vegetables about 20 minutes or until they are tender.
2. Puree in a food processor.
3. Add sea salt and sugar to taste.  Chill.
4. Follow the method for Canned Tomato Juice for larger quantities.

Here are a few ways to preserve them:

1. Frozen Tomatoes:  Wash and core, place in freezer bags whole and freeze.  They thaw out in a flash and are excellent in bolognese sauce and stews or soups.
2. Canned Tomato Juice:  Wash, core, quarter and cook (without added water) over medium heat in a stainless steel pan just until tender and juicy.  Run through a food mill or press through a fine mesh sieve (chinoise) to remove skins and seeds.  Add salt to taste and 1/2 tsp of citric acid to sterilized jars.  Pour tomato juice into hot jars up to 1/2 inch from the rims, seal and process in a pressure cooker for 35 minutes.  (see video below)
3. Canned Whole or Diced Tomatoes:  Wash and core tomatoes, slice an X into bottom of each tomato, dip into boiling water for 2 minutes then remove the skins.  Pack whole tomatoes or diced tomatoes into sterilized jars with salt to taste and 1/2 tsp citric acid.  Pour hot tomato juice into jar up to 1/2 inch from rim of jar, seal, and process in pressure cooker for 35 minutes.
4. Dried Tomatoes:  Use Roma or cherry tomatoes.  Wash and slice in half.  Place on trays in an electric dehydrator and dry per manufacturer’s instructions.  Or, place on racks over cookie sheets and dry in a 250° F. oven, turning ocassionally, until tomatoes are leathery.  Place dried tomatoes in sterile jars and store in a cool, dark pantry.  Or, add basil leaves, garlic, salt, and pour in hot olive oil up to 1/2 inch from the rims.  Seal immediately and place in a cool, dark  pantry for 1 week before using.  Refrigerate, after opening, up to 6 weeks.
5. Tomato Paste:  Use Roma or beef stake tomatoes.  Dry the tomatoes in a dehydrator until they are crisp (see video below), grind to a powder in a food processor or coffee mill and reconstitute with just enough water to make a paste.  To make a sauce, add a bit more water to the paste along with herbs, spices (salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, cloves etc.), onions, garlic, or mushrooms.
6. Tomato Caper Tapenade:  3/4 cup of dried tomatoes in oil, 1/4 cup drained capers, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves.  Process all ingredients until smooth.  Spoon into an 8 oz hot-sterilized- jar, top with 1/4 cup hot olive oil, seal immediately.  Refrigerate, after opening, up to 6 weeks.

Dehydrating tomatoes video

Canning tomatoes video

In Puerto Rico, fried potato balls can be found in every snack bar and most food trucks dotting the major highways from the Western side of the island to San Juan on the Eastern side.  Sometimes the potato balls are stuffed with a picadillo which is a savory meat sauce similar to taco meat.  Fried balls are also made from yuka (cassava) and yautia (taro).  They’re light and fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and about the size of a golf ball. Most of the time they’re served with a sauce of mayonaise and ketchup.  Though they’re tasty in their own right, they’re just a little bland for my palate so I’ve tweaked the general recipe to give the balls a bit more flavor using Puerto Rican sofrito.

Frozen green breadfruit is available in Asian and Latin markets.  Be sure to check out my sofrito recipe or you can find a number of sofritoes at Whole Foods or Latin markets in your area.  If you can’t find breadfruit by all means use Yukon Gold potatoes for best results.

This recipe makes 24 balls for hors d’oeuvres the size of cherry tomatoes.  The sauce is made of equal amounts of low fat yogurt, mayonnaise, and  1 Tbsp. capers which provides a bit of tang, saltiness and cool creamy texture.  Picante salsa or guacamole sauce will work too.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb breadfruit (fresh or frozen) or Yukon Gold potatoes
• 5 Tbsp sofrito with culantro and cilantro
• minced chili of choice (Serrano, jalapeno or hotter) to taste
• 1 Tbsp achiote oil (annatto seeds warmed in olive oil)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Cover breadfruit or potatoes with water, add 1 Tbsp salt, boil until fork tender. Drain and return to pot to dry and cool a bit.
2. Saute sofrito and chili if using in the achiote oil.
3. Mash breadfruit or potatoes with vegetable oil, salt and pepper until smooth.  Add sauteed sofrito and mix until mash can be formed into a ball of dough.
4. Roll mashed dough into balls the size desired.  Roll in flour and again in your hands to remove excess flour.
5. Chill balls thoroughly, about 20 minutes in the freezer.
6. In a small sauce pan, heat 2-inches of oil to 350 degrees or until the surface of the oil looks wavy.  Fry balls 4 or 5 at a time turning them so they brown all over.
7. Remove fried balls to drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and serve warm with sauce.