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

I’m no newbie when it comes to processing guavas…check out my page The Tongan Experience.  But I’ve got to tell you Puerto Rican guavas are the bomb in size compared to South Pacific guavas.  It takes a lot less Puerto Rican guavas (guayaba) to make jam than the South Pacific variety.

California, Mexico, Florida and the Virgin Islands grow and distribute guavas.  You’ll find them in better supermarkets during the fall.  Be sure to buy them with yellow to light green skins and slightly tender to the touch.  Cut the yellowest one open to see if the flesh is pink.  Take a small bite, avoiding the seeds, and see if its sweet.  If  it is then allow the greener ones to ripen in a bowl or basket until they are yellow.  Remember, as with every other fruit, if it was picked too early, it will never ripen sweetly.

Measuring 2-1/2 to 3-inches in diameter with pretty pink flesh guayabas grande (big guavas in Puerto Rican Spanish) are amazingly delicious raw but the tiny little seeds will cause serious dental emergencies.  The seeds are so hard you can break teeth biting into them.  The pulpy juice or nectar is easy to extract, using a juicer, food mill or fine=meshed sieve.  The juice is used throughout the Caribbean for rum punches, sauces, glazes and other delights.  Guava paste, the cooked version, makes delicate pastilitos…little pillows of puff pastry filled with cream cheese and ruby red guava paste.  The skins are soft with a slight tartness and can be preserved in sugar syrup…wonderful filled with ice-cream or sorbets.

Guavas are acidic (5.5) so with just a tablespoon of lime juice added to the pulp the jam is perfect for water-bath canning .  They’re also very sweet so you need only 3/4 cup of sugar per cup of pulp.  Sugar free pectin also works well with ripe guavas.  For best results always cook small batches yielding 2 to 4 cups of jam.

Never one to waste I cannot chuck the skins of these beautiful guavas so I decided to add them to the pulp and spice it up with a little star anise.  The result was exceptional – a jam with a bit of texture, not too sweet and Asian in tone.  Can’t wait to glaze a chicken or ribs with this but first I’m having scones and jam.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh ripe guavas (2 cups of pulp)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar for every cup of pulp (1-1/2 cups sugar for 2 cups pulp)
• juice of 1/2 fresh lime (1 Tbsp)
• 2 or 3 star anise pods
• 1 pouch Certo Liquid pectin

Method:

1. Wash jars in hot soapy water, rinse well and keep jars warm until ready to fill.
2. Fill a stock pot with water and bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer until ready to water-bath jars.
3. Wash guavas thoroughly.  Remove pink flesh from skins.  Slice off blossom end and stem end of skins. Dice and set aside.
4.  In a heavy-bottomed sauce place guava flesh and enough water to barely cover.  Bring to a boil and cook until soft and easy to mash.
5. Pour cooked guava and juice into a foodmill or push through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds.  This is the pulp to be measured.
6. Return pulp to pan, add diced skin, sugar, star anise and lime juice.   Stirring constantly to dissolve sugar, bring to a full-roiling boil (a boil that cannot be stirred down.   The skin should be tender enough to mash at this point, if not continue to boil for 1 minute more.
7. Remove from heat and stir in Certo liquid pectin.  Return to high heat for 30 seconds.  Remove star anise pods.
8. Drain warm jars, fill to within 1/4-inch of rim, wipe rims and seal.  Bring water-bath to a full boil.  Water should be 1-inch or more above jars.  Process jars for 10 minutes.  Remove jars to a draft-free area and cool.  Store in a cool, dark, damp-free pantry.  Refrigerate once opened.

For more  tropical jam recipes  check out Preserves & Condiments under Recipe Categories.

Start with slider size pieces of homemade rosemary focaccia.  Slice the pieces open horizontally and drizzle with a little olive oil infused with garlic. Toast them, cut side down, on a medium hot griddle until golden.  Slather some homemade mayonnaise on both sides (video by Food Wishes below) and top one side with a juicy hamburger seasoned with Adobo and fresh ground black pepper.  Top the other side of the focaccia with sliced avocado, sliced scallion bulbs and Vinegar Peppers.

Add tomato and lettuce if you desire but its perfect just the way it is.  You can’t beat the balance of savory meat on herbaceous bread with a little crunch from the scallions, creaminess from the avocado and mayo, and tartness from the Vinegar peppers.

The original recipe for this bread is from No-Knead Bread Blog.  I’ve baked about 9 loaves now and have tweaked the recipe to yield a slightly crispy yet tender crust with a tender crumb that slices beautifully when cooled.  Any bread hot from the oven and slathered with butter is a treat and this one is no exception.  The potato flakes really raise the bar on tenderness and flavor.  Do give this recipe a try.  It’s a keeper!

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups tepid water
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp yeast
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup instant potato flakes (1 cup mashed boiled potatoes)

Method:

Pour water into a 2 quart casserole (oven-proof with a cover) or non-stick stock pot. Add yeast and let bloom.

Add salt, flour and potato flakes.  Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. The dough will look rough.  Cover and let proof 10-13 hours or at least overnight.

Stir down dough with a wooden spoon and pour into a lightly greased 5″X9″ loaf pan.

Let rise until double or slightly above the rim of the pan. Dust with a bit of flour.

Bake in a preheated 350° F. oven for 50 minutes or until internal temperature is 200° F.

Remove from pan to cooling rack.

Thank you Chef John of Food Wishes blogspot.com

I was surfing the web for oatmeal pancakes yesterday and found a keeper recipe at Smitten Kitchen that uses homemade oat flour…what a revelation.  Deb always has great recipes with DIY tips in her witty blogs.   So this recipe for Oatmeal Bread is inspired by made-from-scratch oatmeal pancakes.

I love to bake bread but I hate to knead dough so my food processor really gets a workout…it does such a good job of kneading in half the time.  I’m sure you can find oat flour at better grocery stores and probably pay plenty for it.  Its like buying almond flour versus making your own from blanched almonds.  Your food processor will do the job for a lot less and the results are pretty comparable to store bought.  All that is required is Quick Cooking Oats, not Instant Oatmeal.  Whirl them in your food processor until they’re the consistency desired…not too fine but not too course.  Of-course, if you want a finer texture you can always use a coffee grinder.  If you don’t like the results, you can always make oatmeal pancakes or an oatmeal bath balm.

This bread is healthy with plenty of fibre from the whole wheat and oat flours plus its moist with a tender crumb and nutty flavor.  It toasts beautifully and makes a tasty pallet for hot or cold sandwiches.  Think roast beef and mustard…with a beer!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
• 1 Tbsp raw sugar or honey
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp oil or melted butter
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup cold milk

Method for Food Processor:

1. Place oats in a food processor bowl and whirl on high for 2 minutes.  You now have 3/4 cups of oat flour.
2. Add whole wheat and all-purpose flours, yeast, sugar and salt.  Whirl to combine.
3. Mix hot water and cold milk together and add the oil.
4. With processor running on medium, pour liquids into feed tube.  Whirl until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the processor bowl.  Turn speed up to high and whirl for 4 to 5 minutes to knead the dough.  It should be slightly tacky, smooth and soft.  If needed, add more water or flour, one tablespoon at a time.
5. Turn dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double, about 1 hour.  It’s very warm (84° F.) and humid in my Puerto Rican kitchen so bread rises quickly.  It might take 1-1/2 hours in cooler, dryer climates.
6. Punch down dough, let rest 10 mintues.  Form into a loaf and place in a greased 5 X 9 inch loaf pan.  Cover with a plastic bag inflated with plenty of air so the plastic doesn’t touch the dough.  Let rise 40 minutes or until dough is 1 inch or more above pan rim.
7. Half way through the rising preheat the oven to 375° F.
8. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with 1 Tbsp oats and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Turn out bread onto a cooling rack.  Tap the bottom of the loaf with your knuckle…if it sounds hollow the loaf is fully cooked…if not, return to oven, bottom side up, and cook 5-10 minutes more.  Alternately, check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer, it should read 190° F.