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Fusion

Cooking Show Video

Summer Rolls are really easy to make once you get the hang of working with the rice paper wrappers. We gather a bunch of colorful vegetables and cut them to be about the same size. We then add some fresh Dungeness crab tossed with ginger, serrano chile, and some cilantro to the mix, before topping them with crunchy cashews. The result is a light and healthy, yet filling dinner that is fun for everyone. You can play around with what is fresh at the market and add it to your Rolls. Make them with our Peach Dipping Sauce for another local Summer twist.

Blog entry

Caipirinhas are the Brazilian national cocktail, and are made by crushing limes with sugar, and then mixing them with cachaca, a liquor derived from sugar cane.  I crave them every once in a while, both because of my frightening addiction to highly acidic foods, as well as their refreshing nature.  The other day I thought I would make a sour cherry version, with early Summer's fleeting tart fruit.  I have a very captive audience these days, since my grandparents are visiting, and they have long enjoyed being KC guinea pigs.  There is nothing complicated about the recipe.  I just followed our basic Caipirinha Cocktail http://www.kitchencaravan.com/segment/caipirinha-101, and after crushing the limes with the sugar, I added a few pitted sour cherries, and crushed them slightly.  At the end, I garnished the cocktail with a cherry as well.  The result is a beautiful cocktail with fuschia traces, that leaves you with some sweet and sour cherries at the end.  Enjoy!

Recipe

Per Sandwich: 

2 slices of bread: whole wheat for something grainy or soft focaccia for something rich 

1 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)

1 tablespoon tahini paste

1 pickled egg, thinly sliced 

2 slices tomato

A few mint sprigs

Optional: feta cheese 

Toast the bread.  Spread one piece of bread with the tahini, layer on the pickled egg slices, tomato, and top with the mint.  Add the cheese, if you are using. 

Spread the olive oil over the other slice of bread, and cover.  

 

This recipe is simple and delicious. The trick is to combine contrasting flavors and textures that come together in an exciting, yet unified way. Creamy, nutty tahini is picked up by the pickled eggs, and then highlighted by mint and fresh tomatoes. Choose a good quality, soft bread for this.
November 1, 2010   |   2 comments
Tags: Fusion, Healthy, Sandwiches
Recipe

 Freekeh is wheat that is harvested when it is still young and full of protein. The wheat is roasted and has a slightly nutty flavor and chewy texture. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and is full of fiber. This dish is an easy dinner for 2 any night of the week.

2 chicken legs, skin on

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 scallions, tips trimmed

1 clove garlic, peeled

½ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro

1 poblano pepper, roasted, peeled, and seeds removed

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon coriander

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 ounce apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or white wine

1 cup freekeh, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes

1 ½ cups chicken broth, at a light simmer

Optional garnishes: 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts and/ or fresh cilantro

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside.
Roughly chop the scallions, garlic, cilantro, and poblano. Transfer to a mini blender and start to blend. Pour in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and blend to a smooth paste, along with the spices.

Heat up a medium sized pot with the remaining tablespoon olive oil and sear the chicken legs, skin side down first, about 5 minutes. When they are nice and brown, turn them over and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Drain off any excess oil and add the liquid to deglaze the pan. Rapidly scrape up any protein bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the freekeh and stir. Once the liquid has evaporated from the rice (1-2 minutes), add the herb paste and stir well. Cook for a few more minutes, then nestle the chicken pieces in the freekeh, and pour in the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook until the broth has been absorbed and the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes.

Serves 2.

Recipe

This salad is called the Gypsy salad because it is a melange of flavors, textures and ideas from around the world.  Blood orange, arugula, and fennel from Europe mix with jalapeno and avocado from Mexico.  Cumin, mint, and dates from the Middle East come into play as well.  Many of these ingredients, like dates, have traveled from their origin, and are now part of new cultures.  It is like us, a gypsy that never stops traveling.  The measurements are not exact, we trust that you add how much you want of each ingredient, and enjoy the journey that it takes you on.

 

Ingredients

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and outer layer removed (if bruised)

1 handful of baby arugula

1 handful of dates, pitted and sliced in quarters

a few kalamata or Moroccan black olives, pitted and sliced

1/4 of a jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 avocado, halved and pitted

1 sprig of mint

Small handful of parsley

a handful of fresh walnuts, roughly chopped

2 blood oranges (you can substitute regular oranges or cara caras here also)

1 lime (kaffir limes welcome!)

1-2 Tablespoons sherry or rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of cumin and salt

 

Slice the fennel in half lengthwise, and then thinly slice each half horizontally.  Transfer to a bowl and combine with the arugula.

Add the sliced dates and olives. 

Thinly slice the jalapeno.  If you are sensitive to heat, finely mince it, but if you like more of a bite, slice it in small horizontal strips.  You only need a 1/4 of the pepper or so.

Roughly chop or tear the herbs and add to the bowl. 

Keep the avocado meat in the skin and score with a knife in long vertical slices.  Use a spoon to get under the meat and scoop out the slices over the salad bowl. 

For the dressing, zest the oranges and the limes with a zester or microplane over the salad bowl.  You will only need a little bit of the lime zest and about 1/2 of one of the orange's zest.  Slice off the top and bottom of the oranges, removing the skin and pith.  Next place the oranges, one at a time, on the cutting board and slice off the skin and pith (without going to deep!) to reveal each segment.  Working over another small bowl, slice out each orange segment carefully, allowing the juices to fall into the small bowl, and then add the segments to the larger salad bowl.  When you have finished slicing the oranges, squeeze out any excess juice into the small bowl.  Juice the lime into the bowl as well.  Stir in the cumin, vinegar, and olive oil and whisk to combine (you can just do this with a fork). 

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. 

Add the crumbled walnuts. 

Serves 2. 

This salad works as an appetizer, but it also goes beautifully on top of grilled fish like tuna or mahi mahi, or atop a grilled chicken breast. 

 

 

 

Recipe

Chocolate is one of the many foods that the world gained from the discovery of America. It was sacred to the pre-Colombian peoples, and is worshipped around the world to this day. So many cultures use chocolate as a way of celebration, and this cake is just that. We combined nutty tahini and sour pomegranate molasses to achieve a complex and moist, yet simple-to-make chocolate cake. The garnish makes it look extra festive, so be sure to include the cream, pistachios, and pomegranate seeds.

3 room temperature eggs

150 ml sunflower seed oil

150 ml yogurt

4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons tahini

½ cup sugar

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

4 tablespoons dark chocolate baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the bottom of a 10” spring-form cake tin with butter, line the bottom with parchment paper, and grease again. This will allow you to remove the baked cake from the tin easily. In one bowl combine the eggs, oil, yogurt, molasses, and sugar. Whisk until smooth. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a fork inserted comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the cake tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife along the edge. Remove from the tin and let cool on a wire rack.
Serve with whipped cream or a combination of equal parts mascarpone and thick goats milk yogurt, crumbled pistachios, and pomegranate seeds.

Recipe

Casseroles are a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers. We combine leeks and eggplant, which are often paired together in Greek cooking, along with fusilli pasta and turkey meat for a comforting, yet healthy dish. We use the Mastiha resin as a spice in this dish.  Although it is optional, it is a fun spice to add to your International pantry, and adds a unique nuance to the dish. See note below for details.

Olive oil (about ¼ cup total)

2 large or 4 small leeks, dark green parts removed

1 medium eggplant

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, boiling

½ cup grated Manchego cheese

200g cooked fusilli pasta

1 ½ cups leftover turkey meat

½ teaspoon ground Mastiha powder* (optional)

Salt and Pepper

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut a slit down the length of the eggplant. Peel the garlic and slice vertically into thin slivers. Insert the garlic pieces into the slit in the eggplant and lightly brush all over with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Bake the eggplant in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until it is completely cooked through and the flesh has shrunken in from the skin. It should look deflated and sink when you poke it with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh into a sieve set over a bowl and drain of the excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl, along with the garlic and a pinch of salt, and fork mash it until it is well blended.

Meanwhile, slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse out the dirt well, making sure to get in between each layer. Slice the leeks in thin strips horizontally across.
Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sweat the leeks until cooked through and completely soft, seasoning with some salt along the way, about 15 minutes.
You can make the vegetables up to 1 day ahead of time and keep them in the fridge.

Once you have your leeks and eggplant ready, you are ready to put the dish together.
In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter and once it begins to froth a little, add the flour. Stir the flour and butter on medium-low heat for a couple of minutes, without letting it brown, to cook off the flour flavor. This mixture is called a roux.
Slowly pour in the boiling broth, whisking it into the roux as you pour. Once the broth is all in there, keep it at a simmer and let it thicken and reduce slightly. Add the grated cheese, followed by the prepared eggplant and leeks, pasta, and leftover turkey meat. Season with salt and pepper and Mastiha, and stir everything together. Pour into a 9x13 inch casserole dish and top with the grated Parmesan.
Set under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes until the Parmesan melts and browns.

Serves 8-10 people.

* Mastiha is a resin from the island of Chios in Greece. It has a lovely piney/camphoric flavor that goes beautifully with eggplant and leeks. You can purchase it at mastihashopny.com

Recipe

Waldorf Salad was invented at New York’s Waldorf Hotel in
the late 19th Century.

It combines chicken with celery, grapes, walnuts, and apples, which are usually coated in mayonnaise. This version plays upon the Turkish dish of Circassian chicken, originally from Georgia, which is shredded chicken mixed with a walnut sauce. We use black walnuts, a strong and interesting nut native to New England, to make the delicious sauce that coats the chicken, opting out of the mayonnaise. Lucky for us the super sweet Conchord grapes coincide with apple season, and we are able to make this dish with some Fall fruits.

½ lb cooked boneless skinless chicken breast*

2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup black walnuts (or substitute regular walnuts), toasted

About ½ cup stale bread (white or wheat), soaking in water

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ cup warm vegetable or chicken broth

1-2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves

4-5 mint leaves (optional)

¼ cup Conchord grapes, rinsed

½ cup green apple, small dice

1 celery rib, trimmed and thinly sliced

Shred the chicken breast with your fingers and place in a
bowl.

Pulse the garlic and salt in a food processor. Add the black walnuts and cumin and continue to pulse until the walnuts have broken down and are starting to form a paste, but are not completely smooth.

Remove the bread from the water and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Add to the food processor and continue to grind.

Add the broth little by little, to give more fluidity to the sauce. You might not use all of the broth, because you don’t want the sauce to be too loose. It should remain a bit coarse.

Add the cilantro and mint to the food processor and pulse to break up the herbs.

Add the grapes, chopped apple, and celery to the bowl with
the chicken, and pour over the black walnut sauce. Use a spatula to fold the sauce over the chicken and coat everything well.

Serves 6 people as a meze, and 4 as a sandwich filing.

Recipe

This vegetarian nacho dish is delicious because of all of the flavors and colors present. We brush our bread with coconut oil and dust it with curry powder, but you can also just use butter, ghee, or olive oil.

2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon grated onion
2 tandoori naan
¼ cup grated mozzarella or another meltable mild cheese
2 tablespooons tamarind
1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
½ cup plain yogurt (can be non-fat or whole)
1/3 cup chickpeas (sprouted or canned)
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño
1 medium tomato, cored and diced small
¼ cup grated carrot
Fresh cilantro sprigs

Melt the coconut oil in a small skillet. Add the curry powder and grated onion and cook on low for a few minutes until fragrant.
Brush the breads with the melted coconut oil mixture and then slice into wedges. Bake in a 300 F oven for 20 minutes, or until crisp.
Arrange the breads on an oven-proof serving dish and top with the grated cheese. Pop back into the oven to melt.
Mix together the tamarind with a few drops of water and the agave nectar, so that it is a bit looser than a paste, but still quite thick.
Top the Naanchos with the yogurt and drizzle over the tamarind.
Garnish with the chickpeas, jalapeño, tomato, carrot, and cilantro.
Serves 2 as a main dish and 4 as an appetizer.

This dish is purely fun. We use store-bought naan bread to make a South Asian version of nachos. The toasted naan is topped with melted cheese, yogurt, sprouted chickpeas, grated carrot, tomato, tamarind, and cilantro. It is a party in your mouth and very easy to prepare for a large group of people.
September 28, 2009   |   0 comments
Tags: Appetizers, Beans & Legumes, Fusion, South Asia, Vegetarian
Recipe

This recipe is called the Beauty of Palermo, because it highlights the fusion of ingredients that make up Sicily's food culture. The Arabs brought with them sugar cane and jasmine and orange blossom flowers when they ruled over this fertile island. They also brought a love of sweets, often laden with various nuts and spices that has distinguished the confections of Sicily from the rest of Italy. One of Kitchen Caravan's favorite recipes that is not our own is of a watermelon pudding from a book called Cucina del Sole. The combination of sweet watermelon with cinnamon delighted us, and inspired this cocktail. We recommend using the small watermelons you can find at the market if you don't want leftovers.
If the jasmine syrup is too complex for you, simply omit the jasmine, and only flavor the drink with cinnamon and any other spices that occur to you. We would love to hear what you come up with.

3 ounces watermelon puree
1 ounce Jasmine Cinnamon Syrup (below)
2 ounces vodka
1 tablespoon lemon juice (about ¼ juicy lemon)
3 mint leaves
Garnish: additional mint leaves and cinnamon sticks

Make a watermelon puree by blending the flesh of a small watermelon to make about 3 cups of juice. Simply slice the watermelon into quarters and remove the flesh with a spoon. You can then blend the juice in a tall plastic cup with a hand blender or in a regular blender. You will strain the cocktail at the end, so don’t worry about removing the seeds.
To make the drinks, combine the syrup, vodka, watermelon puree, and lemon juice in a martini shaker along with the mint. Add a few cubes of ice, cover and shake well. Pour into the cocktail glasses. You can use martini glasses or another stemmed glass appropriate for a chic cocktail.
Makes about 2 large or 3 smaller cocktails.

Note: You can make the syrup and watermelon puree ahead of time and keep cool in the fridge. When you are ready to serve the drinks, simply combine the ingredients and shake away. If you do not have a martini shaker, simply combine the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid with the ice. Screw on the lid to shake, and strain through a small kitchen strainer.

Jasmine Cinnamon Syrup
½ cup organic cane sugar
1 cup water
2 tsp dry jasmine flowers (or replace the 1 cup water with 1 cup of richly steeped jasmine tea)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon orange flower water (optional)

Make the syrup by combining the cane sugar and water together in a small saucepan with the jasmine flowers (or tea) and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil and then simmer until it is reduced by half and is quite syrupy. Drain of the flowers and cinnamon and cool to room temperature. Stir in the orange flower water. Store in the fridge.

September 24, 2009   |   0 comments
Tags: Drinks, Europe, Fusion, History, Mediterranean