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gardening, Hawaii, recipes

Too Much Pipinola?(Chayote)

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I learned to love chayote, an edible gourd that is known as pipinola here in Hawaii. You may recall that I learned to ferment with it, cook with it, and even how to breed it for the characteristics that chefs find desirable.  Here is a look at the start of one of my 10 minute meals.  When I was getting ready to travel, pipinola were ripening, so I took the time to shred the fruits in a food processor, pack into 1qt freezer bags, then squeeze out the air from the bag.  The result were a nice stack of pipinola blocks.  Today, as you see in the image, I took one of those frozen blocks, dropped it into my slow cooker, and added tomato, onion, chili pepper, taco seasoning, pumpkin and more to the mix.  I will leave it to cook all afternoon, and when I return from the farm, dinner will be waiting.  This same technique would work for chili.  The pipinola takes on the flavor of the taco spices, and acts as a great filler.  It is a great way to add vegetables to your cooking, while also making use of the fruits at your doorstep. I have plans on topping the lot with refried beans and cheese before stuffing the mix into tortillas.

I just returned home to find my neighbor telling me that he can smell my cooking down the street!  It is a homemade smell that we all want to come home to.  I just finished it by thickening it with a can of refried black beans, and some of yesterday’s rice…and I realized that this would make a great dip too!  I will be happy to eat this in many different ways in the days ahead.  Taco salad?  Maybe my kraut tacos…with scrambled eggs in a breakfast burrito.  See the bottom photo to see the transformation it made while I was at the farm trellising more pipinola vines.  Now it is time to top with cheese and test it out.

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Essays and Reflections, recipes

The Lima Bean Squash Taco with Homemade Kraut

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I decided to cook up some of my heirloom Christmas lima beans and make a casserole.  With a lot of work to do in preparation for the National Heirloom Expo, I need my energy.  I had the food processor out with the shred blade on, as I was already making my pipinola (chayote) kraut.  I was also sitting on several pounds of zucchini from a farm trade that I made with our local CSA.  I decided to just keep shredding and make a taco seasoned dish that I could use throughout the week. Here is what I did:  I had cooked the Christmas lima beans on low overnight in the crockpot with water enough to cover, and 1/2 of a Sweet Onion. I was already planning on using the beans, so I thought that all I needed was some more vegetables.I shredded one half of a large Hawaiian Sweet Onion, One large Zucchini, one pipinola(chayote squash) 2 orange habanero peppers, and 5 pickled hot peppers.  I then poured the shredded veg into a bowl, and pulsed 2-3 cups of the now room temperature cooked lima beans.  I added them to the bowl, and added two packages of taco seasoning, a sprinkle of sea salt, and a cup of breadcrumbs.  I mixed it all together and pressed it into a 9×9 square pan, baking it at 350 degrees for an hour.

I’ve been making homemade kraut for several weeks now, as a means of capturing the harvests that come and go at both the farm and garden. The salty zing of the sea salt brine is welcomed after a hot day in the field.  I thought, why not?  Add it to the taco.  I am happy to learn that this one taco casserole makes two completely different dining experiences.  Fresh out of the oven, it is warm and comforting, with melted cheese and steamed rice for an evening meal, but the next day, it is bright and light as a chilled lunchtime taco with the ice cold kraut.

Since I am doing a lot of physical labor, I need a lot of food energy to get me through the day, so this homegrown, healthy taco had enough staying power to keep me going. Granted, my farmer portion was probably a bit larger than many would make.  Overall, it was a simple feast made out of farm and garden goods.  I will certainly make it again soon.

Try experimenting, I am sure carrots or pumpkin would be equally nice additions to the taco.  Just think in terms of a meat loaf minus the meat.  You can add two beaten eggs to the mix as well, or add chopped boiled eggs if you are a hungry one like me. As for the kraut, I have made a wide variety of them in my initial experimentation.  It is all based around what is in arms reach. I have a few chili peppers producing now, and I always keep fennel fronds near.  Though I am not a seaweed (limu) collector, I support those few that do here in Hawaii.  I have been using seaweed as the majority of the salt in the recipe, topping off jars with just a bit more salt for fermentation.  If you haven’t read it, you may enjoy my earlier post on my summer fermentation trials with pipinola (chayote)

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Aloha from Squash and Awe

Agriculture, Farming, gardening, pumpkins, recipes

Teaching With Food

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I remember working very hard to earn my Girl Scout cooking badge. Though that may seem dated to some, learning through food is all the rage once again in our schools. Last year I had the great opportunity to peer into our island classrooms, school gardens, and pre-k daycare centers. I got to have a lot of one on one talks with teachers and child care providers about what is lacking in the children’s food. I learned that all pre-k classrooms have to have a certified kitchen on property. That may mean little to most people, but to me, it said opportunity. What better place to launch a food movement than to the little ones who are so eager to learn…and eat. So that is what happened. I took it upon myself to figure out how to teach the 4 year old set how to make something to eat. The result, happy young chefs that were happy to “feed themselves” something that they made themselves and as bright and tasty as a pumpkin pie smoothie (see Vegan squash smoothie recipe.) It was so much of a hit that I am expanding it this year. Who doesn’t want their child to help out in the kitchen and have a little more time with you? Be on the lookout for more of my mini chef classes to be offered this fall. Want it to come to your kid’s classroom? Sponsor a class at the school of your choice. See my funding page http://www.gofundme.com/squash-and-awe for more details.