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Hibiscus Punch – yields 8 cups

1-cup dried hibiscus flowers

1 Mandarin orange – broken up

1-inch piece fresh ginger – thinly sliced

12 whole allspice berries

6 whole cloves

2 whole star anise

¼-cup honey or agave

Bring 8-cups of water to a boil in a 2½-quart saucepan.

Remove the pan from the flame and add all the ingredients. Allow all the ingredients steep for about 45 to 60 minutes. Strain the punch through a sieve.

 

Serve warm.

Its the time

It has begun, that frenzy of holiday dinners, cookie swaps and potlucks. This is the best thing of this

time of year – hosting or contributing to a gathering. It is also the time to renew and replenish. Most of the spices in the cupboard have been in there since last year, to be generous. A purchased pre-ground spice has about a 3 to 6 month shelf life given that most of us store our spices in a cabinet where heat and light can act to degrade them. Not to mention, the factory where the spices were milled smells wonderful but that scent did not end up in the jar. It is time to go through your myriad containers of spices and purge. Any tins that came with you when you left your parent’s house have to go. Newer ones should be sniffed for the presence of fragrance. When you go out restock your inventory you may want to avoid the supermarket aisle and seek out an Indian store. The cuisine of the sub-continent utilizes a vast amount of spices, where turnover will most likely be quicker than at your local Piggly Wiggly. I go so far as buying the majority my spices whole and grinding what will be used as needed – an inexpensive coffee grinder does the trick. In the spirit of absolute honesty, I store my spices not in a draw or cupboard adjacent to the stove, but in the freezer. The cold, dark storage helps my spice collection maintain its maximum aromatic potential for far longer than a year. Labeled, small plastic bags are lined up in canisters that thought they would house post-its, paper clips, a stapler and pens. Of course, they are alphabetized.

I am confident that when I make a batch of cardamom chocolate cookies or add my spiced chickpea salad to a potluck the gift of fragrance will be there.  

Spiced Chickpeas – yields 6 to 8 servings

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 medium red onion – sliced thinly

2 garlic cloves – crushed to a paste

1-tablespoon grated ginger

1-teaspoon garam marsala (see below)

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 small carrot – peeled and grated

4 scallions – washed and diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4-cup fresh lime juice

1/4-cup chopped cilantro

Garam Marsala

2-inch cinnamon stick

1/2-teaspoon whole cloves

1/2-teaspoon aniseed

1-tablespoon whole black pepper

1/2-teaspoon whole mace

8 cardamom seeds

Place all the ingredients in a spice grinder, and process to a fine powder.

Heat an 8-inch sauté pan over a medium heat, and add the oil and onion. Cook the onion until it is limp, and a light golden brown. Mix in the ginger, garlic and garam marsala, and cook for a few minutes moving the onion mixture constantly. Mix in the chickpeas, carrots and scallions, and cook to warm through. Remove from the heat and add the salt, pepper, limejuice and cilantro. Serve warm or cold.

Pomegranate Dreams

About a year and half ago I planted a pomegranate tree – okay not quite a tree but a 12-inch sapling.  That first spring it took root and actually gave me a splay of delicate pink flowers that put a smile on my face until a few days of rain turned into a frown. Its first winter might have been a tad tough on it, but it rebounded with new shoots and leaves. With much I plant, fantasy drives many of my choices. It is my hopes that in the coming years those branches reach out and not only shows a springtime floral spectacle, but offer an autumn display of dangling, crimson orbs decorating the garden and alleviating my need to hunt them down in the farmer’s market. I have to admit I might never get any fruit to set. I have to be realistic that it could be a too wet during the summer and maybe too cold in the winter to ever see more than those little flowers. If that becomes my reality then the day will arrive that this tree will be harvested for flowers to be landed in a vase, but I am nowhere near that resignation. Until that moment, I will stubbornly hold on to my vision and nurture the possible.

Pomegranate Leg of Lamb – yields 4 to 6 servings

1-pomegranate

1-teaspoon ground cumin

1-tablespoon ground sumac

½-teaspoon ground cinnamon

1-teaspoon ground anise seed

⅛-teaspoon ground clove

3½ leg of lamb – bone-in

3 carrots – cut into 1-inch pieces

3 stalks celery – cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large onion – roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the pomegranate in half and pop all the seeds into a sieve. Push on the seeds to extract the juice into a bowl.

Whisk all the ground spices into the pomegranate juice. Place the leg of lamb into a container that holds it snugly, and pour over the pomegranate mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 24 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

Place the carrots, celery and onion on the bottom of a casserole pot, and put the leg on top of the vegetables -- pour over the pomegranate marinade.  Season with salt and pepper, and then cover. Cook in the oven for 3-1/2 hours.