Celebrating …. everything

Evolution is inevitable, if…

The ideas I held, years back, when revisited today, clearly express the experiences I had up till then. I have been documenting recipes for more than twenty years, and it is always curious when I go back, and revisit a recipe. Why did I make that choice? How will I reshape my future endeavors based upon today -- yellow cheddar in a block was exotic at a time when I had such limited the scope for my expression. Now, moked Gouda is everyday, while I flipped for the lavender studded Truckle that seduced me in Sydney. It wasn’t until I moved out of the relative safety of my known world that I was jolted towards dynamic growth afforded by meeting things completely alien to me.

Oh, the awakening of creativity prompted by the strange and unfamiliar. An explosion of ideas and possibilities opened up for me – exploring and experimenting became the air I drew in. Encountering a host of ideas I had no concept of did not paralysis me, rather it became fuel for my core, and in return I exhaled a meal that exalted all that we share, and flights of fancy I wanted to share. 

Stepping into the unknown has been the greatest gift I have given myself. I’m thrilled to meet a new soul, and with foodstuffs…if I have not seen it before I buy it because for me inspiration is found in the void between comfort and fear.

Spicy Bar-b-que Sauce - yields approx. 3 cups

2 chipolte chilies
5 black cardamom seeds
1 small onion
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup ketchup manis
1/4 cup pomegranate syrup
1-1/2 pounds tomato
1/8 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cooking Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a 1 quart sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 60 minutes. Fish out the 5 cardamom seeds, and discard. Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Store in the refrigerator. 

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.