Guava Dutch Baby or Clafouti Reprise

This is guava time in Hawaii, which I love as it gives me opportunities to update old recipes and try new ways of cooking and using guavas.  Also, I need to remember to freeze them when not immediately making something.  Then we can have Guava Cobbler or Dutch Baby or whatever at other times of the year.  Yes, duh.

The recipe I posted previously, for Dutch Baby, was an adaptation using sourdough starter.  This is the regular recipe, which I think is better (it puffs up folks), so a reprise of what I posted last year.  If you want your Clafouti to puff up nicely, the fruit needs to be on the bottom.  Which is also just easier.  And, if by this time you are saying to yourself, "...mumble, mumble, mumble..Dutch Baby...mumble, Clafouti??? What the heck is this??"  The answer is a big, fat pancake that puffs up from the three eggs in there.  Simpler than a pancake, as no baking powder needed or individual frying. 

Baked Guavas Stuffed with Cranberries and Sausage

These were originally meant to be Baked Stuffed Apples, as per Carolyn Hart's fictional character, the handsome, all around fantastic, Max Darling in Death Walked In.  A breakfast surprise he whips up for his wife.  How cool is that?  However I thought, this is Hawaii, and there are guavas at the moment, for which I have been feeling semi-guilty, due to neglect.  Hey they just were not calling my name.  Jam, chutney, compote, too cool for ice cream, been there, done that, boring.  But this, oh boy, oh boy, the potential!  Baked Guavas, stuffed with that sausage and cranberry combo, maple syrup drizzled over the tops.  As Rachel Ray would say, yum-o!

And they were, for sure, trust me, etc.  It was one of those experiments that come out just right the first time.  Tender, juicy, not too sweet, not too tart, flavorful ....deliciously perfect.  I did a riff off  Rachel Ray's recipe, due to Ms. Hart not providing one.  I will provide her version with my changes noted, and you can vary at will.

Since guavas are nicely tart, I skipped the vinegar, as well as the herbs, mustard, oil, salt and pepper.  You might want all those with apples, depending upon the flavor and sweetness of your fruit.

Guava Dutch Baby or Clafouti Goyave with Sourdough Starter

I have always called this a Dutch Baby, but you may know it as Clafouti.  The recipe is pretty much the same, and you probably don't need me to post that, as it's been done, a lot.  This is a version, using once again that ever present sourdough bread starter, lurking in my refrigerator.

When I am going to make bread (usually about once a week), a few days ahead of time I put a small portion of starter in a separate jar and begin to feed it more, leaving the jar out on my counter, and put the rest back in the fridge.  Every time before feeding that new batch, about half of it is first poured back into the "mother" starter, kept in the fridge.  This is the accumulating, lurking entity I am talking about.  It takes some attention and culinary creativity putting it to good use, i.e. English muffins, crumpets, pizza, coffee cake, flatbread, pancakes, all of which I have posted about, and now this Dutch Baby or Clafouti thingy.

As two lovely guavas were ready to fall off the tree, I thought of adapting a favorite breakfast dish - the Dutch Baby (who knows where that name came from).  The recipe is very simple, with 3 eggs and equal portions of flour and milk (3/4 cup), whipped up in a blender.  The idea on this version was to sub out the flour and milk for a cup of starter,  plus a small portion of milk to bring the batter to a similar pancake consistency.

Guava Butter recipe

The guavas are coming in.  There were just enough yesterday for a nice batch of butter or jam.  I usually make jam with my fruit as it's easier than jelly, and anyway why waste the pulp part of the fruit.  Seeds, okay I draw the line there.  No one in their right mind wants guava seeds in jam, or anything else for that matter.  They are very hard, and not small enough to just swallow without noticing.

I filled two 4 cup measures, but on a digital scale, for the correct amount of sugar to add.  The fruit went in as I peeled off bad parts, halved, then scooped out the seeds, and cut into chunks.

For a fruit butter, only one extra step is needed, that of pureeing or blending it into a nice smooth sludge, once cooked in a bit of water until soft, after which you finish cooking with the sugar added.  Now for my next batch, when there are way too many for a single pot of jam or butter, I will be doing the oven baked method.  No stirring involved (or hardly any); no spitting pot of bubbling fruit hitting my arms, face, oven and floor.  The smooth sludge spits rather than simmering or boiling properly.  It's a super simple recipe, just the basics here. Unlike a fruit curd, it doesn't have eggs or butter in it.  Unlike a jam though, it doesn't keep well.

Guava Crumb Cake with Galangal

We're back to guavas dropping off the trees season here.  Being inventive with them in cooking, hopefully.  I find recipes in books and online, then adapt for the tropics.  Just because it calls for apples, or pears, there is no reason we absolutely must go to the store and buy fruit brought in from the mainland, most likely picked on the green side of ripe.  Not that they can't be pretty good, but when you have fruit where you live, or close to it, I believe in using that first.  Hence, the guavas here.  Also, since my galangal is multiplying, I thought it might sub for cinnamon in the Streusel topping.  However, if your fruit at hand is apples or pears, just use those instead.

If you are interested in growing galangal or ginger, check out Pick me yard for more information.  I had been wondering why my plants were looking sick, and the edges of the leaves turning brown.  Finally made the move to look up growing conditions on the web.  Brilliant, no?  It sometimes takes me awhile.  Turns out ginger loves shade, shelter and moisture.  Poor dears they weren't getting enough of any of that.  Out in the blazing sun.  Amazing they lived through my ignorance.  So we are moving them to a shady location.  And watering more in dry conditions. 

I also discovered that slicing off a new rhizome (as you see above) gives a nice tender piece for cooking.  The more mature roots are pretty tough.

I had saved this  recipe from Adam's site, The Amateur Gourmet, awhile back, and he got it from Gale Gand's Brunch, so down the road we have my version adapted for the tropics.  I increased the cake's sugar to compensate for the tart guavas.

 Guava Crumb Cake

The cake:
Unsalted butter, for the baking dish
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used  part spelt flour)
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar (unless you are using pears, then 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1/3 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups guava, any bad spots peeled, then seeded and chopped

Streusel topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up
1 tablespoon galangal, finely minced

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

To make the cake, combine the flour with the baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and then mix in the milk and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the pears, and mix well. Pour this into the buttered baking dish.

To make the streusel, mix the sugar, flour, cold butter, and galangal in a bowl by pinching them together with your fingers until well combined. Sprinkle over the top of the batter.

Bake the cake for 35 minutes or so, until it is golden and dry on top. Cool in the pan, and then cut into squares. The cake will keep for up to 4 days, covered, at room temperature. If it lasts that long at your house.

This cake is moist, its sweetness balanced with a little tang from the guavas (or tart apples) and really delicious.  Good enough to share at Week-end Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Astrid from Paul Chen's Foodblog.  I learn so much every time I read the round-ups for this event.

Guava Muffins with the Homemade Gluten-free Flour Mix

An absolute move over to the gluten-free camp has yet to be achieved.  However, a baby step or two has been taken.  I've been buying Quinoa, corn or rice pastas, and have now made up my own AP flour mix, the one recommended by Shauna, the Gluten-Free Girl, with a 70% whole grain flour to a 30% starch ratio.  My present one being composed of corn flour, brown rice flour, sorghum and teff, with the starch end made up of potato, tapioca and white rice.

I would like to say that these muffins are an unqualified success, but.... not completely happy.  They are good, with a fine light texture, and needing only a tad more definition.  Some graininess.  Oat bran might do it. Does that make sense?  It might be I need to try another mix.  One with fewer components.  Maybe only whole wheat spelt (which has a small amount of gluten) sorghum and quinoa for the flour side and just the tapioca or white rice on the starch side. Of course, then I wouldn't be able to call them gluten-free.  But, it's not like I'm allergic, just that using less gluten is helping joint and arthritis symptoms.  And, experimenting is enjoyable.  Just call me a food scientist.

But the crepes I made with the mix on Sunday morning were great.  It totally worked, giving them a nice nutty character. You don't necessarily want the texture of grain in your crepes.  More on these later.

These fruity muffins use the same clever principle as those Blue Blueberry Muffins I posted about a few years back.  The ones from Joanne Fluke's tasty escapade, the Blueberry Muffin Murder.  Nothing like a good murder mystery with recipes included. What a fun series of books she's written. So, the concept is to add some compote or pie filling in addition to your fresh or frozen fruit, for an extra zap of the flavor.  However, that is where the muffin connection ends.  Shauna's are gluten-free, of course, it goes without saying.  And not so sweet as the Blueberry ones.

Guavas in Coconut Cobbler

 These were guavas I had frozen from our summer overload.  Cleaning out the freezer, I determined to use them, like now.  Doesn't Guava Cobbler sounded like a good idea for breakfast.  And, dessert later.  If there's any left.

Remembering the 1/2 cup or so of coconut milk left from that Adobo, it seemed a natural substitution for  cream in the Cream Biscuits topping crust

The Cream Biscuits are from Alice Waters' fine cookbook, The Art of Simple Food.  The Guava Filling is from the school of trial and error.  I always forget just how tart guavas are, so extra sugar is necessary. Her recipe for Peach Cobbler calls for "1 tablespoon sugar (if needed)."  Think closer to rhubarb here.  But, I suppose where one grows, the other does not.

Guava Tarte Tatin for High Tea

A Monthly Mingle High Tea, what fun, and  hosted this month by Aparna at My Diverse Kitchen.   It brought to mind my first experience of afternoon tea as a sort of cultural  ritual.  We were in our version of a "Gap Year" traveling, occasionally working at the odd job.  Landing in Australia, I found employment for a time as secretary (one of many) for a large manufacturing company, and every day at, I believe it was 3:30 p.m., the "Tea Lady" would come around wheeling her trolley with biscuits (cookies to me) and tea. I remember being so amused that these Aussies would have their coffee iced, and tea hot, rather than the reverse.  Hey, I was from Hawaii, via California.

We do have Afternoon Tea in Hawaii at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the charming, landmark pink stucco antique in Waikiki, and it is done in the real old style.  For a price.  I took my mother there once and we felt so pampered.

As this Monthly Mingle theme is "High Tea Treats", I have done a Guava Tarte Tatin.  Yes, guava again. It is very simple, yet the flavors are a spicy, sweet complexity.  After making a batch of Guava Compote, and serving it for one dessert, I decided to use the remainder for this tart. Of course, it is not necessary to first make a Guava Compote.  You can simply use 4 cups chopped guava, mixed with some spices if you'd like, or not.  It helps if you've sliced some of the fruit evenly and can arrange it nicely on the bottom of the pan in the caramel, as that bottom layer will be on top and look beautiful when upended.  But if you're like me (unfastidious, i.e. lazy), be comforted, it's not really necessary, and will still taste fabulous.

You will notice my lack of precision fruit arrangement here.  This recipe is adapted from Alice Waters' Tarte Tatin in The Art of Simple Food.

Directions:

You will need a pie pastry or puff pastry, rolled out to an 11" circle.  Transfer it to parchment paper on a baking sheet and refrigerate until needed.  Or, easier yet, use a pre-made, frozen pie crust and remove it from the freezer a few minutes before topping the fruit, just so it softens a bit.

Trim, halve, remove seeds from, and cut into even segments:
3 to 4 lbs. fresh, ripe guavas.
Preheat oven to 400 F.  Put a 9" cast-iron skillet or or stove-top to oven type skillet on medium-high heat.  Then, add:
2 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons sugar
Let the sugar and butter melt, and then cook til brown and bubbly (being careful not to let it burn), stirring with a heat-proof spoon or swirling the pan so the mixture caramelizes evenly.  Take off the heat when it is a nice, deep caramel color. An alternate recipe, using considerably more butter, sugar and time, is available here, for those of you who (like me) may wonder about the small amount of caramel called for.  However, I will tell you right now, Alice Waters knows what she is talking about. Simple can be wonderful.

Now arrange your guava slices, starting around the outside edge of the pan, rounded sides down, on the caramel, with the narrower tips towards the center (if you're being tidy).  Make another ring of guavas inside the first ring, and so on to the center, filling the gaps with smaller pieces, cut to fit.

Place your pastry circle over the fruit, tucking down between the edges of the pan and the guavas.  Cut 3 or 4 little slashes in the top for steam to escape, and bake in the middle level of your oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the pastry is well browned.  The contents of the pan should shift slightly when shaken a bit.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack for a minute or two.  Then hold a slightly larger serving plate over the top, holding it tightly to the top of the pan, and flip quickly.  Alice recommends giving your pan a gentle twist while lifting off.

What could be nicer than fresh fruit, caramel and pastry? Served warm with a scoop of whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche, and you've got it.

This will be accompanied, of course, by lots of other assorted crumpets, tea sandwiches, teas, etc. at our cyber gathering, the round-up to be posted sometime after the October 15th deadline for submissions.
PS - The round-up is now posted.   Check out all the fabulous food.

Composing A Guava Compote

 

More guavas than you could shake a stick at around here, again.  The latest improvisation from my kitchen is a Guava Compote, spiced up with Lemon Basil, zest of Kaffir Lime, and Allspice leaves, cooked in a nice red merlot and honey til tender.  Serve with a scoop of whipped cream or French Vanilla Ice Cream.  I think this might make a good Guava Tatin too.

My ordinary basil plant was not doing at all well.  End of season blues?  Hey, this is Hawaii here, therefore, no such thing.  So, I decided to try a few different varieties. This Lemon Basil is going great guns and the other, a type of Thai Basil, is for some reason, attracting fruit flies.  What's with that?  It's looking fine though.  And, the Abiu fruit without net bags are not getting bit this time around?? Or, come to think of it the guavas don't seem to be bitten either.  Just the small Strawberry ones. 

The Lemon Basil

So, if you'd like to try this, and have another variety of basil, feel free to substitute.  The idea is to get a little spice into the mix.  Cinnamon sticks and lemon rind curls, raisins even, would also be nice to add.

Trim the ends; wash the fruit; cut in half; then scoop the seedy part out and discard.  Slice in chunks, then add:
 to 4 heaping cups fruit
1/2 cup rose or red wine
1 cup honey or sugar
2 Allspice leaves (or berries)
2 tablespoons exotic basil, minced
zest of 1 Kaffir lime (or other lime)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
Simmer all together over medium heat until the fruit is tender, 5-10 minutes.  Let cool, then refrigerate.

Serve chilled or warm with a scoop of sweetened whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or use as your base for a sweet and spicy tart.  The first time I made this, last week, I didn't reduce the liquids.  On this batch I separated the fruit out after cooking, and reduced the wine sauce down.  Don't think it made the compote any better, so probably won't again.  If it's going into a pie, just separate out the fruit and use that.  Will have to try with my remaining compote, and add as an addendum.  Another thing I would eliminate is the basil.  Basil is best fresh, added at the end of a recipe.  Instead, maybe a clove or two and cinnamon stick.

And, here it is.  I know you've all been waiting with bated breath.  The Guava Tart Tatin, though the fruit isn't very precisely or beautifully arranged.  It tasted delightfully tart with that bit of lime and lemon, yet sweet, with Merlot overtones to the guava caramel filling. Right.

A TASTE OF YELLOW - Guava Pork Chops With Cornbread

A new experience for me, the LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow event, which is a way of supporting the Lance Armstrong Foundation. As hostess, Barbara of Winos and Foodies says, "by raising awareness of cancer issues world wide. It is a way for all food and wine bloggers to share their stories. The happy and the sad, the struggles and the triumphs."  I have a dear friend, Andrea, who has gone through chemo treatments twice now, and is still dealing with all the resulting impairment to various organs.  She struggles bravely on, with an upbeat attitude, encouraging others all the time.

My yellow foods are the guava in this Pork Chops with Guava Chutney, since we are now back in guava season around here, and also cornmeal in Thin Crispy Cornbread, by Deb of Smitten Kitchen, from her Cornbread Salad post.

So, that's the background for a terrific recipe, inspired to start with by our beautiful, new (opened this week) improved, natural foods store here in Hilo, now carrying fresh, YES, (not frozen from the Mainland) naturally raised on the Big Island, pork chops. I eat pork pretty rarely, given the conditions of commercial hog farms (feed additives, hormone supplements and the like, treatment, etc.) Well, okay, bacon occasionally (frozen from the health foods store) on Sunday morning, when Bob is there to actually eat breakfast with me.  So, it's great to have something in the pork department worthy of dinner, and a recipe for this terrific event.

I, not cooking pork chops for eons, referred to my copy of Alice Waters', The Art of Simple Food.  Simply, Pan-Fried Pork Chops with a quick pan sauce of port wine, sliced guavas and my Guava Chutney, served with hot cornbread and a side salad of fresh greens and pickled vegetables.

I minced some sage and thyme, and added salt and pepper to season both sides of two chops, 1/2  inch thick.
Heat a heavy (I used a cast-iron) frying pan over medium-high heat.  Then pour in several tablespoons of olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.
Add the pork chops and cook them til brown on one side, about 5 min.  Turn over and cook til done, turning again if necessary for even cooking.  Let the chops rest on a plate for 4 min. or so before serving, while whipping up your pan sauce.
For the sauce, I added about 1 cup of of red dessert wine, you can use Port or Marsala, stirring up the bits of pan drippings, and reduced by half.  At the end I added a sliced, de-seeded guava and about 1/2 cup guava chutney, then simmered a few more minutes. Finally, turned off the heat and swirled in a bit of butter, about

1/2 teaspoonful at a time to enrich the sauce, a tablespoon in all.  Or, you could use cream and heat it through.

 

Pour over the pork chops and serve with thin crispy cornbread (which wasn't all that thin, really).  Recipe at Deb's site above, or use your favorite cornbread.  I'm going to do the salad she posted, so wanted to try her recipe.  It was denser than I'm used to, not calling for any flour, only cornmeal, but good.

Spicy Guava Chutney

It felt like a real Fall Harvest Frenzy around here this morning. I chopped up, yes ... more guavas, added some exciting tropical spices - Hawaiian chili peppers, allspice, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, etc. and made up a batch of chutney. Meanwhile cacao pods were roasting and then, cooling for me to husk, grind and make into truffles. In between which I was trying to get a batch of macadamia nuts shelled . I'll put them in the truffles after a bit of toasting.

For those interested, the recipe for Guava Chutney:

5 cups guavas, peeled, cut in quarters, seeds removed; then cut into thin slices
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 thumbs young ginger or 1 thumb mature, peeled and sliced thin
2 cups water
1 lb. granulated sugar
2 cups vinegar
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded, stems removed
2 whole allspice leaves (or allspice powder)
1  1/2 Hawaiian chili peppers, seeds removed (or not if you want it hotter) & minced
1/2 teas. salt
1/4 teas. coarsely ground black pepper
1/3 cup raisins

Cook the guavas with ginger, garlic and water, then add sugar, and remaining ingredients. Cook, on a hot fire, stirring occasionally until thick. Ladle into jars. This made 3 normal size jam jars and one smaller jar.

Guavas turn a lovely deep burgundy red when given a long cook.

More Guavas Than You Could Shake a Stick at

Guavas on my mind. They're everywhere in abundance this year in Hawaii, and I'm trying to utilize as many as possible, thereby avoiding the guilt of having tons go to waste on the ground. So far have made: jam, wine, catsup, BBQ sauce, cakes (2 kinds, attempting to find the perfect recipe). And in the process of which I discovered some great cooking blogs. One being Sonia Tastes Hawaii, and another, Evil Jungle Prince. He had a tempting-looking recipe for Guava Cobbler with Coconut Crust, that I really need to try. In fact it will be Sunday.

Tonight though, we're (in the Royal sense) doing a version of candied yams (in order to get it down before Thanksgiving). Yes, Guava Candied Yams, which I will be improvising, based loosely upon Camotitos Potosinos (Sweet Potatoes and Guavas in Syrup) from the Texas Monthly site. To use them for Thanksgiving I'll have to freeze some I suppose.

The yams and guavas simmering in a brown sugar syrup

Guava Candied Yams

1 cup brown sugar
1 teas. cinnamon
2 allspice leaves (or powdered 1/2 teas.)
1/2 teas. cloves
2 lbs. yams, rinsed, peeled and cut into 2-3 in. pieces
1 lb. fresh guavas, cut in quarters, seeds scooped out (this would work also with figs or apples)
juice of 1 orange or passion fruit (I used the passion fruit) & 1 tab. orange or lemon peel (without pith)

Place the brown sugar, juice and 1 cup water in a 2-quart pan with lid, and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally til the sugar is dissolved.

Add the spices & peel. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer, covered 10 min.

Add the yams, and turn them a few times to coat. Continue simmering, covered for 20 min.

Stir in the guavas and simmer an additional 20 min. (uncover the last 10 min. - though, next time I may try raising the heat and going for more of a caramelized effect by quickly reducing down the syrup) Note: If using canned guava, just heat through on low heat, uncovered, for 10 min.

I served this with some leg of lamb and a small salad of cucumbers and arugula in a yogurt dressing. It was quite good if I do say so.