Recipe: Three Sisters Red Curry

Today, my world food at home recipe is a bit of fusion. A melding of Native American and Thai food. It's not as strange as it may sound, in fact given all the ingredients, anyone familiar with both cuisines can see the common sense in it.

The "three sisters" refers to the staples of the tribes of the East Coast of central North America. They are squash, beans and corn. The cultural and mythological references to their origin are many, but the one I like most speaks of an otherworldly maiden seen walking on a moonlit night, in each footprint that she left grew squash, corn or beans. That's some beautiful imagery, no?

In practical terms, the farming of the three sisters was nothing short of genius. On a mound of dirt, corn would be planted, then beans around the corn. This way the beans could grow up the corn and thus produce more fruit, while the corn benefitted from the support of the bean's vines in heavy wind. Around the base of the mound was planted squash. It's broad leaves would shade the ground and keep it from drying out. It's prickly stems would discourage pests and varmints from compromising the crop. Yes, genius.

Earlier this week I was considering making dinner with the food I had on hand. I was thinking of doing some Native American dish, but my wife asked for a Thai curry with some sticky rice. 2 + 2 =4, and Three Sisters Red Curry was born. It is a delicious, spicy and rich red curry that benefits from the contrasting sweetness of the squash (I used sugar pumpkin) and sweet corn. The beans of course make it satisfying and filling. I chose pork for the protein, but chicken or beef would work just as well.

You can get a little creative with the other ingredients as well. Acorn or butternut squash could be substituted for the pumpkin and pintos or some other beans can work where I chose Anasazi beans. It's all good.

Three Sisters Red Curry

1-1/2 cups of coconut milk
2 TBS red curry paste
3/4 lb. of pork loin (trimmed of fat and cubed in bite-sized pieces)
1-1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of sugar pumpkin (cut in 1" cubes)
1 cup cooked beans (I use Anasazi, pintos will work fine)
1 cup of fresh or frozen sweet corn
2 TBS fish sauce
1 TBS palm sugar (brown or turbinado work fine)
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno (thinly sliced into rings and de-seeded as a garnish)

Place a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the coconut milk and heat for a few minutes until it begins to thicken and simmer. Add the curry paste and stir until it is dissolved.

Add the pork cubes and cook for a few minutes stirring frequently. Be sure the meat gets coated well.

Add the chicken broth, pumpkin, fish sauce and palm sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook stirring occasionally until the pumpkin is tender but still firm, (about 7 to 12 minutes).

Add the beans and the sweet corn and continue simmering for a few more minutes.

Plate in shallow bowls, sprinkle generously with cilantro and garnish with jalapeno pepper rings. Serve with sticky or jasmine rice.

Recipe: Three Sisters Red Curry from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin and Wild Rice

I've really started to appreciate Native American influenced food and it is showing up more and more in the things that I serve in my home. As I've mentioned in previous recipes, the Native American influence on world cuisine is profound. As I'm cooking more and more traditional Native American dishes I'm also beginning to fuse it with other foods I prepare like Mexican, Portuguese, etc. Surely, some of those dishes will find their way into Chop Onions, Boil Water.

Wild rice, an important Native American food, is quickly becoming a favorite ingredient of mine. It has a great nutty flavor, a unique texture and it is packed with protein and vitamins to make it a great addition on your dinner plate. It's versatile and you can use it a number of different ways: rice dishes, stuffings, pancakes, etc. You can be sure I'm going to introduce more recipes that include it.

Due to the nature of its harvest, it is expensive compared to common white rice, (which is not a substitute). I recommend you avoid buying it in your local grocery store because it is usually overpriced there (much like saffron), compared to online outlets or even Trader Joe's.

The recipe below is a great introduction to wild rice. When using wild rice it is not uncommon to cut some white rice into it. In this recipe I use a 2:1 wild rice to white rice ratio. It's possible to alter this ratio to 8:1 white rice to wild rice and still get plenty of flavor and texture of the wild rice. So feel free to back off if on the wild rice if you prefer.

The onions and roasted pumpkin certainly don't hurt this dish at all and if you like it a little sweeter, feel free to add more maple syrup or honey. This is a great pairing with smoked meat, roast chicken and the like. I'm having some with sirloin tips this evening.

Roasted Pumpkin and Wild Rice

1 cup wild rice
1/2 cup medium grain rice
1 2 to 2-1/2 lb. sugar pumpkin (seeded, peeled and cut into 3/4" to 1" pieces)
2 slices bacon (cooked, chopped, fat reserved)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1/2 cup chicken stock.
1 TBS peanut oil
3 to 4 tablespoons maple syrup (use the real stuff, go with darker or grade B)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Rice:

Bring 8 cups of cold water to boil. Add 2 TBS salt and the wild rice. Cook the wild rice at a gentle boil for 35 minutes.

When the 35 minutes is up add the white rice and continue gently boiling for 15 minutes.

When rice is finished cooking, strain and rinse with hot water.

While the rice is cooking:

In a large roasting pan or dutch oven combine the pumpkin, onion, bacon, chicken stock, salt and pepper (to taste), bacon fat and peanut oil. Toss all ingredients to coat evenly.

Pour 2 tablespoons of the maple syrup over the pumpkin pieces. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After the pumpkin and onion mixture has baked for 30 minutes, remove the foil and return the pan to the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes.

When the pumpkin and onion mixture is tender and starting to brown, remove from the oven. If pumpkin has not begun to brown, place it under the broiler for a few minutes. Be sure to keep and eye on it so it does not burn.

When done, remove from the oven. Add the rice mixture and 1-2 tablespoons of the remaining maple syrup, toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve hot.

Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin and Wild Rice from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Recipe: Msikwatash (Succotash)

Admit it, chances are the first time you ever heard of this dish, it was uttered by one Sylvester the Cat, right? "Sufferin' Succotash" was his catchphrase of choice whenever he was surprised or confounded by Tweetybird or that neighborhood bulldog. That's where I first heard it and I'm betting all my friends first heard it the same way. After a while you find out what succotash really is and well, if you're like my friends and me, you just think "um, yeah, okay, I don't think I want any of that." Well, we were wrong. Not only is this dish good, but it is surprisingly good. Everyone that tries it in my home really enjoys it.

Now for the etymology lesson. "Succotash" while a very popular side dish of the American south, is originally a Northeastern Native American dish. Called "msikwatash" by the Narragansett Indians of New England. It translates to "a whole ear of corn". The dish was very popular with the northern tribes and it was custom to keep some simmering all day long should anyone get hungry or unexpected guests arrive.

The original recipe called for beans, corn, salt and a good amount of bear grease or some other animal fat. The dish became popular with white trappers and traders who anglicized the name to "Succotash". They introduced it to the European colonists who substituted lard, bacon grease, butter or cream for the bear grease. It has since become a popular standard side dish in many places throughout the USA.

Try it, you'll like it.

Msikwatash (Succotash)

2 slices of bacon
1 TBS sweet butter
2 cups fresh corn kernels (from 3 to 4 ears)
10 ozs. to 1 lb. fresh or frozen baby lima beans
1 bunch scallions or green onions cut into 1/3-inch pieces (keep white and pale green parts separate from greens)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cook bacon in a sauce pan over moderate heat, flip frequently, until crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel to cool.

Add butter to fat in the sauce pan and melt over moderate heat.

When butter has melted, add corn, lima beans, and white and pale green parts of scallions/green onions and cook, stirring frequently for 2 minutes.

Add cream, water, salt, and pepper, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender (10 to 15 minutes).

While the succotash simmers cut the bacon into small bits.

After the succotash has finished simmering, stir in bacon and scallion greens

Salt and pepper to taste, and serve to surprised family and guests.

Get your succotash on with some good barbecue or for turkey day!

Recipe: Msikwatash (Succotash) from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

In Praise of Native American Cuisine

In late August I attended the Mashuntucket Pequot green corn festival. Called "Schemitzun," it is the largest gathering of Native American tribes on the East Coast. There are drumming and dance competitions as well as a rodeo and craft dealers. They also set up a small area as a traditional woodland indian village. In that village they offer a variety of cultural and craft demonstrations.

In the village, the area I found the most interesting was the cooking fire. I spent a good deal of time there talking to a young Pequot guy who was giving demonstrations of Native cooking. He was steaming clams, roasting duck and talking about how the local tribes cooked in the old days and in contemporary times. As we parted ways he directed me to a Wampanoag tribe food vendor and I was very impressed with the food I tried there. I learned quite a bit that day, but more importantly, a new food passion was ignited within me.

I am part Native American and while I love cooking all kinds of foods and I'm quite adept at cooking a good range of international cuisines including Italian, Portuguese, Hawaiian, Mexican, Thai and Indian (Asian not American), it had never dawned on me to explore Native American food beyond some of the dishes my grandmother used to prepare (johnnycakes, rabbit stew, squirrel, etc.).

That has since changed, and I am presently immersed in learning about not only how good Native American cuisine is and how to prepare it, but also the profound impact it has had on the world's cuisine. The examples are dramatic and numerous. Consider that before the Native Americans introduced their foods to European settlers, there were no tomatoes in Italy, no potatoes in Ireland. no pineapples in Hawaii and most profoundly no corn. That is just a small sampling.

The foods that Native Americans introduced to the world and their impact are much too broad a subject to broach in one entry in my humble little blog. If you're interested in learning more and getting some great recipes, I'd like to suggest two wonderful books on the subject:

Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking by Martin Jacobs and Beverly Cox, is an extremely well-done book, beautifully designed with great background into, excellent photography and many great recipes. It is among my top five favorite cookbooks and that is saying something because I own MANY!

The Art of Native American Cooking by Yeffe Kimball and Jean Anderson is a paperback book with related illustrations, but no photographs. It makes up for that with some great in-depth writing and a plethora of great recipes. Some of the recipes are traditional and some have contemporary slants/ingredients.

The Americas have a rich native heritage and while the food and cooking contributions of its Native people are now universal, they have gone largely unrecognized. If you love to cook and eat as much as I do, it is time for you to explore this great cuisine. Trust me, you will not be disappointed! Either of these books are a great introduction to the subject.