Jicama and Cabbage Salad--the Best of Two Worlds

In the first week of October, my sister came to visit us for three days. Of course, I wanted to be a good host and cook something that she would enjoy. The problem is that, although we grew in the same home, we are very different, especially when it comes to the culinary taste. As a child, she was the biggest picky eater any mother could imagine and, unfortunately, she has stayed that way. If you can imagine a person cutting the fat out of a perfectly lean prosciutto, that would be her. Almost in every dish there would be something that she finds "suspicious".

After going through hundreds of dinner ideas, I got discouraged and decided to go with the flow. My refrigerator is always full, especially now when I write a food blog, and any accidental guest can find something attractive there. When on a sunny day I was shooting my herring salad on the deck she did not even look in that direction; she has never had a piece of fish or any sea food in her mouth. Later that day I made a salad, also to take pictures of it. Surprisingly, it instantly became a culinary highlight of her visit. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she ate almost the whole huge bowl by herself over these three days. This salad blends perfectly the familiar with the exotic: our old good cabbage and beets with jicama and avocado that come from a completely different world. Jicama is the least known ingredient, which tastes like a mix of a pear and a radish, but more subtle than any of the two.

I was intrigued by this recipe from the moment I saw it probably already ten years ago. Since my cabbage recipe has been on of my biggest hits so far, from Mauritius to Copenhagen, I think it is a good moment to share this salad with those who check this blog.

At first, it seems that this salad won't be easy to make because it includes too many ingredients, not to mention two dressings, but most of them are either in our kitchens already or can be easily found in every supermarket. I modified slightly the original recipe by making the avocado dressing more thick and spicy, which turns this salad into a wonderful lunch meal in itself.

Jicama Purple Salad
(Serves 4-6; adapted from "Mexico: The Beautiful Cookbook")

Ingredients:
1/2 jicama cut into thin sticks (about 1 cup),
1 lb red cabbage (about half of the medium-sized head) thinly sliced,
1 medium raw beet thinly sliced (if you have a julienne slicer it would work best)
1/2 medium onion tiny sliced,
1 bag (6-8 oz) baby spinach,
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds.

Oil dressing:
2 tsp soy sauce,
1/2 cup corn oil,
2 tbsp cider vinegar,
1 tsp dried vegetable bouillon,
1 tsp dried oregano,
1 tsp dried tarragon.

Avocado dressing:
2 avocados flesh,
2 garlic cloves minced,
2 tbsp lime juice,
1 cup sour cream,
1 tbsp chopped chives,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. In a large bowl mix cabbage, beet, spinach, onion, and jicama.
2. Prepare the oil dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a a small bowl.
3. To make the avocado dressing, puree avocado,lemon, and cream in a blender. Transfer to another bowl. Add chives and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the oil dressing over the vegetables and mix until all are covered with it. Add sesame seeds and mix again.
5. Serve on individual plates with a couple of spoons of the avocado dressing on top.

This salad can be eaten just with bread or to accompany roasted or grilled meats.

Pumpkin Risotto--Halloween Leftovers

Now, when the kids' excitement is gone, we are left with pounds of candy and pumpkins still sitting on the porch. This is the once-a-year occasion when I have a pumpkin at home and can experiment with it. I have already exceeded my own expectations and posted two recipes from the pumpkin family--Squash Gnocchi and Curried Pumpkin Soup also made from Butternut Squash, which could be enough tribute to the most popular ingredient in the American cuisine, but I still have that orange, scary face looking at me from the porch. And the more I look at it the more tempted I am to cook my first truly pumpkin dish--Pumpkin Risotto. I completely forgot about it, when writing the post about my pumpkin shyness. But then, I found this recipe when I browsed in my old recipes notebook.

Years ago, I had a wonderful and delicious pumpkin dish--it was a pumpkin risotto, made by Alessandra, an Italian friend who now lives in Paris. Not only it was the best pumpkin dish I have ever eaten, but also one of the best risottos I have ever had. It was a cold and rainy February day in Paris and with a bunch of friends but we were lucky to be invited to her place for dinner. We were all tired, cold, and hungry and this smooth and warm dish with a glass of a good red wine was the best that we could have dreamed off that night. Later I obtained from her that recipe but, until now, never tried to make it myself.

Risotto like pasta can be made almost with anything. The basic preparation steps are are more or less the same, and just the additional ingredients and the finishing make a difference. I will stick to Alessandra's recipe though as the Italian family recipe is the best reference.

Pumpkin Risotto
(Serves six)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Arborio rice,
2 cups grated pumpkin,
4-6 cups vegetable or chicken stock,
2/3 cup white dry wine,
6-8 shallots or 1 large onion,
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and extra for finishing,
2 tbsp oil,
4 tbsp butter,
2 tbsp chopped parsley,
2 tbsp crème fraîche or sour cream,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Heat the vegetable stock in a pot and keep it hot while preparing risotto.
2. In a frying pan melt butter and oil. Add chopped onion and cook for about 3 minutes until soft and transparent.
3. Peel the pumpkin, grate it at a grater with large holes, add it to the fried onion, and cook together for about 5 minutes.
4. Add rice, stir it together, and cook until the rice becomes almost toasted.
5. Pour in wine and cook until it is absorbed.
6. Add the first cup of the hot stock to rice and cook until the rice becomes dry.
7. Repeat by adding the stock cup by cup, waiting until each portion gets absorbed. After you use 4 cups of liquid try if the rice is soft, but still al dente. If you still feel that the grains of rice are hard inside add another one or two cups of stock and cook for a little longer. The whole process should take 30-40 minutes.
8. When the risotto has the desirable softness turn off the heat. Add Parmesan and crème fraîche, stir, cover the pot, and let it stand aside for 5 minutes.
9. Serve with freshly shredded Parmesan and pepper on top.

I happen to have in my refrigerator some truffle butter brought from France--you can buy it at the Paris airport. I put a teaspoon of it on each portion, which made this simple risotto more festive and sophisticated.

Persimmon Panna Cotta--from the Greek Gods

Panna Cotta and Tiramisu certainly belong to the most popular Italian desserts. They are on many restaurants' menus, even those that are not Italian, like a good coffee, which everyone loves, regardless of the food that is served. There are many variations of Tiramisu. They all use Mascarpone cheese but differ in many other ingredients. The same happened to Panna Cotta, which has mutated into many versions and is served with many sauces. Last time, I had Panna Cotta in a small Italian restaurant in London's Portobello. I had a very good espresso and a very nice berry Panna Cotta. The fruit sauce was a little bit too sweet and strong, but since it was not an after-dinner dessert, but an afternoon snack, it did not seem too heavy after all and its richness was neutralized by a strong coffee.

I do not think I can come up with any new variation, that Italians do not know already, but as I pass a persimmon tree growing on my street and watch its fruits turning into more and more orange every day, I thought about making Panna Cotta with persimmon sauce.

Persimmons are acquired taste, but I do like their tomato-like look as well as their sweet and tart taste that stays on a tongue for a while. I eat them by pounds as any fruits, make salads and will try in more desserts. When I was about to leave Switzerland, Japanese persimmons (kakis) became very popular there and were often served with cheese platters instead of the traditionally used grapes, pears, or figs.

For this Panna Cotta recipe I combined cream with yogurt, to add contrast to the sweetness of the persimmons, which when ripe can be honey sweet. Here is my seasonal Panna Cotta variation with the sauce made of persimmons, which the ancient Greeks called Diospyros, that is the Fruit of the God. Let's try.

Persimmon Panna Cotta
(Makes 6 portions)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream,
1 cup Greek yogurt ( if you want to cut on calories 0 % fat will be suitable)
1/2 cup sugar,
2 tsp unflavored gelatin.
3 persimmons.

Preparation:
1. Sprinkle 2 tbsp water over the gelatin and let it stand for about 10 minutes.
2. Pour two cups of heavy whipping cream in a pot, add sugar, and heat on the medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boiling point.
3. Take the pot off the heat, add gelatin, and stir until it dissolves in the cream.
4. In a separate bowl mix yogurt and the remaining 1/2 cup cream.
5. Add the hot cream to a yogurt mixture and gently combine.
6. Divide the cream over 6 individual ramekins and cool for minimum of 4 hours.

7. Peel off persimmons and puree them all but one half.
8. Take Panna Cotta from the ramekins (you may need to dip the ramekins in the hot water for 5-10 seconds) pour over the persimmon pure, decorate with persimmon slices and serve.

On the picture below I put just a little bit of sauce, but when I was eating it I added much more of it and Panna Cotta was even more delicious and the taste of the persimmons was more detectable.