More Millet Muffins Madame

A couple of years ago when my mom introduced me to quinoa, I thought to myself how unique it was. Now I find that it’s everywhere. So when earlier this summer I was listening to NPR and the show was explaining the benefits of millet, I thought, “This will totally be the next quinoa.” Perhaps it already is and I’m not as cultured as I consider myself to be. But I was inspired. After listening to the NPR program I bought some millet from Whole Foods in their bulk section, then put it away in the pantry and completely forgot it for the entire summer. Then a couple of weeks ago my mom was going through the pantry and took the millet out asking me what it was. I had forgotten entirely, but the voice in the back of my head said to keep it and not to throw it out. How did I remember that it was the millet I had bought after being enthralled with the NPR program? I have no idea, but it came to me one day, yet I didn’t know what to do with it. I looked around and decided to make millet muffins.

"Harvesters Resting" By Jean Francois Millet

Millet is an ancient grain that’s been around for centuries. According to Wikipedia (the encyclopedia whose main purpose is to make individuals procrastinate) archaeologists believe millet was more prevalent than rice in the prehistoric era. There are many different varieties of millet from all over the world, but India is the proud country to have the highest produce followed with West Africa. Cultures use it as a main staple item, ground up as flour, ingredient in local alcohol and additionally (again, according to Wikipedia) as bird feed, particularly for parakeets and filling for juggling beanbag. Who knew?

Millet doesn’t seem to have the same nutritional value as quinoa, but similar value to wheat, however, it doesn’t contain gluten. It’s high in B vitamins good for: healthy skin, hair and muscle tone (Heavens knows I’d like that), improved immune and nervous system function, increase the rate of metabolism and reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer whooooo!

Millet Muffins: courtesy of allrecipes.com

So here we go - millet muffins. They came out delicious. A bit sweet but I think next time I’ll put in less brown sugar. And instead of regular flour I used whole wheat flour to make it more healthy (though the amount of brown sugar that went in counter balanced the healthiness of the whole wheat flour). I think I was expecting the texture to be more like corn bread, but maybe that would have been the end result if I had ground up the millet a bit instead of roasting the grain whole. In the end the millet adds an interesting, yet appropriate crunch to the muffins. If you have a desire to make these muffins I roughly followed the recipe from this website: http://www.slashfood.com/2008/08/01/millet-muffins-from-the-metropolitan-bakery-cookbook/

Farmer's Markets and Heirloom Tomatoes

I don't like tomatoes. I never really have. I'm trying to like them, slowly, gradually because I know they're so good for you. Vitamin C, antioxidants etc etc.
I remember a couple of years ago, a college roommate brought some fresh picked cherry tomatoes from her house and offered me one, saying it tasted like candy. It did not. Not according to the kind of candy I eat.


However, heirloom tomatoes are delicious. How does this make sense, you ask? I have no idea. But I'm intrigued by the beautiful colors, designs, shapes and even taste of these tomatoes. And where is the best place this time of year to find this beautiful produce? FARMER'S MARKETS! Living in Colorado the summer season is short, but I truly appreciate every morning Sunday when local farmers come to the village, set up their stall and sell their juicy, fresh produce. It's expensive, no doubt about that, but totally worth it. You're supporting local farmers and eating wholesome foods. Yesterday at the farmer's market I was convinced by my favorite peach farmer to buy some of their apples. His winning argument: The apples in the grocery store may have been stored in a cold storage center for up to three months! But these apples here (points to apples) were pick within the last four days. Sold!


Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I visited my friend in San Francisco and we stopped by her neighborhood's farmer's market where I saw the most terrific mosaic of heirloom tomatoes. We bought a few, some mozzarella and some fresh basil and made an insalata caprese. This salad...mmm mmm good. No need for more description.

Brick Lane Market, London

A Moroccan feast on Brick Lane.

Minkie's Café, Chamberlayne Rd., London

A latté, with a side of steamed milk artistry.

Higher Ground | Playing For Change

speaking about our ever-changing and globalized world, we love this video. props to Ms. Hannah for finding it.

Thames Festival - London

A gastronomical collage of last weekend's Thames Festival on the banks of the eponymous river in London!

The Savory

Ethiopian stews

A tasty taco truck!

The Sweet

Fudge - ya dig?

Cupcake swag

Amen.

The national food of El Salvador - pupusas

I've been in El Salvador for almost 2 months now, and for the most part I am less than thrilled with the food. However, the one shining star for me has been the national food of El Salvador - the pupusa!

The tortillas that are eaten in El Salvador are made of corn flower and are very thick (about 1/4 of an inch) and doughy. Alone they are fairly disgusting, and sit in your stomach like a lump for the rest of the day. However, when these tortillas are stuffed with a variety of delicious and salty fillings (cheese, beans, fried pork skin...), they reach a whole new level of guilty pleasure food. This is the pupusa. Stuffed with goodness and topped with warm tomato salsa and curtido (basically cole slaw with a vinegar base rather than mayo). Luckily for me, pupusas are abundant here and can be eaten for any meal. They are small, and people usually eat 3-5 to form a full meal. Recipe and pictures below :)

Pupusas

· Masa de maiz (corn flour, can be bought at the supermarket I think)

· Water

· Cheese

o Here they buy 2 types of cheese – really soft and bland queso fresco and really hard and sharp queso duro (shredded), and then mix them together with their hands till they are completely blended. This way the cheese is soft, but has the sharp flavor of the hard cheese. In the US, the best comparison would probably be to buy mozzarella cheese and then kneed in some shaved parmesan

o Also, here people often add to their queso chopped loroco (the national flower - its buds are a common seasoning). Loroco barely has any flavor so leaving it out will not harm the taste of the finished product.

· Filling

o Most common filling here is fried pork skin and refried beans. Pork skin is not my thing, so I prefer to leave it out and just use refried beans. You can buy refried beans, or make them yourself! (If you buy the refried beans, make sure you heat them up a little on the stove with some oil so that they are warm and malleable when you start forming the pupusas)

· Vegetable oil

Directions

· Mix 2 cups of masa and 1.5 cups of water. Mix until a soft dough is formed. Wet hands, and form a small ball of dough (a little bigger than a golf ball). Poke a hole in the dough, and add a little bit of cheese and a little of beans. Re-roll into a ball, with the filling in the middle. Flatten the ball into a fat tortilla.

· Heat a little vegetable oil in a fry pan over medium high heat. Place pupusas in fry pan and cook, flipping occasionally. Cook until browned and cheese inside appears to be slightly bubbling

Pupusa ingredients: top left: masa, bottom left: cheese, top right: loroco, bottom right: beans

forming the pupusas

Usually they're not this messy looking

Curtido

· Shredded cabbage (not too fine)

· Sliced onion (not chopped)

· Sliced carrot

· Green beans (cut in half)

· Beetroot (optional)

· Cauliflower, in small pieces

· Vinegar

· Water

· Oregano (optional)

Directions

· Mix all ingredients together (should be ¾ vinegar, ¼ water) in a big bowl, put in the fridge. You should have about equal parts all veggies, although more cabbage than anything else. Not sure on exact measurements, but should kind of look like cole slaw. Here, they use a vinegar made of fruit, but I don’t think it matters what kind you use as long as there is no specific flavor to it

veggies for the curtido and salsa

Salsa Roja

· Large (roma) tomatoes

· Green pepper, chopped (optional)

· Vegetable oil

· Onion, chopped

· Garlic cloves, chopped

· Cilantro

· Salt (as needed)

· Hot pepper such as jalapenos (optional)

Amounts will vary depending on how much salsa you’re making

Directions:

· Blanch tomatoes in boiling water, remove and place in bowl. Remove skin of tomatoes; blend (in blender or food processor) with chopped pepper, cilantro, hot pepper (if using – people here usually don’t use it, but I prefer it!).

· In saucepan, heat oil and cook onion and garlic till slightly brown. Add tomato mixture and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water and salt as necessary

· [Salsa here is very liquidy (resembles tomato soup) and is served hot over the pupusas]

Eating

Salvadorans usually peel their pupusa in half (so they have 2 round tortillas with filling on top) and then put curtido and salsa on top of these halves, tear them into chunks and eat with their fingers. I prefer to tear my entire pupusa into chunks (so the filling remains in the middle) and put curtido and salsa on top and eat it all with my fingers. This way, I am able to keep molten cheese from sticking to my fingers and burning me (most of the time).

[Note: pupusas are NEVER eaten with a fork. That would be sacrilegious]

finished product