No Charge for the Extra Protein

[mark_asphodel]

 So this week's been Weird Food Week at the Asphodel Haus, except that it's really always Weird Food Week at my place.  Last night's "dinner" was kunafa/canafa, a Middle Eastern treat consisting of a hollow sesame bun filled with sweet cheese drenched in honey.  The local kunafa vendor recommends them for everything from breakfast to dinner.  It tastes great, but even eating half of it (the thing is the size of a bunned hamburger!) left me feeling like I'd swallowed lead.

Night before last I decided to make something reasonably healthy (and meatless), and after considering Generic Stir-Fry #512 I opted for something that is, shall we say, in season.  My passion is for cooking with flowers, and the little pink cookbook I've been toting around for more than two decades includes a recipe for Flor de Izote soup, using the white blossom of the Spanish Bayonet, aka yucca.  I just so happen to have, for the first time in my life, a free and pesticide-free supply of yucca in my front yard.  I had all the other ingredients (pepper, onion, tomatoes, basil) on hand, so I went out and denuded my yucca plants for the greater good.

I did notice that a lot of the blossoms, even the just-opened ones, were in sorry shape.

Anyway, it's been a while since I lived out West, and I'd momentarily forgotten facts I used to know well.  It didn't occur to me until I stuck my quart basin of yucca blossoms under the tap to wash them and a pair of silvery little moths flew out that I remembered, oh yes, something feeds on the blossoms besides people.  That explained the holes in so many of the petals.  I love butterflies and moths, even the humble ones, and so I did my best to salvage the dozens upon dozens of tiny caterpillars that infested my dinner ingredients.  I hope at least some of them will survive to mothhood, and at least I never found anything floating in the finished soup.  But man, what a way to make me feel guilty over cooking a special treat for dinner.

ETA: Here is the recipe for those interested.

Flor de Izote Soup (Cooking With Flowers, Zack Hanle, 1971).

3 cups fresh, washed yucca petals.  Save the hearts for something else.
2 large fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large fresh bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, sliced thin or minced
1 tsp fresh basil, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pt water
1/4 tsp freshly-ground pepper
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 package frozen peas 

Put everything except the peas in a soup pot and cook slowly for one hour.  Taste it and add more salt if necessary.  Add peas and cook for fifteen minutes more.  Soup will be thick-- add water if you think it's too pulpy.  Serves four.

I may make it with fresh peas next time.

In other news, my entry for fe_contest is up and notes will follow, probably tomorrow.

Also, another Nintendo Dream scan has surfaced, but this one is more of a history of Fire Emblem in general-- note the page space given to Thracia!  Also, am I crazy, or are they counting Akaneia Senki as a legitimate game in sequence here?  I see FOUR entries for the Super Famicom.  Do we have to re-do all the numbering conventions?

Comments

[myaru.livejournal.com]

That story is a little traumatizing. I still haven't recovered from the last time I found something crawling in my dinner ingredients. Do not want.

But... how was it? Your interest in cooking with flowers is really interesting, because it never occurred to me to try, beyond adding petals to tea or using flower waters.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

After many critter horror-stories, I am mostly immune to the ick factor of stuff in my food. It's kind of the risk we run by not eating something drenched in pesticide and then wrapped in plastic, you know? But since these were innocent little moths with no designs on destroying anything beyond yucca blossoms, I did feel bad for them. Grain moths in the pantry look about the same, but I know they're pure evil and feel no shame in killing them.

But... how was it?

Really, it was quite good. Raw yucca blossoms have a slightly bitter taste, but either cooking or a pinch of salt neutralized that and they ended up working very well with the flavor of basil. The soup is thick (I actually added a cup more water to keep it from becoming a pulp), but it's not stock-based so all the flavor comes from your fresh ingredients. There's a spoonful of sugar in it, too, so it's slightly sweet, but again that worked with the tomato and basil. I guess I'll add the recipe to the main post, under a cut. It's a refreshing summer soup, totally vegetarian and technically vegan if you don't count the caterpillars.

Your interest in cooking with flowers is really interesting, because it never occurred to me to try, beyond adding petals to tea or using flower waters.

Thanks. Use of flowers as an actual vegetable is great fun-- it's daylily season right now, and those are great in stir-fry, especially with pork or tofu. You can pickle them, too, but I haven't tried it yet. Chrysanthemums are another flower with savory applications, especially in Chinese food.

[myaru.livejournal.com]

Thank you for adding the recipe! I'd like to try it some time, though I don't think we have a source for yucca blossoms up here (that isn't in someone else's yard, I mean). Figures. Where I grew up, it would have been easy to get them.

This is true, though; trying to avoid pesticides means you're more likely to find something unpleasant when you're cutting a head of napa cabbage.

I might have access to day lilies, though. Squash blossoms are big here, too, or they were last year. I'll have to explore this more.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I had the leftover soup today in a wrap-- a spinach wrap, with brown rice, then the soup, then a little Greek yogurt. It was goooood. I mean, really good.

Squash blossoms are cool-- I've stuffed them with lamb, for instance. Also, you can even buy those canned in Hispanic markets, which should be easy for you. As for daylilies, lunch on Saturday was a stir-fry of Spam (no, really-- we had some leftover from a sushi-making experiment) with lily blossoms and snow peas in a very basic Chinese-style sauce. Way way better than it sounds. Salt content was terrible, of course. With daylilies you just have to be certain you're eating lilies from the Hemerocallis genus and not just any old orange lily, but once you've got the basics it's an easy ID. Also, some people are allergic, so it's best to nibble a petal or two in the company of a friend before chowing down. After that, it's totally worth it!

[penandpaper71.livejournal.com]

That does not sound like a fun experience. D:

I liked your fic. I'll review it later/tomorrow when I have more energy. I'm really tired right now. -_-

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Cool. I look forward to the review, seeing as you're a fan of both characters.