Nothing Says Autumn Like Cacti!

Or at least, nothing says autumn in the desert like cactus fruits, otherwise known as prickly pears, or in Mexico, "tunas."

It's really strange to think that something this juicy and sweet is all over the place out here.

You should note however, that picking these fruits off of state, county, or city land without a "removal of natural resources" permit is against the law, so you either have to get a permit through your state (which is expensive...btw), or you can harvest them from your property, or someone else's private property (with the land owner's permission, of course.) Or... if you live in a really exciting place, you may have a farmer's market where these are sold.

Harvesting laws aside, these fruits are a rare gem in the desert. They tend to be slightly sweet, very juicy, and have a real sour kick. Not like a lemon, but more like a tart kiwi, with some cherry, and berry flavors. They can be used for all sorts of goodies. I made a classic prickly pear jelly, a tuna infused tequila, and some prickly pear syrup for drinks. You can even eat the tunas straight up, but watch out, since they're full of seeds, and remind me of chewing on tasty gravel.

Preparing them is a somewhat laborious process, but doesn't have to be tricky or hard. You just have to take your time. Of course, since they're cacti, they have pokey thorns of death. And even worse than the large obvious stickers, the tunas have very tiny barbed spines called "glochids." These are the things that usually stick in you and give you a pain in the ass when you rub into a cactus. Although they're on the tunas, if you follow a few steps you can avoid getting poked by them, in your finger, throat or otherwise.

Harvesting requires some "ingredients" if you can call them that...

Bring with you:

a pair of leather gloves
long metal chef's tongs
a cardboard box or bucket you don't mind throwing away afterward

Dress in jean pants, and a long sleeve shirt in case you brush against any cacti.

Search for the bright colored tunas atop the prickly cacti. The ripe ones will be dark reddish-purple, uniform in color, and some what plump. It's easiest to remove them by grasping them with the tongs and twisting the tunas off. If you just pull them, they'll usually tear and leave some of the fruit left on the cactus. Once you twist them off, if you look into the tear wound, the flesh inside will be brightly colored and juicy. Some of the fruits may even gush magenta colored liquid down the cacti pads when you pull them off.

These are my tunas in a box. My box made a double batch of jelly, 750 ml of tuna tequila, and about 2 cups of prickly pear syrup.

Once you have obtained the fruits, now you have to prepare them for whatever.

This mostly involves washing any tasty nature bits off, as well as, scrubbing out some of the glochids.

For this part you'll need:

Lab gloves (vinyl, latex, nitrile, whatever)
Fork
Dish Brush that you don't mind throwing away afterwards
Sheet Pan
Pairing Knife (if you're planning on skinning them. we'll get to that later)

Put your gloves on!!! I learned this the hard way. If you don't, you'll end up with glochids in your fingers.

Start by stabbing a tuna and running it under cold water. I found it easiest to stab the top dried-out looking part. Use the dish brush to scrub off bird poop, and insect leavings, and also in the process start removing the glochids in your scrubbing. If you look closely in the sink, you'll see them going down the drain. They look like little hairs.


This is the part where you skin them. For making my tequila, I skinned mine. I wanted the tequila to get the best contact with the juicy flesh, since I wouldn't be squashing them like in the jelly/syrup recipe. If you're not going to do the skinning step, you just half the washed tunas and place them in a giant stock pot. We'll get to the jelly recipe and steps later.

Still holding the tuna with the fork, place it on the sheet pan like shown. It's important to use a sheet pan! If you use your wood, or plastic cutting board, you'll ruin it. It will become full of glochids and you'll have to throw it way. Metal washes off nicely. Hooray for hard materials!


Use your pairing knife to cut the skins off the tunas. This is just like skinning an apple, or grapefruit. Don't worry about getting really close to the top where the fork is. We're going to cut the top off anyways. When you're done rotating and skinning, you should have a little flower looking shape at the bottom. Hold the skin down, and pull the fruit up and off.


Now maneuver the fork so you're stabbing in horizontally, and chop the top off.


Halve the fruit, marvel at the obnoxious pink/red/purple/magenta color, and then chuck into a jar.



that's it!! (for preparing at least...)

Now you get to make stuff.

I'll start with my tequila infusion. I used two quart jars for 750 mL of tequila.

You'll need:

1 750 mL of blanco tequila
2 Quart Mason jars
your prepped tunas

Half the tequila between the two jars, and then fill with prepped tunas. Let sit for a week or so, and give a good shake once a day to the jars! it's that easy!



When the time is up, begin by coarse filtering the slop. This step will remove all the fruit and seeds. I used an unlined colander and filtered into a big bowl. I also pressed on the solids to extract as much juice as I could. Then fine filter the bowl of liquid. This step is for removing any extra glochids in the solution. I used a fine meshed sieve, lined with several layers of cheesecloth. Let the solution filter, ring out the cheese cloth if you're anal about getting all that tequila back and then place back in your bottle!! TADA!!



You can use this to make prickly pear margaritas. Although, I noticed that the prickly pears already added quite a sour kick, so you may be able to cut back on the lime juice, and possibly add a little more triple sec, or even some orange juice to cut the tang down.


Now... on to the jelly and syrup!

These recipes didn't need skinned tunas, so they were a bit easier.

For either recipe you'll need to first cook down the tunas to make "juice."

This is easy. Just dump the halved and washed tunas in a stock pot, add enough water to just come to the edge of the tunas, and then simmer. While the tunas are simmering, use a potato masher to mash the tunas and extract more juice. Cook 'em up for a while, and then strain the liquid just like in the tequila recipe.

Once you have strained, glochid free juice, you're ready for jelly/syrup!

I started by reserving 2 cups of juice for the syrup. Everything else went into the jelly.

Jelly Recipe:

2.5 cups of juice (or however much juice you have, and the rest is made up with water)
1.75 oz powdered pectin (1 package)
3 Tbsp lemon
3.5 cups sugar

begin by heating the juice in a pot. When boiling, add the pectin, and continually stir for a good 10 minutes. Skim the foamy stuff off the top for a clear jelly. Add the lemon juice, and then gradually whisk in the sugar until it's all dissolved. Ladle the hot jelly into jelly jars (i used 8 oz masons), and then follow the typical canning procedure of capping, submerging, boiling, and cooling the jelly. It should set up nicely, and you'll have the most obnoxious colored jelly to give to all your friends.



The syrup, is just a simple syrup, with 2 Cups juice, and one cup of white sugar. Boil to dissolve, and cook to allow some of the sucrose to break down, preventing it from crystallizing when it cools. Bottle it up and use it for things!!

I found a delicious drink was:

1 shot Gin
8-10 oz ginger ale
some of that syrup...

shake, mix, rattle, roll, drink, spill... what have you. oh yeah, it's more pink that you even know what to do

Fruit Tarts

Dessert of the week 1.

Our office, has started dessert of the week, and one person per week is scheduled to bring a tasty delicacy in.

I got the hankering for tarts while i was at Flying Star in Albuquerque. They really have great tarts, although i'd have to say their custard tastes more like a light vanilla yogurt than an a pastry cream.

For this recipe, i used the esteemed "Baker's Illustrated" for ideas.

I'll try to keep updated on upcoming desserts.

Fruit Tarts with Cream Custard

Custard:
2 C Half-Half
8 tsp Sugar
5 Yolks
3 Tbsp Cornstarch
4 Tbsp cold Butter
1.5 tsp Vanilla
salt

Heat the half n half with 6 Tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt in a medium pot.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks with the remaining 2 Tbsp sugar until dissolved. Add cornstarch and continue whisking until the mix is pale yellow and thick.

Temper the yolk mixture with the hot half n half, and then add the eggs to the half n half and cook over medium heat till bubbles burst on surface and the mixture is glossy and thickened.

Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla, and then strain through a sieve.

cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge

Shell:
1 Yolk
1 Tbsp Cream
1/2 tsp Vanilla
6.25 oz Flour
2.33 oz Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
8 Tbsp Cold Butter (cubed)

Whisk the yolk, cream, and vanilla together and set aside.

process the flour, salt, and sugar to mix, and then scatter the butter cubes throughout and process in pulses until mealy.

process in the liquid mixture until dough just comes together, then wrap in plastic and fridgerate it for about an hour.

Roll out the dough into tart shells, and freeze for half an hour. then line the frozen shell with foil and cover with pie weights or beans. Bake in a 375 F oven for 30 ish minutes, then remove the foil and weights and bake another 10 ish minutes till golden.

Assemble the tarts by filling with chilled pastry cream, and placing fresh cut fruit atop.

It's Knot Bread, Even Though It Is

This was inspired by one of the bread servings I tasted at Alinea a few months back.

While the radish isn't particularly as notable as I would have preferred, the bread is wonderfully smooth and chewy, and the egg wash atop created a nice crispy crust for the poppy seeds to stick to. I might consider doubling the radish amount to get more flavor into the dough.

The recipe is fairly simple. It's a basic bread dough, with radish puree, nothing special.

Radish Poppy Seed Knot Bread

3 tsp Dry Yeast

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 Cup Warm Water

1 Egg

1 Bunch of Radishs (puree'd)

3 Tbsp Butter

1 tsp Salt

Flour

Poppy Seeds

Proof the yeast in the water with the sugar, and then add the egg and radish puree. Stir in about 1.5 cups flour to form the sponge, and beat well. Let spong-i-nate for about 20 min in a warm oven.

Add the butter in small cubes, along with the salt. Start mixing/kneading in flour until your dough comes together and is smooth, and not sticky (but not too dry either!!! better on the sticky side, than the dry side!). Raise in warm oven for 30 min.

Punch down dough, and then take hand-full sized gobs and roll into snakes, then tie into knots. if the dough is too tense for knots, let it relax for a few minutes, and then continue. Let rise for about 15 min, and meanwhile preheat oven to 350 F.

Bake until toasty brown (about 20 ish minutes).

Tomato and Bean Soup

My soup obsession continues.

With all the great ripe summer tomatoes everywhere on the market, along with my basil plants overflowing, tomato soup is a perfect way to use all that summer freshness.

Tomato and White Bean Soup

2 lbs Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 medium Onions (about 10 oz), coarsely chopped

3 cloves Garlic, minced

3.5 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste (preferrably sun-dried)

2 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Ground Coriander Seed

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1 Tbsp Cornstarch

15 oz Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained

few bunches of Basil, chopped

Dash of Cream

Salt and Pepper

First, peel the tomatoes by slicing an X on the bottom of the tomatoes and blanching in boiling water for 1 minute. Core and quarter the peeled tomatos, and then cut each quarter in half. I guess that's just essentially eighths. EIGHTH THE TOMATOES!

Heat the oil in a soup pot (5-6 quarts), and saute the onion and garlic until just softening up.

Add the tomatoes to the onions, along with the stock, paste, paprika, coriander, and cumin. Salt and Pepper to taste, and bring to a full boil. Then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 ish minutes.

Mix the cornstarch into a paste with 2 Tbsp of water, and add the paste along with the beans to the soup. Allow the soup to heat throughly (another 10 min or so), and then add in the basil and cream. Stir and ladle into bowls!

Shrimp Bisque

First, I have to admit that I absolutely adore soups. Winter, spring, summer, it doesn’t matter. Second, shrimp bisque is probably my favorite soup of all (although tomato bisque is right there with it). This recipe is sort of a mish mash of all the flavors I found great in shrimp bisques that I’ve tried. The vegetables in the soup prevent it from tasting overly fishy, while the cream adds that distinctive creaminess, and the cayenne pepper give the soup a little bite.

Shrimp Bisque

Olive Oil
2 Leeks, green and white parts coarsely chopped
2 Carrots, chunked
1 Onion, chunked
2 Celery Stalks, chunked
3 cloves Garlic, smashed
¼ Cup Brandy
¼ Cup Dry Sherry
4 Cups Seafood Stock
4 sprigs Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 lbs Shrimp, peeled and veined
¼ Cup Butter
¼ Cup Flour
2 Cups Half & Half (or Cream, if you want it really rich)
3 Tbs Tomato Paste

Begin by sautéing the leeks, carrots, onion, and celery with some olive oil. After the veggies begin to brown up, add in the garlic, toss around. Add the Brandy, and stir until the alcohol evaporates. Repeat with the sherry, and then add the seafood stock. Add the thyme, bay leaf, and cayenne, and bring to a boil. Allow the soup to cook on a simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Bring the soup up to a full boil, add the shrimp, and then remove from heat. Stir the soup until the shrimp are cooked and pink, about 5 minutes.

Puree the soup in batches in a processor, and store in a separate container from the pot it was cooking in.

In the original soup pot, melt the butter, add the flour, and whisk until the roux comes together. Add the half & half, along with the shrimp soup puree and whisk until it begins to thicken. Whisk in the tomato paste and serve bubbling hot with a few flash seared shrimps!

Toasts!!

French Green Lentil & Arugula Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette atop Prosciutto & Goat Cheese Toasts

Sourdough Loaf
Olive Oil
6 oz Goat Cheese
¼ lb. Procuitto
1 cup French Green Lentils
1 cup Chicken Stock
3 sprigs Thyme
1 cup water
5 oz Arugula
1 Red Onion Sliced
1 clove Garlic minced
3 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Honey
¼ cup Olive Oil

Oven at 375 F

Rinse lentils, and place in small sauce pot. Add chicken stock, water, thyme and season with salt. Bring to boil and cook for 15-20 min. Don’t let them get mushy!

Begin by slicing the sourdough into 1 inch thick slices. Rub with olive oil and crisp in the oven for 2-3 minutes. Remove the toasts and spread the goat cheese even over the toasts. Top with a ribbons of prosciutto and put back in the oven until the prosciutto begins to crisp up. Mix up the balsamic vinaigrette by combing the vinegar and the honey, and then drizzling in the olive oil while whisking.

Sauté the onion and garlic until it begins to caramelize, and then add the vinaigrette.

Pour the warm vinaigrette/onions along with the drained lentils over the arugula in a large mixing bowl, and toss to coat. Serve the toasts with the lentil/arugula salad overtop.

I modified this recipe from Tyler Florence’s similar dish.

Squid Ink Noodles

These noodles are made with squid ink, which gives them their distinctive black color. While cooking, they omit a slightly briny odor, like the sea, but as far as taste, they're just like regular noodles. They're more for that wow "black" factor than anything else.

While I didn't make these, I can at least vouch for their tastiness. Although, it wouldn't be hard to make your own. All you need is 1 or 2 tablespoons of squid ink added to your regular semolina pasta recipe.

The brand I used is called "La Campofilone," which are surprisingly the best dried noodles I've had recently. They say that they only use semolina, and eggs (no water) to make their noodles, and then slow dry them at slightly higher than room temperature. I don't know much about noodle making, but apparently they do, because these dried noodles are the closest thing to fresh noodles that I've had short of the real ones.