(And a side of Edamame)

(pescetarian, gluten-free)

In Praise (Mostly) of Surprises

The other morning, I shook a healthy dose of fresh ground black pepper into my fair-trade organic Peruvian roast. Let me just say that the prize dolt at the coffee shop who put the opaque pepper shaker next to the identical cinnamon and cocoa shakers needs to be fired. Or at least similarly deprived of java for a day. I was on the road again before I realized my gaffe. Tempted as I was (the elongated monologue persisted through the rest of my commute), I just could not drink the coffee. But it got me to thinking.

I spent the rest of the morning, in fact, brainstorming secret ingredients. You know, those unexpected recipe additions that are not directly tasted, but whose presence would be missed. Or the pairings that seem star-crossed but turn out to be revolutionary. Like salt on chocolate. Have you ever experienced the way that cilantro, basil and mint, when combined, form a new flavor that is unlike any of its parts? Or the way that curry powder and chili powder, which share many base spices, are utterly distinct? Then there’s what a scoop of vanilla does to bubbly sassafras.

Who knew my pre-caffeinated brain could fire in so many directions?

It’s possible that I started a trend that morning at the coffee shop. Some woman who had just gotten her own cup of joe was smiling really big at me while I whisked the pepper with the stir stick. I just thought she was oddly friendly, or happy about having her first injection of java in sight. And we are in an urban area. There was also the guy sitting on the wall outside the shop, waving and hooting at passing traffic. I thought maybe they were together.

In retrospect, I have to assume she could only have been laughing at me.

Then again, maybe she was only puzzling over it, wondering if she were the one who was missing something. Perhaps she’ll even try it herself. Pepper and Peruvian, freshly ground, could turn out to be the next thing, like chipotle in chocolate. But if the trend comes to your coffee house, skip it. This coming from the girl who started it all…

My garden has been a pirate’s chest of unplanned-for flavors this year. This pretty Alma Paprika is an example of that. A Hungarian horticultural immigrant to these parts, the heirloom is supposed to be sweet and mildly hot. Last year it was, too. This year though my garden is turning out Alma Paprikas with a decidedly bigger row of teeth. This year, it’s a pepper that bites you back.

Also, what I thought were going to be more cucumbers seem to be shaping up like some sort of melon. A volunteer, I guess, rising from the compost that was worked into the soil last fall. And let’s not forget that Chinese Red Meat.

I found another surprise this week – two bushes of edamame. True, I had planted them, but they were easily lost among the riot of other beans – you see what I mean?

I found this prize when I was mucking around in the foliage for another renegade zucchini.

The word edamame is Japanese for “beans on branches”, which is exactly how they grow. Edamame are soybeans that are eaten immature, when the beans are still green inside the pods.

These stowaways in my garden are of the Shirofumi variety. The seeds came from Seed Saver’s Exchange, and like all edamame, they are something of a circus sideshow, half-bean, half-cat with their fine, white or light brown hairs sprouting all along the pods. They look a bit charged with static electricity.

Cooking Edamame: At just about 40% protein, they are a valuable snack. They also pack a healthy dose of calcium, iron, and vitamins A, B1, B12 and C. You sushi addicts out there (like me) are well familiar, but for those uninitiated, they’re a real treat, simply boiled and salted. To cook a pound of fresh edamame, bring a kettle of water to a boil. Add the edamame, let the water return to a roiling boil and then cook for about 7 minutes, testing a bean now and then for doneness. Drain, place beans in a bowl and salt them. They are best served hot but can also be chilled.

And with such a simple preparation, they don’t count as a recipe. With all these thoughts of culinary experimentation, inadvertent as it sometimes is, I worked out a recipe with fish and peaches and Asian lime dressing to go over it.

This week’s peach is a Glow Haven. They’re similar to the Red Havens I wrote about last week, except that it’s a free stone fruit, meaning that the seeds come easily loose. I found them less sweet than the Red Havens have been, so I thought I’d caramelize them a bit on the grill to bring forth their flavor.

The salad also combines mint, basil and cilantro, which I mentioned above as constituting a flavor unto itself. The dressing contains lime juice and lime zest, which rounds and brightens all the flavors in this dish.

The recipe is half sweet, half savory. See what you think. And while you’re at it, I’d love to know what strange bedfellows you throw together in the kitchen, and what the result is.

Grilled Peaches and Prawns with Lime Dressing and Basil, Mint and Cilantro

Dressing:
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
¼ teaspoon sharp paprika, or for more heat, cayenne
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Salad:
1 pound of prawns, deveined
4 ripe peaches, quartered
Olive oil, for brushing
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, minced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped 24 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Sea salt

To make the dressing, combine lime juice, lime peel, and paprika or cayenne in a jar. Place lid on the jar and shake well. Add the olive oil and sea salt, replace lid and shake contents again until thoroughly mixed.

Prepare barbecue grill so that you have a medium-high heat. Brush peaches with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill them until they are warmed and slightly charred, about 3 minutes per side. Brush prawns with oil and sprinkle with salt and grill until they have turned pink and are slightly charred, about 2 minutes per side.

Transfer peaches and prawns to a bowl, or arrange them on a plate. Chop the cilantro, mint and basil as instructed above, and combine . Sprinkle the fresh herbs over peaches/prawns. Drizzle the arrangement with lime dressing, then scatter a pinch of sea salt on top. Enjoy!

Tags: alma paprika, edamame, grilled peaches, lime dressing, prawns, Shirofumi soybeans

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 7:02 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.