Uala Maoli

I found my recipe for Hawaiian Sweet Potato Casserole. I post it here in case anyone is searching for something a little different to complement their Thanksgiving dinner. It came from Hawaiian Cookbook by Roanna and Gene Schindler – given to me as a birthday gift from my sweet husband in 1991.

• 6 large sweet potatoes (2 1/2 pounds), parboiled and peeled OR 1 40 oz can
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 bananas, sliced
• 1 cup brown sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 can (16oz) crushed pineapple
• 1 cup pineapple juice mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons honey

Slice sweet potatoes 1/2 inch thick. Grease a heatproof casserole dish with a little butter (or coconut oil). Arrange in alternate layers starting with the sweet potatoes dotted with butter and salt, then the bananas sprinkled with brown sugar, and then the crushed pineapple. End with the sweet potatoes or the crushed pineapple. Combine the pineapple & lemon juices and honey and pour over mixture. Bake in 350 F preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until browned on top. Serves 6-8.

Kamailio (alternate suggestions):

This I have not tried. “If you like the refreshing taste of ginger root, mince and add it to the pineapple juice. Or use orange juice in place of pineapple juice. . . The recipe can be prepared in advance and refrigerated for 2 days or frozen. Shorten baking time to 25 minutes. Reheat in oven at 300 F until hot.”

Pickled Okra

This was our last week here for Farmers Market. But, I did pick up some more okra so I could have another try at pickled okra. The first go round went pretty well. Although I was a little disappointed at first as the flavor was pretty weak. But now, two months later, they are pretty good – good enough I want to do it again. I could not find an NT recipe for lacto-fermented okra, so I had to improvise. I used the basic pickle (cucumber) recipe from Nourishing Traditions for the”brine” and searched around for pickled okra recipes to get an idea on the spices.

• About a pound of small okra
• 1 jalapeno – seeded & quartered lengthwise
• 2 cloves garlic peeled & halved
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 cup filtered water
• 4 tbsp whey

Wash the okra well and place in a quart-sized mason jar. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the okra, adding more water if necessary to cover the okra.The top of the liquid should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

As I mentioned, it takes several weeks for these to really develop their flavor, so you have to be patient. And the flavor is not at all like the commercial variety, where the okra is pickled in vinegar. But once they have aged properly, they are very good – at least if you like okra. Now a bit from Sally Fallon on lacto-fermentation:

Lacto-fermentation is an artisanal craft that does not lend itself to industrialization. Results are not always predictable. For this reason, when the pickling process became industrialized, many changes were made that rendered the final product more uniform and more saleable but not necessarily more nutritious. Chief among these was the use of vinegar for the brine, resulting in a product that is more acidic and not necessarily beneficial when eaten in large quantities; and of subjecting the final product to pasteurization, thereby effectively killing all the lactic-acid-producing bacteria and robbing consumers of their beneficial effect on digestion.  Nourishing Traditions, p. 90.

Green Bean Casserole

Well, I’m not posting a recipe here. Instead, I’m directing folks to a real, from scratch, recipe I just found for that casserole everyone seems to love. This recipe uses real food. Doesn’t that look wonderful?

So, if green bean casserole is a must have for your Thanksgiving dinner, why not try this (instead of that standard french fried onion mushroom soup variety)?

Spaghetti Squash Pictures

First: Huge apology on the delay in posting these pictures. It’s been a whirlwind around here as my husband wrapped up at the Academy and we went house hunting. We’re preparing to move on to new adventures in central Texas.

Now, without further adue, here are the pictures of the Spaghetti Squash Casserole from the last post:

 

Spaghetti Squash

I usually just serve spaghetti squash like spaghetti, with a marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese, some salad, and perhaps a bit of garlic bread. But this time I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to try something different. That, and I was out of marinara sauce and didn’t have enough tomatoes to make my own.

In searching I found what sounded like a lovely casserole, but of course, had next to none of the ingredients (except the spaghetti squash, of course). Do check that one out and let me know if you try it. It does sound very good. And, it inspired me to see what I could pull together from what I did have in my kitchen.

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 bunch chopped green onion
• a couple Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt & pepper
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar
• bread crumbs

Bake the squash whole at 350 degrees for about an hour. Cool enough to handle, then cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Scrape out the stringy squash with a fork into a mixing bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients (except cheese and bread crumbs) in the squash and transfer to casserole. Sprinkle cheese on top, then bread crumbs. Drizzle a little olive oil over the crumbs. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Pictures to follow (I actually took a couple).

It turned out quite good and we ate it up gladly. But I think I might add more tomatoes and mix some of the cheese in with the squash next time around.