Muspalus (Loquat) Cobbler

This blog entry is a continuation of the Loquat writeup on 4/26/2010.To recap, on Moday, upon returning home from work, I found some discarded Loquat tree branches across the street. I plucked the fruit and returned home with a sack of Loquats.

My neighbor's tree

Growing up in Lafourche, we had one of these trees on our bayou-side property. I've always called them Muspalus (pronounced MOOSE-pa-LOOSE). I asked around at work and everyone who knew the fruit had a different name for it. One guy pronounced it MIS-please and another called then MIS-BLEEF.  Whatever you call it, here is a little info I dug up on the fruit from loquatworld.com:

The loquats [pronounced: "LOH-kwahts"] (Also called May Apple, Japanese medlar, and/or Japanese plum) are one of the first fruits to ripen in the spring. The tartly sweet, aromatic 1-1/2" golden-yellow to orange fruit that resembles an apricot in size and color usually ripen in mid to late spring. The juicy, crisp flesh is pale yellow and has a delicate, sweetly tart cherry-like or pear-like flavor. It surrounds 1 to 3 seeds that are about the size of apricot pits. The seeds are smooth and rounded but somewhat flatted on one or two sides. The yellow fleshy edible fruits are eaten raw, cooked, or made into jelly. These fruits are favorites among Asian cultures.
 
The tasty edible fruit are considered a great delicacy in the Orient. It is closely related to the pear and apple trees...not the citrus tree called "komquat". The loquat is referred to as "Nisparo" in the lush areas around Costa Blanca, Spain. They are seen growing in CALLOSA D’EN SARRIÀ (ALICANTE) and the fruit is protected by covering the trees with fine netting. Although the trees were originally grown as ornamental trees in China, Japan, and India, they were not grown for their fruit until about the 1700's. The Jesuits eventually planted them on the Mauritius Islands about 850km east of Madagascar near East Africa. Then they were taken to France in about 1784 and then to Italy in 1812. At about that time a merchant seaman named Captain Roig introduced them to Sagunto’s harbour and spread them throughout the Eastern and Southeastern coast of Spain being a part of the Iberian Peninsula.

A last red-type, bold face warning reads, "Warning! Do not eat, chew, or swallow the seeds. The loquat seed may be highly toxic. Remove the fleshly fruit from the seed before eating or cooking."

I asked the blogosphere for guidance, "Picked some free fruit today. What should I do with it?" You responded:

Elijah Chong said, "I took some muspalus seeds from that tree in Lafayette. They are soaking in water.

We used to make cobbler all the time in boy scouts, I wish i could remember how... but hey, I can tie a square knot."

Laurie Lejeune said, "Muspalus!!!! We had the best tree at our old house in Larose. Only ate them off the tree, but cobbler does sound like a possibility. Muspalus Meringue Pie"

Marsha Serigny said, "Check this one out Taylor. We used to make something called Ratafia when I worked with Chef Folse in his test kitchen. It is a fruit Brandy. You need a large (really large) crock or non-metallic container. Put your fruit (pits, skin and all) into the crock with 2 gallons of Brandy. Cover with cheesecloth and let sit in a cool, dry place for 6 weeks. After 6 wks, strain through cheesecloth and add simple syrup to taste. Bottle and enjoy. This stuff is really good if you like sipping on Brandy. If you don't, you can always make jam. Here is an Emeril recipe for something similar to the Ratafia: http://www.emerils.com/recipe/5235/Japanese-Plum-Brandy."

Rebecca Boothby said, "Just eat 'em."

Andy Baker said, "I usually eat them raw, they can be cooked in syrup or made into jam. Dewberries are coming in, blackberries are looking to be bountiful in a few weeks."

Heather Saker said, "There was the sweetest woman back home who used to make a butter with these (she also made popcorn balls for Halloween - awesome lady). Sorry...I don't have her recipe, and I know making jams, jellies, and butters can be complicated. hmmm...I know she used cinnamon. A cobbler or crumble would be easier and still tasty. I'm interested to see what ya do. :) Have fun!"

In the end, I chose to go with the original recommendation made by my neighbor as I picked the fruit - cobbler.  Loquatworld.com supplied a range of recipes such as jelly, jam, sauce for ice cream, wine, compote, salsa, and pickled loquat. I followed the cobbler recipe:

LOQUAT COBBLER
Loquatworld.com

Filling
2 lbs loquats, seeded and quartered
7 TBS Sugar
1 TB All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons Lemon or Orange Juice, fresh squeezed

Topping
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar (reserved)
1/2 cup Buttermilk well shaken
3 TBS Cold unsalted butter cut into bits

Make Filling
Toss all filling ingredients together in a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate
and let stand until juicy, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Make Topping
Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk with a fork just until combined (do not over mix).

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough over filling, leaving spaces in between to allow topping to expand. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake cobbler in middle of oven until fruit is tender and topping is golden, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly, about 15 minutes, and serve warm.

In the process, I learned that the recipe probably needs less sugar and cinnamon. The fruit is so sweet in it's ripened state that 7 tablespoons of sugar seems like overkill. The 1 teaspoon of cinnamon seemed to overpower the taste of the Muspalus. My next harvest will probably be made into some sweet wine as suggested by Marsha Serigny via the John Folse test kitchen.


What I got from the fallen branches

Halved Muspalus

Peeled and pitted

Dropped dough over filling

Muspalus (Loquat) Cobbler!

Chicken Curry with Potatoes

Chicken Curry with Potatoes
slightly adapted from America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers 

America's Test Kitchen says, "The combination of curry powder, ginger root, and fresh jalapeno gives this dish authentic Indian flavor." I have to agree - this simple recipe yielded a pretty good bowl or curry!

- 1 & 1/2 lbs of chicken cooked and transferred to a plate
- Added 1 chopped onion and cooked for 5 minutes
- Stirred in 1 Jalapeno cut into thin slices, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon of ground ginger, and 1 tablespoon curry powder and cooked for 1 additional minutes
- Added 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes and brought to a boil
- Cooked at medium heat for 10 minutes, removed lid, and cooked for 5 more.
- Added chicken and cooked for 2 minutes
- Stirred in yogurt off heat and EAT!!

Free Loquats / Japanese Plum / Muspalus! Now what?

As I biked up to the house after work today, I noticed that my neighbor had chopped down a few large branches of his Loquat tree. Loving Loquats, Japanese Plumb, or Muspalus (sp) as we called them in Lafourche, I inquired about the fate of the forsaken branches. My neighbor's handyman assured me that they were going to sit there until sanitation intervened, so I ran to the house, grabbed a bag, and started picking.

Now I have about four to five pounds of Muspalus (pronounced MOOSE-pa-LOOSE). I could just peel them and eat them raw as I have all my life, but I'm wondering if there isn't some potentially amazing Muspalus recipe out there.

Any ideas people? I ran into another neighbor while plundering the fallen fruit tree branches. He said that he once made "a pretty damn tasty cobbler out of the stuff".

Chili-Guacamole Burgers

Chili-Guacamole Burgers 
from America's Test Kitchen's 30-Minute Suppers

Meat seasoned with chili powder, canned chipotle chilies in adobo, salt, pepper, & topped with avocado mixture, red onion slices, and pepper Jack cheese.

Note to self: cook the full 6 minutes on each side next time!

Dane stops by to sample the cuisine. The near-raw meat makes him somehow deliriously happy??

Fish Tacos, Re-fried Beans, and Rice

Fried up some fish, chopped together some mango salsa, and Angela supplied the re-fried beans. Next time: crunchier fish would be nice and a little more mango in the salsa.

Spicy Chickpeas with Ginger

From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

Today, I throw a curve-ball with this tasty meat-free dish from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Spicy Chickpeas with Ginger is "inspired by a Bengali dish... with yogurt flatbread (Naan)". I instead served it over brown rice, which worked out quite well.

This dish is REALLY simple - combine, heat, and eat. In short, it calls for diced onion, bay leaf, minced garlic, grated ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground cardamom, pepper, diced tomatoes, and chickpeas with broth. Garnished with minced jelapeno and a dollop of sour cream.

New Kitchen Tool: Meat Thermommeter!

Angela is so sweet. As she walked the isles of Target, she thought of me and purchased a digital meat thermometer - my first. Near the digital display there are two buttons. One says "meat" and the other says "taste" - THAT'S PERFECT! I can't wait to probe my next frying carcass!

Bourbon Chicken

04.11.10 Bourbon Chicken - Photo taken with the iSight camera on my Macbook. I really miss my Nikon, but the good news is that it's being repaired. Chicken was great... needed a side though.

Fried Catfish and Hush Puppies

Fried Catfish and Hushpuppies - adapted from Creole Gumbo and all that Jazz

To kick off this experiment in cooking, I thought I'd start local - very local. Angela went down to the Westbank seafood market in Westwego, where fisherman take the seafood straight from the boat to the market for sale. Now that's fresh. In Creole Gumbo and all that Jazz, Howard Mitcham talks about the ancient art of hand-fishing, or what folks today call noodling. That's when you find a catfish hole, stick your hand way down in there, and hope like hell that you don't pull up a snapping turtle or poisonous snake. Mitcham points out that his kin never worried about deadly snake attacks because, "snakes don't bite under water". This sounds like a theory for Myth Busters, not me. Mitcham also made reference to the origin of the name Hushpuppy - food originally thrown aside to the dog to essentially shut it up. The side dish definitely shut me up.

I cleaned the cuts, seasoned them, and coated them with corn meal. I brought cooking oil to 375 degrees and dropped in the fish. SIMPLE!

The hush puppies were only slightly more complicated. Mixed green onions, onions, seasonings, egg, cornmeal, and buttermilk. All that was spooned into the 375 degree oil. A point of dispute remains as to whether or not the hush puppies should be rolled, in the cornmeal, into balls or simply spoon dropped as-is. Watch the video to hear the verdict!


Music by Sleigh Bells from SXSW

What the Couyon Learned Today: snakes don't bite underwater (supposedly); how to use a thermometer to keep oil at/near 375 degrees; deep fried things should "float" - not touch the bottom of the pan you're frying them in; hushpuppies are better when spoon dropped into hot oil - no need for rolling in cornmeal (I wanted them to look like Ralph & Kacoos hushpuppies SO BADLY, but trust me folks - spoondropped is better!)

The Couyon Cook (The Stupid Cook)

Hay ya'll! Well, for the first time in my life, I'm getting acquainted with a kitchen. For the last year I've been dabbling with simple-moderate recipes. In the beginning, the real draw for me was taking pictures of my tasty creations and posting them with commentary on facebook. Now, I want to take that to another level - blogging. I hope that with the creation of this blog, I can not only focus more on the writing/photography side of cooking, but being that I am from Southern Louisiana, I also want to focus more on Cajun dishes! So here I go, the Couyon Cook begins. For those who don't know, "couyon" is Cajun slang for "a stupid person", hinting at my lack of culinary prowess.