Green pigeon peas and rice from Puerto Rico

• 2 slices bacon or 1/2 cup chopped ham or pork

• 1/2 onion, chopped

• 1/2 green pepper, chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 15 oz. can green pigeon peas, undrained

• 12 packet sazon goya con culantro y achiote

• 1/2 cup tomato sauce

• 3 cups water

• 2 cups rice

Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon, onions, and peppers; cook around three minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 2 minutes longer. Add remaining ingredients except rice. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

Serves 8.

Cassava cake from the Philippines

• 2 packs frozen grated cassava

• 1 bottle macapuno

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine

• 1 can coconut milk, divided

• 1 cup sugar, divided

• 1 can condensed milk, divided

• 5 tbs. water

Optional: 1/2 cup buttermilk

In a pot, mix cassava, 1/2 can coconut milk, 5 tablespoons water, 1/8 cup butter/margarine. 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 can condensed milk and 1/4 cup buttermilk. Cook until all ingredients are half cooked with the consistency of a thick cream. Add one bottle of macapuno. Mix well. Cool.

Toppings: In a saucepan, cook all the remaining ingredients for 10 minutes until nice and creamy.

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease baking pan, pour cassava mixture and top with the sauce. Bake 50 minutes or until topping turns light brown.

Glazed Irish tea cake

For cake:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 tsp. vanilla

• 2 large eggs

• 3 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

• 1 3/4 cup cake flour

• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup dried currants

• 2/3 cup buttermilk

For glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted

• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease a 9-inch (7-cup capacity) loaf pan. Dust with flour; tap pan over sink to discard excess flour. Cut piece of parchment paper or waxed paper to fit bottom of pan. Set aside. For cake, use mixer to cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each until fluffy. Add cream cheese. Mix until well combined. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Put currants in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup flour mixture to currants. Stir currants until well-coated. Add remaining flour to batter, alternating with buttermilk. Mix until smooth. Use wooden spoon to stir in currants and all of the flour. Stir until well combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Smooth surface with spatula. Bake until well-browned and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 25 minutes. Cake will crack on top. Let cake rest in pan for 10 minutes. Use flexible metal spatula to separate cake from sides of pan. Carefully remove cake from pan to cooling rack. Spread glaze on warm cake. Let cake cool completely. Cake can be stored three days at room temperature in foil. Cake can also be frozen up to three months, wrapped airtight. For glaze, combine sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth.

Curry rice

• 6 cups rice

• 300g (about 2/3 lb.) meat (block of beef thigh)

• 1 carrot

• 2 potatoes

• 2 onions

• *curry ru (premade package) 120g

• 20g butter

• salt, pepper

• salad oil

1. Make rice (harder than usual).

2. Cut meat into bite size pieces, shake salt and pepper over it.

3. Cut onion vertically, cut halves into rough slices.

4. Peel potatos, cut in half and into 2-4 triangular pieces.

5. Cut carrot in the same way as potatos.

6. In a skillet put oil and butter, turn on fire.

7. Add meat, fry until surface is browned.

8. Add onion, fry until translucent.

9. Add carrots and potatos, fry thoroughly, then add water.

10. When it comes to a boil remove foam from surface, boil until vegetables are soft.

11. Turn off heat, break paste (block) into small pieces and put in.

12. Simmer on a low fire until curry paste is melted entirely.

13. Put rice on dishes, put curry on rice.

14. Garnish with **rakkyo, pickles, ***fukujinzuke.

Serves 4.

* Curry Ru is the concentrated solid extract made by thickening flour, butter and oil, then adding meat and spices in a frying pan. Pre-made curry ru is very convenient and easy to use.

** Rakkyo is a kind of green onion. It has a unique taste and odor. The tear drop shaped white root is edible. It is usually pickled first in salt with vinegar added. Small rakkyo is called hanarakkyo. With soy sauce added, it is called tamarizuke.

*** Fukujinzuke is always used as relish with curry. Daikon nasu renkon are finely chopped. Soy sauce is the base for pickling. Fukujinzuke has a crunchy texture. The name originates from the tale of seven saints of ancient days. The orginal fukujinzuke consists of seven different kinds of vegetables.

Yakitori

• 300 g chicken thigh

• 4 long green onions

• Tare sauce (1 teaspoon ginger (*shoga) juice, 50 cc **mirin

50cc soy sauce, 50cc ***sake)

• Bamboo skewers

1. Mix soy sauce, sake, ginger juice.

2. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, marinate in sauce.

3. Cut green onions into 2- to 3-cm pieces.

4. Remove chicken from sauce, allow excess sauce to drain. Alternately skew pieces of chicken then onion.

5. Boil remaining sauce. If desired, add a dash of sugar and crushed red pepper.

6. Pre-heat grill. Grill on a low even fire. Make sure it does not burn and the inside of the meat is well done before serving.

7. Brush on tare sauce frequently while grilling. Rotate skewers to insure even cooking.

Serves 4.

Hints:

Yakitori means broiling over heat. Try other items such as tsukune (ground meat balls), heart or liver. Charcoal is used at restaraunts but gas is fine too.

* Shoga is ginger. It is an essential seasoning of Japanese cooking. It is often used for its distinctive flavor. Shoga pickled in sweet vinegar is called gari. It is eaten with sushi.

** Mirin is sweet alcohol made from mochigome and yeast. It is generally used for cooking only. It is used as a ceremonial drink (otoso) at New Year. There are two types of mirin: hon and shin. Shin mirin has less than 1 percent alcohol content. It enhances flavor and makes food shiny. Its sweetness is essential to Japanese cooking.

*** Sake is the generic name for all alcohol but mainly refers to seishu (rice wine). It is brewed from rice and komekouji (yeast). Quality is classified by alcohol percentage, flavor, fragrance and color. When cooking, boil before using to extinguish odor of alcohol.

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