coconut tapioca (again) with strawberry preserves

It seems wrong, but so right. Opening a jar of strawberries in the middle of windy November, the best taste of summer, perfectly preserved. In July, I bought a flat of strawberries, and made four kinds of strawberries preserves, all from Canning for a New Generation: Strawberry butter, Strawberry-Mint Syrup, Low Sugar (all fruit) Strawberry Jam and (the best of the bunch) Whole Strawberries in Syrup.

I've been trying to save them until the middle of February, when I will drown my winter blues with jars of summer fruit. However, I found myself with (yet another) batch of tapioca pudding, and I knew the only topping better than caramelized bananas (see this post), would be those dreamy, unbelievable strawberries.

Now I've made you jealous, because you don't have these perfect strawberries in your fridge. Sorry. Use a scoop of your favourite jam instead, or if you have some frozen berries, cook them down with some honey.

This tapioca recipe is from the back of the Bob's Red Mill package - a traditional English-style tapioca pudding. If you're looking for a more Asian style pudding, or a vegan version, try one of these posts.

Coconut Tapioca Pudding with Strawberry Preserves

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
3/4 cup water
2 1/4 cup coconut milk (you can use one whole can and top it up with another type of milk)
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Strawberry preserves, or other cooked fruit or jam.

Soak tapioca in water for 30 minutes. Add milk, salt, and egg yolks and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then turn down to low heat. Simmer, stirring often for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form. Fold a few spoonfuls of hot tapioca into the egg whites, then fold the whole mixture back into the tapioca. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring often. Let cool for 15 minutes, then add in vanilla. Serve warm or cold, with fruit on top.

(I've been sorting through my cupboards, making sure all my jars are labeled, and trying to use up old ones from last year. So many delicious preserves - vanilla peaches, rhubarb orange jam, caramelized onions, plums in honey syrup, dilly beans and so much more!)

banana coconut cream pie

I wanted banana pudding. I ended up with a coconut pie with a graham cracker crust, and I threw some bananas in for good measure. This is adapted from the Lost Coconut Custard Pie from Veganomicon. It's sweet, but light - not a heavy, egg-based custard, but a coconut milk and agar custard. Agar powder (or agar-agar) is a gelatin substitute used in Asian cooking, made from seaweed. Don't get grossed out, if you've ever eaten commercial ice cream, you've already eaten agar. You can find it at any Chinese grocery store, in small packets by the puddings and desserts.

graham cracker crust

From Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, makes one, regular-sized pie crust.

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp coconut oil

4 tbsp soy milk

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, combine coconut, graham crumbs and sugar. Add coconut oil, and toss to combine. Add soy milk, one tablespoon at a time, stirring with your hands until mixture holds together when you give it a squeeze. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate, forming a crust. Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Set aside to cool. 

Banana coconut cream pie

From Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, makes one delicious pie. The custard part of this recipe also makes a great pudding - make it without the pie crust, and pour into bowls, and let cool for 2 hours in the fridge. 

1 cup soy milk

2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder

1/2 tsp agar powder

1 (14-oz) can of coconut milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

3 bananas

1 graham cracker crust (previous recipe)

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of soy milk and the cornstarch. Set aside. In a heavy-bottomed pot, whisk together the other 1/2 cup soy milk and agar powder. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let it boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat to medium low. Give your soy-cornstarch mixture another whisk (the cornstarch will have settled), and pour it into the pot in a slow, steady stream, all the while whisking constantly. Add coconut milk, lemon juice and sugar, and cook over medium-low heat for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla, salt and coconut. 

Slice two bananas, and arrange slices in the bottom of the cooled pie crust. Pour custard on top. Let pie cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, then transfer to fridge. Leave the pie for at least 2 hours to set. Before serving, slice the other banana, and arrange slices on top. I added some shaved chocolate for fun. 

coconut vanilla tapioca

Cooking with whole vanilla beans takes everything up a notch. It's like any of those premium, flavourful ingredients: truffle oil, saffron, maldon sea salt - it suddenly makes everything taste like a million bucks. I used a mix of cream, coconut milk and almond milk because that was what I had in my fridge; the cream adds some richness, but you can omit it for a vegan version - just use more coconut or almond milk.

Also, I found that making your own jam means you need to be more creative with it - it's time to move beyond peanut butter and jam sandwiches. A less sugary jam like this strawberry and rhubarb one makes a lovely topping for all kinds of desserts.

coconut vanilla tapioca

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup 10% cream
1/2 cup almond milk
1 vanilla bean
1/3 cup large tapioca pearls (larger than minute tapioca, smaller than the bubble tea ones)
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Simmer milks and cream in a saucepan. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds into milk/cream, then throw in bean too. After the milk has infused for 5 minutes, add tapioca, sugar and salt. Cook on low heat, stirring often for 15 to 20 minutes. Add a bit more milk if it dries out before the tapioca is cooked through. Remove the vanilla bean.

Serve hot or cold, with some jam on top.

Soups for rainy weather

Leek and Potato Soup (with special appearances by corn and red pepper)

There's chunky, broth based soup, and then there's ultra -smooth, pureed soup your grandma would love. Sometimes I feel like something in the middle! Removing and pureeing just a bit of the soup can make it extra creamy without adding cups of milk or cream. My lactose intolerant boyfriend also appreciates this.

(this soup disappeared to fast to be photographed. Here's an ingredient instead.)

A note on leeks: they can by sneaky vegetables, hiding dirt and sand in between their leaves. I cut off almost all of the green part (and feed it to my compost worms), then slice the leek lengthwise in half. Then I rinse it, making sure to check between the layers.

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large or 3 small leeks, cleaned and sliced thinly

4 fist sized potatoes, peeled and diced

1 red pepper, finely diced

salt and pepper

6 cups of vegetable broth

1 cup milk or cream (leave out for a dairy-free soup, just add 1 more cup of broth)

2 cups of fresh corn (about 2 cobs)

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Cook leeks for 5 minutes, then add potatoes and pepper and saute for 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add broth, and simmer soup for 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Remove 1 cup of soup and puree with an immersion blender (or other blending device). Return pureed soup to pot, add milk (if using) and corn. Simmer (but don't boil!) for another 5 minutes, until corn is cooked to your liking.

I enjoyed this soup with grilled cheese: some gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread with spy apples and aged cheddar. Mmmm. Finished leftovers the next day with my new favorite crackers - Mary's something or other, made out of rice and quinoa. 

Curried Pumpkin and Apple

Here's a creamy vegan soup I invented for one of my New England Pie pumpkins. 

1 pie pumpkin, halved with seeds removed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 apples, diced (no need to peel, the skin will break down)

salt and pepper

2 tbsp curry powder

4-5 cups of vegetable stock 

1 can coconut milk

Preheat oven to 375. Rub pumpkin flesh with 1 tbsp olive oil and place face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until soft. Remove from oven and let cool. Then scoop the flesh into a bowl. 

Heat other tbsp of olive oil in a large pot. Sautee onion and apples for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add curry powder, salt and pepper and saute for 1 more minute. Then, add cooked pumpkin and stock, and simmer for 10 minutes. Finally, puree soup until smooth, then add coconut milk and heat through. The end! 

cooking on earth day

Sweet Curried Carrot Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp ginger, minced

2 tbsp thai red curry paste

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 apple, peeled and diced

5 carrots, peeled and diced

6 cups water

1 bouillon cube

1 can coconut milk

more coconut milk and arugula to garnish

Saute onions in olive oil for 5 minutes, until soft. Add garlic, ginger and curry paste, stir and cook for a few more minutes. Add sweet potatoes, apple, carrots, water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Add coconut milk, and heat for 5 more minutes. Serve with a spoonful of coconut milk and a few pieces of arugula.

*Note: Clearly, I spent earth day cooking. What better thing to do than to cook up some tasty food with some local, organic produce? Onions, garlic, sweet potato, apples and carrots, all from less than 100 miles away. I remade my last recipe - the cornbread quiche - because it was just so good.