Stews are best

                                                              

  It seems to me that the main reason why people don't cook (or for that matter do any number of things that they say they would like to) is due to lack of time.  I for one, often find myself racing against the clock, incredibly annoyed because once again, the hours of my day off seem to have evaporated into a parallel universe, while most items on my to do list have yet to be crossed off.
And this is why I absolutely love making stews, and it only seemed fitting that I write a post on this fabulous one pot dish now, as I am struggling with finding time to blog :)
If you make a big enough stew, in a few minutes you can have dinner ready for every day of the week
(granted you and your family might get sick of eating the same thing every day but that's a different story).
  My go to stew is always chicken.  I find that it holds best, reheats wonderfully, and if you add enough veggies to it and serve it over brown rice, it provides all colors of the nutritional spectrum.
But also, I just love me some chicken.  Those tasty little birds are just so underated!  I like using the thighs for my stews. They are a bit darker, more flavorful and much juicier, and I  encourage you to give them a try, because they are also much cheaper.  However, if you prefer breast, being that the meat will be cooked in liquid, you don't risk drying it up, so have at it.

                                                      

  If you happen to have some homemade stock in the freezer from the last time you roasted a bird, your stew will be all the better, if not, store bought stock will do.
Below is my base recipe, which will vary a bit with the seasons, but serves as a wonderful starting point.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients:
8       ea     Chicken Thighs, skin off
1       ea     can of Coconut Milk
1       ea     can of diced Tomatoes (juice included)
1       ea     Onion, diced
3       ea     Garlic cloves, minced
1       ea     Anaheim pepper (or your favorite) diced
1       ea     Lime, juiced
                  LOTS of veggies and any aromatics you find in the fridge (ie:celery, ginger, lemongrass,  herbs...)
                  Chicken Stock to cover
                   Salt, Pepper and Cumin, Cayenne or Curry to taste

                                                            

    An hour or two before you start (depending on your geographic location and it's weather) take your chicken out of the refrigerator and let it come to almost room temperature.  Dry out each thigh with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper.  In a cast iron pan (or a good dutch oven) saute the meat on one side only, in very hot grapeseed oil for about 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.  Turn and saute for  another 3 to 5 minutes.  Tranfer to a plate and set aside.

                                                                

  If you used a deep pan or dutch oven to saute the chicken, in the same pan, sweat the onions, peppers, garlic and any aromatics over very low heat until translucent.

                                                     

Add any hard vegetables you might be using (carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, or squash) and season with salt.

                                                    

  Cook the veggies for a few minutes, then break apart the chicken with your hands or some kitchen shears, and throw it in.  Add the coconut milk, lime juice, tomatoes and stock to cover.  Cook over hight heat until it comes to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and let it do it's thing, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by 1/4.  If you would like a thicker stew, keep on going.  Taste and adjust your seasoning.  If you are adding any green veggies (kale, brocolini, mustard greens etc...) now is the time.

                                    
    Cook for another minute or two, until your green veggies are bright green.  And that's it.  The dish is ready to serve! 

  I make some version of this at least every other week.  If you use whatever vegetables are in season and available at your local market, you will find that you won't get bored with it too fast, as it is ever changing.  You can also add a little peanut butter, miso or hoisin sauce once in a while and give it a fresh new "look".  Enjoy it over rice for a complete meal, or as soup on a rainy day.

Raw Kale Salad

  Before I begin writing about this wonderful leafy green, I would like to apologize to you all, my readers, for not writing as consistently as promised.  As usual, life got in the way.  I got a fancy new job, and with it an apparently ever changing schedule, which has been a little rough to get used to.
As a result, my sleeping, yoga and writing routine have been altered, and in order to catch up on the first two, I have slacked a bit on the third.  I hope that as time goes by in my new position, my schedule will normalize at least a little, and I will be able to find my grove again.  Please bear with me as I navigate the unknown waters of the corporate world.

                                                                   
  With that being said, we can move on to Kale.
Kale is awesome! From Vitamins C and E, to folate, calcium and iron, this leafy green is highly nutritious, high in fiber,  low in calories and filling. On top of all that, it is one tasty vegetable! Also, in climates similar to ours up here in Northern California, this member of the cabbage family grows year round. Pretty much the perfect food if you ask me.

                                                

 Yet so many of us don't know what to do with it, and think that the only way to prepare it is sauteed or braised.  Well, I got news for you: a raw Kale salad kicks any lettuce salad's ass!
Because of how thick it is, it will not wilt as fast as lettuces do, so you can season your salad a day in advance, and it will still be crunchy and crisp when you eat it.

                                               

It's nutritional value is much better than that of most lettuces (specially if you are buying your lettuces at the supermarket) which are mostly fiber and water.  It's texture is a lot more interesting and it is a lot more filling.  Last but not least, a bunch organic Kale (usually between $1.50 and $2.00) will yield you at least 4 large servings of salad, and once washed and chopped, will keep fresh in the crisper for at least a week.   So, next time you want to experiment with a different salad than whatever your usual suspect is, give this one a try.

                                                       

                                                             

You will need:

1 bunch of Kale ( I love Lacinato, but any variety will do) washed, stripped of it's stems, and chopped.
1/2  Asian Pear, sliced or cut into chunks . If Asian Pears are not in season, use any other crunchy fruit available. If nothing is in season, radishes will do the trick.
1/4  cup Chopped Walnuts
1 ea  Blood Orange -or other varietal of your choice- , peeled and segmented (reserve the juice to add to the salad)
1/2  ea  Avocado, sliced or cut into cubes
1  TB Freshly Chopped Cilantro (optional)
1 1/2  TB Crumbled Feta Cheese (optional)
1 TB Miso
1 Lemon (Juice Only)
1 TB Agave Nectar or Honey
1/4 cup Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, or Peanut Oil

Make a dressing with the Miso, lemon juice,  oil and agave nectar.  You will not need to add salt as the Miso is salty enough.  Taste it with a piece of Kale, and adjust the amount of acid and sweetness according to what your taste buds enjoy. 

                                                        

Mix the rest of the ingredients together, and add the dressing and the reserved juice from the orange.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
If you are preparing it in advance, don't add the avocado until you are ready to eat it.
                                         

                                          

This salad will not only be tasty, it will also provide you with healthy fats from the oil, the walnuts and the avocado , a bit of protein from the nuts, cheese and Miso (as well as some probiotics from the Miso) and a few of your recommended daily servings of vegetables and fruits.

Get yourself some flowers!

                                                           
  I've always loved flowers.  I love them on plants, on trees, in the streets, in someone's house, in the buckets at the flower markets, on the fields, at the beach and on my hair.

                                                 
   But I had been talking myself out of buying flowers for a while now.  It all started while being on a tight budget.  Spending money on something purely decorative, that was also dead, and would therefore not last too long anyways, just seemed wasteful.  Plus our cat, Jupiter, loves to eat leaves, and has been known o knock over flower vases while having a midnight snack!
Slowly, it turned into one of those self imposed rules we create that end up becoming a little part of ourselves. 

                                                        
     Luckily, my self restraint from buying flowers changed one day last year, at the farmers market.  I was working in the ferry building, and during my breaks on Tuesdays and Sundays, I would walk around the market and get my produce.  They always had gorgeous flowers! Quince, Plum and Cherry blossoms first, then Anenomes, Ranunculus, Tulips and Dahlias, Daffodils and Sunflowers, Gladiolas and Lilies, Mums...  And these are only the ones I remember!  I just loved looking at them, smelling them, being around them!

                                   
   After a few months on the job, as I got to know the farmers, they started giving me deals on the produce, which left me enough wiggle room in the budget to get myself some flowers.
  It also turned out that Jupiter did not attack  these flowers, as I was taking off most of the leaves in order to arrange them into my newly acquired vintage blue mason jar.

                                      
   Coming home to a beautiful bouquet of colorful fresh flowers made me so happy! The energetic switch inside of me was so strong that it made me realize, flowers were to my soul what food is to my body: plain and simple nourishment! And so I was converted! 
If something so small, and to some people so insignificant, could make me so very happy, why the fuck should I not pursue it?!

                                               

  There is nothing wrong with indulging once in a while. Whether it's a large splurge of a fancy designer bag for a birthday, or a bunch of flowers at the market every other week, giving yourself permission to get something that you just plain don't need can be very liberating.   The key is to be aware of what you are doing, and of why, and to not confuse a splurge with a habit or even an addiction (how many shoes are in your closet?).  So I thought about it, and decided that this indulgence was worth it to me.  It was bringing a little more nature to my living space, it was reminding me of how colorful this place is, it was brightening my day.

                                                    

    As long as it was done mindfully, I could get myself flowers whenever I wanted.  So I made up a few new rules for myself and once again, became a believer.
I will only buy a bunch, and for no more than $5 unless it's a very special occasion.
Sometimes I  bargain with myself and trade in that bunch of Asparagus I wanted (although I already have enough vegetables in the basket) for a bunch of Anenomes (about the same price).
Ideally, I try to purchase them only at the farmers market, and if I happen to get them at the store, then I choose ones that are fair trade.

                                                
   I then take time to pick them, to look at all of them and see which  single bunch speaks to me.  Once I get home, I take the time to arrange them as beautifully as I can.  I pick which vase they will be happier in,  I find them a home in our home where they will be protected from the cat, yet be the center of attention. 
  Last but not least, I tend to them.  Even tough they are technically dead, they will last longer if their water is changed, and they look prettier if I remove the ones that start looking sad sooner than the rest.  In order to show respect to these plants, I try to keep them looking their best, for as long as I can, instead of just composting them all at the first sign of one wilting.

                                                         

  This small ritual is my way of thanking  the plant for giving me these flowers,  the growers for tending to them and picking them,  the driver/vendor for bringing them to the city and displaying them, my husband for giving me some cash (I never have cash!) :), and  myself for walking down to the market and buying them.
 In this way, the small, insignificant, mindless act of getting flowers for myself, turns into this beautiful exchange with all these beings around me.  And with this exchange comes a smile, and a reminder that we are all connected, as well as the sweet nectar of joy for my soul.

                                             

Local and Seasonal: why they're better for you.

     Nowadays, when it comes to our food, we hear the terms local, organic, natural, seasonal and many others thrown around as potent marketing strategies.  Unfortunately, impressionable and uninformed about the subject  as most of us are, we take the bait, and pay a little extra for products that are not necessarily better for us. 

 However, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, eating locally does make a difference, for various reasons. 

                                                     
  One of them is supporting your community and small farmers in your area, another is reducing your carbon footprint (although there are lots of schools of thought on this one, arguing that it is not necessarily greener to eat local, but that's another post altogether), and in my book, the most important reason, is that eating locally provides you with the most nutrients (and usually the most flavor). 
  From the minute  fruits and vegetables are picked off the plant, their nutrient content starts to slowly decrease.  Also, when fruits and vegetables are at their peak in ripeness, they contain the most nutrients. 

                                             
 
    Therefore, if you are eating a Mango that was picked in Haiti over two weeks ago,  probably kept in a temperature controlled truck or warehouse to prevent or increase it's ripening process, and potentially subjected to a specific gas for the same purpose,  you are getting way less nutritional benefits than if you are eating one in Mexico, just picked from the tree this morning.  Needless to say, chances are that the one that was picked off the tree tasted a heck of a lot better than the one that was picked green and manipulated into ripeness at a specific point in time.

                                             

   If you are striving to eat locally then  you will have to eat seasonally. When you go to your local farmers market in search of produce,  you will only find what is in season, what is growing in your area at this time according to the weather, the seasons, the specifics of rain fall and dry spells.   So if you want Strawberries in December, and you live in the South, chances are they will come from Chile, in which case all the previous rules about nutritional value will apply to your juicy looking berries.

        To this we can also add the fact that if we are eating fruits out of season, it's probably because we are the kind of person or household that eats the same fruits year round.  At a dear friend's house, there are ALWAYS, no matter the time of the year or day of the week, strawberries, blueberries, apples and bananas.  Two adults and a child live in this house.  That means that these three people are getting the exact same set of nutrients year round from the fruits they consume, and more often than not, they are eating these out of season, so they are not even getting the fruit's full potential. 

    If we always eat the same things, then we are always getting the same nutrients, and we can safely assume that unless we are eating super foods, we are then also deficient in many other nutrients. 
  Eating locally forces us to switch it up, without us having to really think about it, which is always a bonus :).  A few weeks ago, Oro Blanco grapefruits, blood oranges and Satsuma mandarins was the bulk of my fruit consumption.  Since then I have added tangelos, Kiwis and Asian pears to that, and last Tuesday I found that Kumquats and Guavas are now in season here, so two more fruits are now in our kitchen for our daily dose.

    Most of you are probably getting a little angry at me right now and thinking: "easy for you to say, you live in California, where everything grows and there is delicious stuff available locally year round, but what about the rest of us?????"
Please take a deep breath and calm down.  I know how lucky I am, trust me... I haven't moved back to California 4 times because I enjoy moving across the country. 
  Not living in California does not mean you can't eat locally or seasonally.  First and foremost, something is always growing somewhere except in the dead of winter.  Second and most importantly, our options in this day and age are plenty.  

                                            

      If you are willing to try your luck at canning and preserving, this is the best way to keep eating locally during the winter months.  When the bounty of summer is at it's peak, spend a few weekends preserving some of the fruits and pickling some vegetables.  It's fun, it's easy, and it will provide you with delicious fruits full of nutrients when nothing is available locally in your area.  You can do it with friends and family, or by yourself and give it as gifts to your loved ones.
  You can find great recipes online, my friend E turn me on to this awesome blog: www.foodinjars.com

   Another good way to get the most nutrient from out of season fruits are frozen fruits which are available in every supermarket in this country.
When eating out of season, this is usually your best bet for fruits that are still packed with nutrients, as most frozen produce is picked at it's peak, and flash frozen to preserve all it's goodness.   This point is explained in detail by nutritionist Marion Nestle in her amazing book: What to Eat. You can read more about it in her website as well at www.foodpolitics.com
  The frozen fruits will also more often than not be cheaper than it's imported counterpart.

                                                           
      Being that I am originally from a Tropical Island, I find myself sometimes craving the fruits of my childhood or what Americans refer to as "exotic" fruits .  I will rarely buy any of them that have been imported, as I don't want to eat empty calories from fruits ( I'd much rather save those for a nice crafted cocktail ;)).  I also don't want to set myself up for the deep disappointment that takes over my whole body when I bite into a Mango that is just not that good (J calls me a Mango snob) and  sends me into a rant about how a fucking mango should really taste like.

     When I find myself in this debacle, I go to the store, I buy a few bags of frozen stuff, and I cook them together with a little honey or agave nectar, and turn it into a delicious compote to eat with my yogurt or oatmeal, that is usually just as tasty as the fresh stuff.
  Last week, I made one with some of those local fresh Guavas I told you about, which were phenomenal, and a bag of frozen pineapple.  Divine!
 
  I challenge you all to try and eat a few more local fruits and veggies for the next few weeks.  You might find that it's a lot easier than you thought, and that the results are so delicious and nutritious,  you won't mind going the extra mile.

Roast Chicken at the Farm

                                              
    San Francisco is an awesome city.  It's colorful, diverse, has good weather, it's artsy, food oriented, and as I always say, no matter what you are into (literally!) San Francisco has something for you.
But I'm a little worn out from it.  Or maybe it's from cities themselves.  I'm sick of the noise, of the dirt, of the pee smelling sidewalks (dog pee, people pee, there seems to be pee everywhere I go...) the puke from drunken nights right as I walk out of the building, the poop that some jerk dog owner failed to pick up, the lack of green space, of fresh air, of wild animals.
So whenever I have the chance I take the train northeast to Auburn.  My little sanctuary. 

                                                          
      My dear friends C and E live there with their beautiful daughter J.  They live on a small farm, where C is slowly but surely starting a sheep dairy.  They have chickens, plenty of sheep, a llama, a dog.

                                          
  
      A vegetable garden in the summer.  There are apples, citrus, plum and fig trees on the land.  There are blackberry bushes and Concord grape vines. Even in the winter there are little surprises to be found like a Padron pepper forgotten on the plant, transformed into a sun dried Padron. 
                                             

                                           
      
   Being in the farm, tending to the animals, is to me the strongest reminder to think about where our food comes from.  Whether we are drinking the sheep's milk or just delivering it to the baby lambs, we are still moving the sheep, milking them, this weekend also castrating a few of the babies.  The chickens need fresh water, more feed, they also need to be me moved.  And then we can collect their eggs, just laid, packed full of nutrients.  The effort and care involved makes us so much more appreciative of what we are consuming.  It brings about the kind of mindfulness around our food that I feel we should always practice.

                                                                   
  C and E are both chefs, and C also works at a few farmers markets in the area.  Most of California's produce that we get down in the city actually comes from the areas surrounding Auburn, in the Central Valley.

                                           

    So when we are visiting, delicious and nutritious meals are always the norm.  This weekend, in order to give my friends a much deserved break, I decided to cook us dinner.
I asked what kind of meats they had frozen: lamb or chicken, both from D, C's friend and co-worker, a lamb farmer himself.
I honestly think that a properly made - not overcooked with a dry breast that makes you wonder why the hell people like chicken breast - roasted chicken is one of the most delicious things to eat in the whole wide world! As my husband always says, sweet simplicity.  

                                                         
  I inspected the produce that C had brought back from Saturday's market, and found carrots, baby russet potatoes, thyme and rosemary, one onion, green garlic Meyer lemons, tangelos, arugula,  and asparagus.

                                             

  Here are my steps to turn the above list of ingredients into one simple, easy and ridiculously taste meal.                                          
  First defrost your chicken.  Then pat it dry with a towel or paper towels.  Be very thorough in this step.
Make a dry rub with ground coriander, cumin and salt.  Rub your chicken with it making sure to get in every nook and cranny.  With your fingers, separate the skin from the breast being careful not to tear it.  Then stick a little piece of the green garlic and a sprig of either herb in between the skin and meat on each side.
  Season the cavity of the bird with some of the rub (or just salt and pepper) and place a few more pieces of green garlic, herb sprigs, and a few slices of Meyer lemon inside it.
Chop your carrots in large chunks, and peel and half your onion and slice it. Then rub the bird all over with a generous amount of olive oil.  Using twine, or alternatively a piece of foil rolled thinly into a strip, tie the legs of the bird together.
  If you have a cast iron pan, place it on the stove on high heat for a few minutes. Once hot, place your chicken on the pan, breast side up.  It will sizzle. If you don't have a cast iron, or a heavy all metal pan, skip this step and just place in a roasting pan. 
Scatter the carrots and the onions around it, and place in a preheated 400 degree oven.  Cook for 30 minutes undisturbed.
  Meanwhile juice 2 Meyer lemons and 1 tangelo (or other orange) and reserve.  Wash and dry your potatoes, and cut into chunks being mindful to make them all around the same size for even cooking.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil.  In a separate bowl, slice some green garlic and set aside.  I also added that sun dried Padron here, which was very peculiar in flavor, a wonderful mixture of spicy and sweet.

     After the first half hour, every 10 to 15 minutes, take the chicken out of the oven and baste it with the citrus juices, followed by the fat from the pan. Then return to the oven.  If you see that the carrots and onions are sticking to the pan  or burning, splash the pan with about 1/2 cup of wine or beer, whichever one you are drinking.  Once the chicken is evenly brown, you can turn the temperature down to 350.  Depending on the size of the bird, the total cooking time will vary between 45 minutes and as long as an hour and a half.

  Wash and slice your asparagus in sticks about 1 inch long.  Reserve the tops.  You can start cooking the potatoes while you wait for the chicken. In another cast iron pan or heavy bottomed saute pan, heat some canola or grapeseed oil on high heat.  Then thrown in your potatoes and season well with plenty of salt and pepper.  Every once in a while, stir them around a bit.  Once they are browning nicely, turn the heat to medium.  If your chicken is still far from being done, you can actually turn them off half way, and finish them later. This is a good time saver for having everything done at the same time.
                          

                                                    
   Once your chicken is done (you will know when the leg comes loose where it attaches to the breast when you slightly pull on it) take it out of the oven, transfer it to a dish, and let rest 15 minutes.

   Meanwhile, finish cooking the potatoes on medium to high heat.  Pour the cooking juices from the chicken into a heat resistant bowl, and let settle.  In another saute pan, heat some olive oil on high heat, then throw in the asparagus (minus the tops) season with salt and pepper, and squirt a little Meyer lemon juice.  Turn heat to medium and saute until they are cooked but still have a little bite to them.  Add the tops, stir around once more and turn the heat off, but leave in the pan.
When your potatoes are cooked, turn the heat to low, squirt a little lemon juice on them, and throw in the sliced green garlic.  Toss well and cook for another minute on low heat, just to soften the garlic a bit.
Taste your potatoes and asparagus, make sure everyone is okay on salt and acid, if not add a little more.

   By now your chicken should be ready to carve.  Break it down with a sharp knife and arrange the pieces on a platter, on top of the potatoes.  Then skim the fat off the cooking juices, and pour onto the chicken, including the carrots and onions.  Taste the chicken, if it needs a little more salt, sprinkle a few pinches over the  meat.

                                                        
   Please don't take the skin off the chicken. EAT IT!!!!! As Nina Plank explains on her amazing book Real Food: "...chicken fat is mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, two fats even the conventional experts say are healthy...Chickens raised on pasture contain more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an unusual fat that builds lean muscle.(...) The diet of the bird affects the composition of the fat. (...)  Typically, chicken fat is about 40% monounsaturated oleic acid, which lowers LDL."
 Toss the arugula with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice, and mix in the asparagus in.
Dinner is served!

   We were lucky enough to have some leftover Olive Oil and Orange Pound cake, so I candied some kumquats from the market, and we had that for dessert.
  

                                                  
  I know everyone is not that lucky, so scavenge around your fridge and see what you can find. Alternatively, send the boy(s) to the corner store to get you some Haagen Dazs or Ben and Jerry's :)

  This meal was so tasty, and so fresh.  Everything we ate came from a farmer that C knew. Even the spices (Two Spicy Ladies).  And the Padron forgotten on the summer garden, resilient through fall and winter, still there almost in spring.

  If you can get everything for this meal at your local farmers market, please do.  Talk to the farmers, get to know them, and allow them to get to know you.
If not, then at least think of how you can make your meals one step closer to the people who raised and grew them.  You don't have to change your life all at once, just take baby steps, and you'll see how much tastier your food can be.

"Habichuelas con Dulce" or Sweet Beans

                                                                 
"Habichuelas con Dulce" is a  Dominican  dessert of red kidney beans and  coconut milk. We traditionally make it every year on ash Wednesday, and although some households and families make it year round, most of us only enjoy them during this time of the year.
  I'm sure you are probably making a face at the mere thought of beans and dessert in the same sentence, as most gringos usually do.  Well, how about you step outside of your little box and give it a try?  The worse than can happen is that you don't like them.  If that's the case it won't be the first or last time you taste something you don't appreciate.
   I know that they are not for everyone.  My friend P moved to my home country from Bulgaria, and she was never able to use the name of this sweet treat in a sentence without some nasty adjective attached to it.  But if you end up liking them, you will be so glad to have entered the world of those of us who are not afraid of sweet beans!
  Like most Dominicans, I  love them! So much, that every year, on ash Wednesday -even though I am far from religious, and not even close to giving anything up for lent- I cook this dish, and think of the Island and my childhood.

As much as I enjoy eating them though, making "Habichuelas con Dulce" is a tedious and long process.  This year I decided there had to be a quicker way, so I came up with the "Habichuelas con Dulce" quickie.  I highly doubt I  am the first to do this, but I still thought it was worth documenting for all of you.

Here's what you'll need:
3 cans of cooked red kidney beans
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of Evaporated Milk -I'm not sure why we use this milk so much back home.  My theory is that since it doesn't have to be refrigerated, and we suffer from constant blackouts, it was just something that people always had in hand- If you have dairy allergies, omit and use 2 cans of the coconut milk.
1 or 2 medium Japanese Yams, diced

                                                        
1 cup raisins soaked in rum and drained -You can drink the rum if you want, as my friend T says "if  it's less than an ounce it doesn't count"-

                                        
1 1/2 to 3 cups of sugar -Dominicans need everything to be so sweet it hurts you, so they would probably go as high as 3 cups. My palate had adapted so I thought 1 1/2 cups was plenty of sugar.  Use your taste buds to tell you where you stand on this very delicate issue-
1 pinch of salt
2 sticks of Cinnamon
5 ea Cloves
Freshly grated Nutmeg
4 TB Butter
1 tsp Lime Juice

       First I pureed the beans (including their juices) with the milks in the blender, and strained them into a heavy bottomed pot.  My first mistake was using too small of a pot.

        This eventually led me to transfer #1.  At first I still thought I could make it work, so I went ahead and added the rest of the ingredients, minus the butter.  As they say in the Island "lazy people work twice".

                                        
 Once in the bigger pot, which was clay, and worked much better for this dish's slow cooking needs, my culinary expertise told me that I should bring them to a boil and turn them down to a simmer.  I was diligent about stirring often to make sure they didn't scorch, until I got distracted  by a train of text messages from my brother, my mother and my friend S.  They didn't scorch,  probably only because of my amazing clay pot (her name is Sofia :)) but they did over boil and make a giant mess on the stove which led me to transfer #2.

                                                      
  I temporarily put them in a random pot, washed Sofia, and poured them back in (transfer # 3).  Then I brought them back to an almost boil, and quickly turned down the heat to medium low.  Now, this recipe is quicker than the original one, but you're still going to have to keep a close eye on them, and stir them often, or they will scorch.  At this point, I cooked them on low heat for about an hour.  You need to cook them until they have thickened  almost to the consistency of a loose pudding.  Make sure to taste the sweet potatoes to ensure that they are fully cooked.  Once done whisk in the butter until dissolved.
The dessert is now ready.  When I make this, I like putting them away in multiple Mason Jars, and one larger container, that way I can bring a few jars to work and share them with friends.  Since it's such a heavy and unusual dish, there is only so much of it you can handle, even if you love it.  So I find it's best to give some of it away, or you will find it moldy in the back of the fridge in a few weeks.  And take my word for it, you don't want to smell this dish once it's gone bad!

                                                  
  We eat them with these awesome little cookies that we call "church cookies" because they have a little cross on them.  Since we can't get those in the States, any good sugar cookie will do.  I love them with Whole Wheat Sables, from Alice Medrich's Pure Desserts book.  They go so well together.
My favorite way to eat this dish is cold, from the fridge, or hot, from the pan.  I like it best as breakfast or dinner, instead of as dessert, because it is so heavy.

                                                      
I hope you are adventurous enough to give this a shot.  Maybe you can host a pot luck with a challenge of who can bring the weirdest dish! You might just win it with this one!
Buen Provecho!